optimizing images

[ssg2003]

Hi All,

I have noticed that some sites have great looking images, really sharp and crisp, load really fast, and are small file sizes. I know that you can slice and optimize images with Xara, but are there any programs available that allow you to optimize images, really small file sizes, with minimal quality reduction?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Cheers!

[ssg2003]

Hi All,

I have noticed that some sites have great looking images, really sharp and crisp, load really fast, and are small file sizes. I know that you can slice and optimize images with Xara, but are there any programs available that allow you to optimize images, really small file sizes, with minimal quality reduction?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Cheers!

[stratocast]

If you're talking about JPEG's, I've used The Jpeg Wizard (http://www.pegasusimaging.com/jpegwizard.htm) to good effect. It allows you to compress different regions of an image at different settings, which is handy.

If you do a Google search for 'jpeg optimization' or 'image optimization', you'll find plenty of apps to choose from.

-- Bob
http://www.aphroditesun.com
"It's a small world, but I wouldn't like to paint it"

[gwpriester]

Part of the decision is whether to use GIF (best for type and areas of flat color) or JPEG, best for photographs, but not very good for large areas of flat color (especially red).

I use Xara for most of my image export and I am happy with the results. It is really a matter of experimenting to get the best ratio of image quality to file size.

70-80% works well with most JPEG images, though if the image has a lot of texture and not much solid areas, I can sometimes get pretty good results with 50-60% compression.

GIF images default to 256 colors. But sometimes you can get by reducing the number of colors to 128, 64 or even 32. And if I have type and a photo in one image, I will often make a 256 color GIF to get better looking text.

In short. Experiment.

Gary

Gary Priester

Moderator Person


<a href="http://www.gwpriester.com">
www.gwpriester.com </a>


<a href="http://www.xaraxone.com">
The Xara Xone </a>

[ssg2003]

Thank you both for your tips and suggestions.

Best,
Steve