Sizeing image for the web

[cosmonaut]

Now that I am Digital, I bought an Olympus E-500. I am dealing with much larger files than in the past. What is the best way to resize images for the web without creating compression noise or distortions? I use PhotoShop 7.
Cosmo

 

[The_Traveler]

Image>size> enter dimensions in pixels , make certain resample and constrin proportions are checked

 

[highwoodhiker]

The best way is to use 'save for web'. I wouldn't try resampling it as the Traveler suggested beause it will do this in 'save for web' in (what I assume) is a better way and allow you to chooose the size and after saving it you will still have your original intact and full size loaded on the main page.
You can choose quality up to to 100. If you click on 4 up, it will give you 3 photos that you can try various settings on and compare results by clicking on each and moving the 0-100 slider. The higher the setting, the larger the file. Then click on image size, enter the required dimension in pixels and it will optimize it, give you a preview and allow you to save it.
I also have PS7 and I have found a few issues. They may be due to the program itself or because I don't have a lot of RAM in my old computer.(or both)
Sometimes, a heavily processed photo that has a large file size will not save at 100% but will at 80. At 100 I get a warning that PS was not designed for a file that size and out of memory errors or delays in processing may result. At first I would try anyway and it would get bogged down and then tell me it couldn't do it. But I find that there is no difference that one can notice between 80 and 100 so I usually leave it at 80 and it is always there by default whenever I go to save for web. My camera is 6 MP and I've never had a problem with a setting of 80 with any size file. Recently I downloaded some 10 MP files and worked on them and when I tried to save for web, I got the same warning. But with it set at 80, it still did it succesfully but it just took a very long time.
If you can't get an image to save because it is too large, you could try resampling it to about half the size, as traveller mentioned, and then going to save for web but considering how much faster it does it this way (and doesn't give a warning)compare to when it is done in save for web, I don't think it's doing it at as good a quality.
Let me know how it goes and if you need any further help.

 

[The_Traveler]

'Save for web' strips out exif information which is foten useful in making critiques

 

[ksmattfish]

I used to use all sorts of complicated methods of reducing file size. Then I did some personal testing, and decided it was a waste of time for me. Now I just change the image size to 500 or 600 pixels wide or tall, and then run just a bit of USM or smart sharpen. Then I save for web. The files look the same as when I worked them in multi-stage reductions and sharpening.

 

[markc]

Now I just change the image size to 500 or 600 pixels wide or tall, and then run just a bit of USM or smart sharpen. Then I save for web.

That's what I do, with at least 80% quality. A small amount of sharpening after resizing can help a lot, as long as you haven't over-sharpened to start with.