Still Photo Resolution

The resolution of my still photos looks terrible, even though I imported large jpeg files and scaled them down, not up. I'm doing a project that is only stills and audio, no video and the orginals were quite large. They looked horrible in the program panel, but I figured they would look fine on export, but no. I tried exporting my project about six different ways, maximum render, etc.

There was a post on this site a couple of years ago by Jeff Belune (as I recall) that provided a work flow for this. I fiound it to be effective. Most of the people who post here recommend that you do the scaling in Photoshop and then import the *.PSD file. The pixel dimensions W x H must match the scenario preset pixel dimensions (the DPI and/or image dimensions in inches, have no meaning). If your scenario is 1920 x 1080, then that's what the image size needs to be.
I only remember some of the steps Jeff laid out, but, it was to open the image in Photoshop, set the GENERAL preference to best for reduction, Change the image to 16 bit. Make color, exposure changes as desired, use unsharp mask set to 198, 0.6, 2, set the crop tool to your desired pixel dimensions, and crop the image to the desired size, if desired change the mode back to 8 bit, and save the file under a new name (never mess with your original. I created a photoshop action to speed the process.

Similar Messages

Acceptable and Quality Still Photo Resolution for HDV Documentary

I've scanned through several pages of posts on photo resolution here, but I haven't actually found a simple answer to a beginner's question. Two, actually:
1. If someone is supplying you with still photo prints for scanning and use in a documentary (shot in HDV, edited on FCP5), is there a particular size print that you should ask for? Does the broadcast venue (theatrical, TV, etc.) have any relevance?
2. If someone is scanning photos and sending you a CD with them, what are the specs (size, resolution, etc.) you should ask for? And are there "minimum acceptable" specs and "preferred, high quality" specs?
Thanks.
Paul S.
Power Mac G5 [email protected]; 4GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.4) FCP 5 (FC Studio), Logic Express, Presonus Firebox

Having worked on several long-form historical docos with hundreds of source photo scans, I'd highly recommend getting the originals in as high a resolution as you can (at least 300 DPI), and getting the entire photo scanned. You just never know when you need to apply pans or zooms or crop into a particular area to improve the edit, and there are many simple ways to prep the selected photos for import.
The simplest is just to do the scaling & cropping in FCP. It will do a fine job of this, but if it turns out most of the photos will be static, you can waste computer resources by importing unnecessarily-large images. As mooblie pointed out, you strictly only need enough resolution to prevent scaling up past 100%, as this will create pixelated lower quality output.
The most common way to prep scans is in Photoshop, where you can scale the image to a desired pixel size very easily. I'd still leave the image at its natural frame size (as scanned), so you have the most creative choice when you are framing it in the timeline using FCPs cropping & motion tabs tools.
If you've got lots of photos and lots of pans & zooms, consider using one of the third-party tools that will help with this, such as Photo to Movie from LQ Graphics, Moving Picture from StageTools, or even the plugin for FCP I wrote to help with the docos I mentioned above. It's called Pan Zoom Pro and you can see about it and download a demo here: http://www.lyric.com/fcp-plugins/index.htm#pzp .
Cheers,
John
Lyric Media

Premier Elements. Rcommendation for still photo resolution/size

I have a Panasonic composite camera. It shoots HVCHD lite. It also takes 16:9 (3968*2232 9Meg) still photos. I wish to produce a composite DVD in Pal format suitable for a wide screen TV. What resolution and size is recommended for the still shots? I am using Windows XP with Powertoy image resizer. Or is it more convenient to use the Oraganizer in Elements to resize the photos? Tony

For my thoughts on still images, you might want to see this THREAD. In your case, you'd substitute my 720x480 PAR 0.9 for your HD Project's framesize. If you need to do any panning on images that will be fully zoomed out, I'd not go any larger than you will need to accomplish this. Some Projects require that I use several different Actions in Photoshop, if I will do much panning on the zoomed out images. Since I do not do any automatic pan/zoom Effects, but create each by hand, as each image is unique, I can tailor the resizing to exactly what I will need. If you let your program do these Effects automatically, then just give a bit more wiggle room and your good to go. Having overly large stills in your Project costs you, both in processing power and also quality - PS's resizing algorithms are better than Premiere's and doing this outside of the NLE is much more efficient.
Good luck,
Hunt

Does still photo resolution determine maximum movie quality?

