Lightroom export file size: why so small? How can I maximize image quality?

My image file sizes are much smaller after editing and exporting through Lightroom. Is it impossible to maintain original file size to preserve image quality? Will this smaller file size have negative impact on prints? Any help is appreciated!

Per Berntsen wrote:
My view on this is somewhat different ...
Jpgs should never be edited, except as a last resort. And it defeats the purpose of working with raw files if you export a jpg, and then edit it.
Agreed. Unfortunately there are many cameras that only output JPEG format files. The camera file (or any other original JPEG file) is your "raw" unedited file inside LR. If you need to send the file to someone else for further editing who doesn't have LR then Exporting with 100% Quality setting might make sense. I say "might" because it's still possible to get very good results using lower Quality setting JPEGs if you only re-save the file one (1) time after further editing. I agree that 16 bit, ProPhoto RGB, TIFF Export files are best for "critical" work and when using 'Edit in Photoshop' from LR.
I suggest taking a look at the JPEG compression image tests on Jeffrey Friedl's Blog. It's a wealth of information! LR's Quality settings range from 0% to 100% or 100 Quality levels. In reality there are only 13 Quality levels, which are the same as in PS.
JPEG QUALITY SETTINGS
Photoshop
Description
Lightroom
0
Low
0-7%
1
Low
8-15%
2
Low
16-23%
3
Low
24-30%
4
Low
31-38%
5
Med
39-46%
6
Med
47-53%
7
Med
54-61%
8
High
62-69%
9
High
70-76%
10
Max
77-84%
11
Max
85-92%
12
Max
93-100%
I use LR JPEG Quality settings of 77-84% for outside printing and LR 62-69% for web posting. I've yet to see any compression artifacts using these settings and I am a pixel-peeper!
Per Berntsen wrote:
If someone gives me a jpg to edit, I always save it as a tiff and convert to 16-bit, to minimize furhter deterioration. I realize that this will not be true 16-bit - no information is added to the image - but my impression is that it will withstand heavy editing better, and not end up with a comb-like histogram.
Why not simply Import the JPEG file into LR and do all your editing non-destructively? There's no need to convert the JPEG file to TIFF unless you need to use LR 'Edit in PS.' Lightroom uses a16 bit/color, ProPhoto RGB, Linear Gamma workspace for all images even when editing sRGB JPEG files.

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I'm not sure if this question is truly answerable or not.
As some of you may have noticed I was looking into maybe changing over to Lightroom, well after some in-depth analysis I've all but decided to stick with Aperture. The things it does very well cannot compare to what LR has to offer. Organizational tools, like smart albums and projects.
Anyways in comparing the two apps I noticed that the jpg exports of aperture were quite a lot larger then LR. for instance at best quality 1600x1200 a jpg in aperture is typically 1.5meg and LR is 1.1. Not a huge difference.
Now take tiff 16bit full resolution. 35meg for aperture 10 for LR.
Any idea why things appear to be so large for aperture.
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Patrick,
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Lightroom export file size: why so small? How can I maximize image quality?

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