Resizing Pictures for use on the web

Hello I am completely new to Xara. I have been using Serif products for years but from watching videos and doing research I think Xara will be better for me once I get used to it.

In Serif Photo Plus I can click an export button and then change the resolution, size or file type. This has been fairly useful enlarging images for print or reducing them for the web.

I have bought the full Designer Pro 11 package with everything in it. Can anybody advise me where I have to go and what I have to do to get the results I need?

Also, I did see somewhere that Xara Web Designer very cleverly only publishes the images at the optimum size for the web. Is that really true? Does that mean I don't need to worry about reducing the image size for web projects?

When you publish your webpage or website, Xara automatically reduces or sets the resolution to 96dpi. If you have opted for Retina (hi def) Images (Web Properties > Website) then a duplicate image is saved at 192dpi and will be substituted if the viewer is viewing on a mobile device that supports retina resolution. This is all done automatically.

You can optimize your images to reduce file size when you are working on your document. For example, if you have a large photo that is only being used in a small size, you can optimize the photo to 192dpi

When you publish your webpage or website, Xara automatically reduces or sets the resolution to 96dpi.

Where does it say this Gary?

I don't understand how inches relate to web pages.

My understanding is:

Xara knows how many pixels wide the web page is. Let's say it's 1000px.

If your image is covering half the web page, Xara will make it 500px in size for "normal" screens and optionally a 2x version of 1000px.

I really don't see where 96dpi comes in any of this.

I have been having trouble with my keyboard this morning. e.g. freezing in the middle of a response. But I am not sure where I referenced inches.

sets the resolution to 96dpi.

That's an inch measure, but totally irrelevant as far as web pages go. As far as a browser is concerned they could all be 2,000 dpi

You're splitting hairs, Paul. 96 dpi or ppi represents 1:1 scale on a Windows monitor. What you see at 1:1 on the monitor is when published as a website image will appear to be the same size in the browser on a Windows computer. Regardless of the actual physical size of the image in pixels. Slightly larger on a Mac, I think it is 125% larger because of the native screen resolution of Macs.

The attached image shows two photos, both in Xara that are 500 x 333 pixels. The top image has not been optimized and is 5000 x 3332, and shows a ppi (dpi) size of 960 dpi. The actual file size for each image is 1.53MB for the 960 dpi version vs 43K for the 96 dpi version.

When these images are published, they will be published at the same size at 96d pi (and 200% or 192 dpi for retina display).

That said, the member's post addresses the question of need or lack of need to change the resolution of the image to use on the web. And the short answer to all this numbers and semantics game is the process is automatic.

96 dpi or ppi represents 1:1 scale on a Windows monitor

You cannot assume that is at all revalant to web pages because the user may not be using windows, the manufacturer can have a physical DPI that does not conform to that density and the browser pixel ratio doesn't have to match the physical DPI of the device at all.

As far as the original question by the OP, DPI has no relevance at all.

Mark you'll find that Xara will export new images and size them in pixel proportion to their size on your web design. As Gary says, Xara will set a DPI value in the graphic, but it's totally irrelevant as far as browsers are concerned.

Oh, it seems that I'm the most dummy guy here, I use Xara to edit photos merely, while resizing photos with some other batch EXIF editing tool, which can downsize photos with no losing quality. I never know how to do it in Xara, though I know it can do much better.

which can downsize photos with no losing quality.

That will depend on the amount the image is shrunk. You will always lose resolution.