I am making a movie combining relatively low quality jpegs and dv footage.
It seems that I read somewhere that if you are going to combine still photos and dv footage that you have to import the video first or else the resolution of the photos will set the maximum resolution of the whole movie. Is this true?
Thanks,
Artlover13060

Artlover,
Never heard that one before, but what do I know? The following may be totally wrong, but I feel like taking a stab at this, so if I'm wrong, I'm sure I will be quickly pounced on. I believe that iMovie sets a maximum resolution on imported photos, your low quality ones will be used as is, I imagine. They have to be converted to a video format anyway. The video clips will be used as is, but sized as 720X480 to fit your TV screen. Am I right folks?
Forest

Acceptable File Size and Resolution for Still Photos in Keyframe Motion

Hello Hello
I know that FCE HD (as other Video Editors), will automatically fit a still photo's size to it's default capability of 720 x 480 Correct?
Well, in regard to making the best possible ZOOMS, and Pans from Still Photos, is it neccessary to re-size all your photos (from an external editor like photoshop), to a specfic size?
According to an older book for FCE, it sez that actually photos re-sized to 720x534 with a resolution of 72 are best. *The proper proportion for NTSC.
And I noticed that when I inserted larger JPG still sizes (like about a meg), on the FCE timline, and when applying Panning, or Zooms, some of the rendered images with motion didn't pan or zoom smoothly.
Is that because those file sizes were TOO large?
Well I have soooo many stills that need to be imported into this particular project that it would be a lot easier for me to just generally reduce these stills (by percentage).
And is the magic resolution amount supposed to be 72?
Because if that's the case I can re-size all my photos to 72, and try to keep the file sizes down to say 300 KB's or so.
Sound like a plan?

Thank you guys
"basically, you should try to make your images large enough so they never have to be scaled beyond 100% in the motion tab in fcp."
Actually as I mentioned some of these file sizes are very large. About 800-900 KB's - and what as a result, what I've noticed is that I actually had to DECREASE the viewing area in both the Browser Window, and the Canvas Winbow just to be able to see the whole image.
Ok - so the 72 DPI is not as important as the dimensions of the photo. But as I said I have soooooo many of these that it would take me forever to manually re-size them all not to mention the fact that re-sizing some of them (odd shapes),would throw the images out of balance.
So again I ask - if there is NO motion applied to the photo, file sizes of about 200 to 350 KB's appear just beautifully ....
BUT
If I need to PAN or ZOOM, is it ok to laod a 1 MEG sized JPG onto the timeline and start working with Keyframe?????
In fact in some cases I'm actually using these larger file JPS's (1 meg or more), so that they TOTALLLY fit the canvas window (cropping them by enlargment)
*With some clipping of the original image of course ...
Why do I do this?
So that you don't see the usual border with horizontal images, or vertical images - know what I mean?
Thanx

Resolution for Still Photos for film

Greetings,
I have a full length Digital Video film and want to add still photos to it. I have been using Photo to Movie software to add a Ken Burns effect to the photo, then exporting it under the movie format- DV(NTSC) 720x480, then importing that to the final cut time line. My question is what is the best resolution in the first place for the still photo before I do this process or is it okay to use the final render size from the Photo to Movie export? Or do you have a better idea.

I would suggest you to check your export preferences but it is my understanding that if you render the movie file, and then export, it you should be able to set the QT option for NTSC DV.

Resolution of still photo

What size files are best to import still photos into Imovie from Iphoto. I work from raw in Photoshop, import to Iphoto and then Imovie. When I go to play the still photos the images look like ****, as opposed to the images in Iphoto. These photos come from a large file size so why do they look like a pixel puzzle when they are fine in Iphoto slide show?

Welcome to the forum, Stanley.
There are lots of factors that can affect image quality. Including the possibility is that the quality is fine but iMovie doesn't let you see it.
You might find some ideas here:
http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?128@@.68abff87
Karl

Why are my (still) photos pixellated when I make a slideshow in iDVD?

I have made a slideshow of (jpeg) photographic images to play on a DVD (via a TV set). However, they now seem to be playing as pixellated photos, both on my laptop and on the tv screen... it seems to have degraded the images

ink...
DVD are presently low resolution devices - NTSC is less than 640x490 pixels and your PAL discs are less than 768x576 pixels - probably 8 to 10 times lower resolution than your original digital images.
See Preparing images for DVD slideshows at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iDVD/6.0/en/17.html for suggestions on the still image resolution to use.
By the way, did you bring the images directly into iDVD or were they exported from iPhoto?

