Reducing Filesize for Submissions

From JCWiki

Reducing an image's filesize is a delicate balance between physical size(its size on the screen) and optimization (the compression of the image), so you might have to jump between the two to get a satisfactory image (i.e., crop it, do some optimization, resize it, re-optimize, etc., etc.).

You have to be careful doing this so that your image doesn't become too small for people to see the detail it contains. Submissions with really small pictures will be denied if it's hard to make out the custom.

Examples use MyImager's online photo editing application, but the basic ideas will apply for any program. Keep in mind that MyImager will always display the current filesize and dimensions below your image:

You will see this information for your image within MyImager.

Opening your image

It should go without saying that you must open your image before you can edit it. In 99.99% of image editing programs, you will find this command under the File menu.

Opening your image in MyImager

• Choose File > Open from the menu bar
• Locate your file on your drive
• Click the Upload button

Be aware that MyImager has a 500K filesize limit. If your image is larger than this, you will not be able to open it using MyImager and will need to find another way to edit your file.

Reducing the physical size of the image

I'd say a lot of you scan in pictures of figures at almost "life-size" when you do so. That's really not going to cut it for the site. In order to save space and bandwidth, I require you to fit you images under a certain file size limit. The first step you can make in getting under that limit if reducing the physical size of your image. For JoeCustoms, anything over 300 pixels wide or over 600 pixels tall will be auto-resized to be down below those values, so you might as well shoot to fit under them from the start.

Cropping

The first thing you can do when resizing an image is cropping. This gets rid of extraneous space around the image that really doesn't matter in the final "product."

If I start with the following image, which is 36k in size:

My starting image.

And crop it to get rid of extra space, I'll wind up with this image, which is 16k in size:

My cropped image.

Cropping with MyImager

• Choose Edit > Crop from the menu bar once you have opened your file (if it isn't already).
• On the page you get reloaded to, you will see the image you are editing. Start by clicking the mouse in the upper left corner of an imaginary box that will include the part of the picture you want to keep.
• Now you should click the area where the lower right corner of your imaginary box would fall
• If you have done this corrrectly you will see something like this (but with different numbers):

The panel that shows you what coordinates you are using to define the upper left and lower right corners of your cropping box.

• Click the Submit button.
• After a page refresh, you will see the newly cropped image. This has not modified the image on your hard drive in any way. If the image is now below the file size limit for JoeCustoms.com, you might want to skip to saving the image to your hard drive. If it is not, you might want to try optimizing it a little before you try to resize it.
• Please remember that you can undo anything by clicking the "Undo" button:

The Undo button.

Resizing

If you don't need to crop your image, or, after cropping the image is still too big (and trying a little optimization still results in either an image that is too big or an image that looks bad), you should try resizing the image.

If your image is already within the limits of the maximum width and height that JoeCustoms.com allows (500 pixels wide X 600 pixels tall), you might want to go ahead and try optimization, if you haven't already. However, if you image is some ungodly size (1000 pixels wide X 3000 pixels tall), resizing just might be for you.

Resizing with MyImager

• Choose Edit > Resize from the menu bar.
• You will now see the following:

The Resizing panel of MyImager.

• Select Yes for Maintain original aspect ratio?
• Put in a value for the image's height OR width, but not both, keeping in mind JoeCustoms.com's maximum acceptable height and width mentioned above. Also, remember that the image's current width and height is shown below it.
• Press Submit
• If I start with the cropped image from above, which is currently 150 pixels wide by 309 pixels high and resize it using Option 2 and a width of 100, it would look like this (100 pixels wide by 206 pixels high and is only 8K in size, though it would be denied in a submission for being so small from a physical size standpoint):

A resized image.

• Please remember that you can undo anything by clicking the "Undo" button:

The Undo button.

Optimizing the image

Once you have the image to the physical size you think you'd like, if it's still not below the JoeCustoms.com file size limit, you should follow these steps:

• Choose Optimize > JPG > Quality from the menu bar once you have opened your file (if it isn't already).
• You will be presented with a text box which will enable you to choose an optimization option between 1 and 100:

The JPG Quality settings.

• 99 is best while 1 is worst, but that also means that 99 will result in a large final file. Also, if your image starts at a setting of 80, you can not make it look any better by upping this value to 90. You can't improve with data that isn't there. My recommendation is anywhere between 75-85.
• Type in the value and click Submit.
• If you have put in a value greater that the image's existing quality value, the site will tell you this, along with "he image has been either optimized already or this filter's settings are too high to lower the file size."
• If you put in a valid value, you will be given the size of the file before and after the optimization, a percentage savings:

A successful (operation-wise) optimization.

• Please remember that you can undo anything by clicking the "Undo" button:

The Undo button.

• If your image looks "blurry" or "pixelly" you have probably over optimized it (like I have to the image below). If it is still over the file size limit, you should undo the optimization and then resize it a bit further before trying to optimize it again.

An over optimized JPG image.

• If the image looks great, but is still over the file size limit, you will need to either crop or resize it further before continuing.

Saving the image

Once you are done working with your image, you will want to save it.

Saving with MyImager

• Choose File > Save from the menu bar.
• You will then be given a link and instructions on downloading your new file. You should probably give it a better name that what is provided, but also you should consider keeping the original file intact in case you decide to redo it. It is better to start with the original than this edited image should you wish to try resizing, cropping or optimizing it in the future.