file sizes in CS2

guitarkid · Sep 14, 2006

i shoot in raw with my 20D and 30, do my color correcting stuff in CS2, then export to TIFF. the tiff files are around 35MB each or so. after i do my cropping and dodge and burn on the TIFFS, i export them to jpg with imgage processor, i think that is what it's called. anyway, i set the setting to 12 (highest) and the jpgs come out between 885k and 3mb! why are some so small! and why is the dpi set to 240 by default!

how can i change the dpi to 300. i find it stupid that CS2 has only one setting and that is "please choose a scale of 1-12 for quality." how lame is that......where are the detailed settings!!! maybe i'm looking in the wrong spot but where do you guys go to convert tiff to jpeg!
thanks,
steve

Arch · Sep 15, 2006

hmmm..... im not sure what other settings you'd want, to convert a tiff to jpeg?..... The scale from 1 to 12 is there to make it easier and less confusing for people to create a jpeg with a specific size.
If you watch the numbers at the bottom of the jpeg window as you move the slider, you get the filesize as well as the estimated upload time depending on speed of internet connection. I cant think of anything else you would need to know.

As far as your dpi problem.... its set to 240 dpi by default of the RAW software, not photoshop..... so thats easy to change, in the dpi window at the bottom of your RAW converter.

Its difficult to say why your files range from 885k to 3mb..... it could be the amount of cropping used.... the amount of info in the image.... or maybe the overall file size.
Check the file dimensions in the 'image size' window before you convert to jpeg to see what size it is before any conversion takes place.

ksmattfish · Sep 15, 2006

Just an idea, before calling the industry leading, professional graphics editing software that almost everyone uses "lame", consider that you don't understand how to use it.

The 1-12 choice when saving a jpeg is about file compression. All jpegs are compressed. 12 is the least compressed, 1 is the most.

DPI does not change file size or resolution. If your back yard is 30 feet by 30 feet, you could also describe it as 10 yards by 10 yards, but that doesn't change the size of your backyard. If you have a file that's 300x300 resolution, and you set it to 300 dpi, then it prints 1"x1". If you set it to 100 dpi it prints 3"x3". If you set it to 10 dpi, then it prints 10"x10". All of them are still 300x300 resolution. If you take your files to a lab, they ignore whatever your dpi is set at, and print it whatever size you asked for. You can adjust dpi in the raw converter, or under "Image Size" in any version of Photoshop at anytime. If you have the "Resample Image" checked when you change dpi, it will change the resolution, so make sure the "Resample Image" is unchecked when messing with dpi.

When saving a tiff as a jpeg, just choose the "save as" function, and change the file type from tiff to jpeg. The image converter is more for changing file types as a batch action.

When I save an uncropped file from the 20D as a quality 12 jpg it usually ranges in size from 3.5 mb to 6.5 mb. Color images tend to be larger than BW. If you crop all the way around, it might not look like you are removing that much of the file, but do the math on the area of what you have removed with the crop, and it adds up big.

guitarkid · Sep 15, 2006

thanks guys. i know how photoshop works and how compression works but i'm learning more on RAW conversion. sorry i forgot to mention that it IS batching that i'm doing. 800 TIFFS need to be converted to JPG. also, in the RAW converter there is no setting for dpi. i guess 240 is good enough as a default. my main concern is when couples or bands get their stuff printed, i want it to look good. i have to set to a quality of "11" when uploading photos to the lab since they have a 4mb cap on each file. setting to 11 usually makes the largest file around 3.9 or something like that so i just make it.

as great as photoshop is and as advanced as adobe is, i am surprised to see only a basic scale 1-12 for quality. i'm always more interested in advanced settings. for the RAW converter it would be nice to have dpi, scaling, etc etc, instead of just a simple 1-12 scale, that is all i meant.

it's good enough how it is now but i was just looking for more. seems like such an advanced product would have advanced settings features during batch RAW conversion. thanks for your help!