Lumia 820 Photo Resolution Problem

Hi,
Can anyone help me solve why i cannot change the photo resolution on my Lumia 820?
When i check them on a PC they always come out at either 800x600 on 4:3 ratio or 800x450 on 16:9 ratio.
It's driving me mad there is no option in the photo settings or anywhere else in the phone to change this.
I read on another post that it can be related to skydrive uploading, although I have skydrive disabled and this problem still persists.
Please Help
Solved!
Go to Solution.

How did you download the photos to your pc? Photos uploaded to Skydrive are reduced in resolution by default unless you change the setting to Best Quality which requires wifi. To change this, goto Settings>Applications>photos+camera>Skydrive>Photos> Best quality
Other option to download high res is to connect phone to pc using USB.

Troubleshooting advice anyone? Unable to get still photo embeded in menu template.

I have Premiere Elements 9. I have completed the video and am trying to use a template from Adobe that has a spot for a still picture. I imported one and it shows on the computer but when I burn the DVD there is just a big black empty box. I tried making the photo 1000 x 750 pixils and that didn't work. I even tried using a photoshop file thinking maybe it was just proprietary but to no avail. Between this and the fact that the program is so unstable that it crashes every time I try to do something, my frustration level is pretty high. It probably crashed nearly 20 times just trying to make the video. Is this normal? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

pianoliz
You came to the right place. What you described is an old story and known issue with Premiere Elements 9.0/9.0.1. The issue is maintaining the replacement background in the end product DVD-VIDEO on DVD Disc. The remedy is to apply an audio background to the menu in disc menu customization area of the project (either audible or muted audio file).
Some would have you chasing down still image resolution et al. No way.
Please review and consider the full details in the following
ATR Premiere Elements Troubleshooting: PE 9: Disc Menu Lost Replacement Backgrounds
If any questions or need clarification on anything that I have written, please do not hesitate to ask.
Thank you.
ATR
Add On.. With regard to program stability...have you downloaded and install the 9.0.1 Update and are running that as your program. If not...
Please download and install 9.0.1 Update from the following with Premiere Elements 9 closed.
For Windows
Adobe - Premiere Elements : For Windows : Premiere Elements 9.0.1 update
For Mac
Adobe - Premiere Elements : For Macintosh : Premiere Elements 9.0.1 update

Why are still photos blurry when I play movie?

I am making a video slideshow using Adobe Premiere Elements 9. Most of the video is made up still photos. When I playback the video the still photos are blurry. What should I do to prevent this? Thanks!

I read your article Bill, and that just seems like a massive amount of work for the average individual who wants to put together a movie. Is all of that really necessary?
With PS, or PSE, and Scaling Actions, one can do batch processing of entire folders of images in moments. That linked article gives setup tips for doing batch scaling very easily, and the Action, plus Automate to Batch, will work on entire folders. My workstation will automatically process ~ 500 4000x3000 pixel images to 720x480 in about 2 mins.
There are two benefits when Scaling stills in an image processing program, prior to Import into an NLE (Non Linear Editor) program:
The processing overhead is greatly reduced
The quality is greatly improved, as the Scaling algorithms in an image processing program, are much better *
If one wants to let the NLE program do the processing, and one has many large images (especially at still camera resolutions), then they WILL need a very powerful computer.
Good luck,
Hunt
* PrPro, as of CS5, has improved the quality of Scaling, but the overhead issue still exists.

Sequence finished - PAL iDVD - Still Photos Pixelated

I have finished a sequence which contains video and stills taken be digital cameras.
I use iPhotos to sort the photos.
When I look at the output either in FCE canvas or after I burned an iDVD (and watched it thru my PowerBook) the still photos look very pixelated; much worse than the video. So what I am saying is this is not an iDVD issue altho the iDVD slideshow of the same images looked great.
I don't think the choice of PAL on the iDVD was material as the image was pixelated in the FCE canvas. But, in past projects I have ignored pixelation when viewing in FCE Canvas as the image seems to improve once one views the DVD.
I used three methods to import these photos into FCE, drag and drop directly from iPhoto into the FCE Browser pane, create a still image through Still Life and create a still image through iMovie. In both the Still Life and iMovie I did not creat any movement and 'shared' both as dv.
I would be grateful for another solution. Surely people use still images successfully in FCE.
As I am in the US I do not have access to a PAL DVD. I am making this movie up for friends in Australia.

Taking NTSC material to PAL (or vice versa) within Final Cut always looks pretty bad to me in my opinion. You really need a good software standards converter like Graeme Nattress' standards converter to do this correctly.
As far a the still images go, you still haven't said if you're looking at the output on a video monitor. The material is being rendered into an interlaced video format for that type of monitor.
How large are the images? A high resolution image that has to be scaled significantly to fit video resolution and have the pixel aspect altered may have too much detail to be modified and then compressed well in a highly compressed format like DV. You're taking your 1.2MB frame and compressing it down to the equivalent of a 120KB frame. If you start with a frame that fits the right resolution and is the correct pixel aspect Final Cut will have to do less to the image, and you're more likely to get a better result.

Poor quality "still" photo

I'm using Premiere Elements 12. When I'm choose "Tools", "Movie Menu", Then choose from a "Menu Theme", I am given the option of inserting a still photo. However, the quality of the photo in my final product is reproduced with VERY POOR resolution. Is there a solution to this problem? Does Premiere Elements 13 correct this problem?
Joe Nunes
Turlock,CA

britt142012
Thanks for the follow up.
Have we ruled out whether or not the issue exists with and without the antivirus and firewall(s) disabled?
Back to the now....
When did you get the Error 16 - after naming just the SLStore Folder to SLStoreOLD? Or did you do the renaming of both the SLCache as well as SLStore Folders to get the Error 16? You should be able to convert back to the original by deleting the newly created SLStore or SLCache Folders and removing OLD from the renamed ones. Is Error 16 gone then?
After that, try just the renaming of the SLStore Folder again.
Before we give up on renaming SLStore and SLCache Folders, check the permissions for each so that they are set for write/read for Everyone.
Then the classical generic ways....
1. Delete the Adobe Premiere Elements Prefs file and, if that does not work, delete the whole 12.0 Folder in which the Adobe Premiere Elements Prefs file exists.
Local Disk C
Users
Owner
AppData
Roaming
Adobe
Premiere Elements
12.0
and in the 12.0 Folder is the Adobe Premiere Elements Prefs file that you delete. If that does not work, then you delete the whole 12.0 Folder in which the Adobe Premiere Elements Prefs file exists. Be sure to be working with Folder Option Show Hidden Files, Folders, and Drives active so that you can see the complete path cited.
2. If that does not work....
a. uninstall the usual Control Panel way
b. do a free ccleaner run through (regular clearner and registry cleaner parts) to get rid of any leftovers from incomplete uninstalls reinstalls
CCleaner - PC Optimization and Cleaning - Free Download
c. reinstall with antivirus and firewall(s) disabled.
We will be watching for the new developments.
Thank you.
ATR

Still Photo Size

Just transitioning to FCPX from FCP Express.
I am getting ready to put together a "slide show" consisting of only still photos in FCPX. It will be projected on a 10' screen with a Sanyo PLC-XU110 projector, NTSC SD, interlaced. I am planning on preparing all of the photos in Photoshop.
I'm assuming I should use 640x480 as the size for the "slides", or does it matter as long as I use 4:3 aspect ratio? Does FCPX scale them?
Also, does ppi matter when it comes to FCPX? Does it have to be standard screen resolution of 72ppi? If so, what happens when you zoom-in or use Ken Burns? Does it pixellate? I'm kind of freaked about projecting this from a DVD player onto a 10' screen. Any help from a person experienced in this will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

I'm assuming you mean irrelevant?
If that's the case, no response necessary.
Thank you.

Still -- Photo File

Hello,
How can you take a still frame of a video and make it a picture to edit in image applications (copy other images onto frame). Any other way to do something like this?
Thanks

File > Save Frame.
You can save as a jpeg, then open in any image editing application. Expect low resolution, as far as still photos go.
I save to the desktop, then import into iPhoto so that I can easily access it with iMovie or iDVD.
To advance your movie preview one frame at a time (to help choose the best frames for saving) ust the left/right arrow keys. Shift-right advances 10 frames at a time.

Still Photo Resolution

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