Corel Paintshop X2 size reduced after editing

[silvia77]

Hi,
I still can´t decide whether to buy Adobe Elements 6 or Paintshop Pro X2. I have a trial version of the paintshop now and really like it. But I noticed, that the file size will reduce drastically (from 1.16MB to 438KB), even if I only straighten it or remove an object. So it will obviously change the quality of the picture, too.. However, the dimension stays the same. Does it mean, that the Pixel are still the same, too?
Is there a setting I can change or is it just the Trial Version?
Adobe always keeps the file size, even after editing.

Can anyone help or give me a tip?

[Suvek]

It all depends on file format and its settings (if its lossy format). With lossless formats theres no quality change (but size can change as the file can be compressed).
What file formats do you work with?

[silvia77]

Thanks for your reply. I use Jpg format, my camera is set to the highest resolution and I don´t want to lose resolution with editing pictures. I am pretty new to all that , so all I ´d like to hear is, that it doesn´t change the resolution, even if the file size reduces;o)

I only just noticed, that the dimension will stay the same, if I only remove an object or so..

[Suvek]

If it produces smaller JPEG it means there is quality loss. JPEG is lossy format and even Adobe damages the file a little every time you resave it. Different file sizes just mean that there is different default quality used in those two programs.

In Paintshop you can set JPEG quality in export -> JPEG optimizer (if i remember correctly )
but to keep maximal possible quality don't edit your JPEG photo directly. Keep your original photo and edit its copies preferably in lossless format like PNG and save to JPEG for presentation when you're done (PNG photos are pretty big for distribution).

[silvia77]

Thanks. Now it all becomes slightly clearer I just tried to activate the JPG optimizer setting, but it seems like I have to do it for every picture I edit seperately.
Is there a simple easy step to change it for all the photos I am editing?
And how can I change a photo to PNG, edit it and save it back to JPG. Seems like a bit of an effort to do it for every single picture I edit.

Would Adobe Elements be the alternative after all?

[Ted D]

It shouldn't automatically change the file size. If you just straighten the picture and save unless your cropping at the same time. It is possible if your using save as - make sure you save at the highest quality with no compression. I have use PSP and have never had of changing the file size with out some cropping or saving at lower quality.

[silvia77]

Thanks for the reply, but how can I change to the setting to automatically save as the highest quality?
Can the reason be, that I only have a trial version? I just don´t want to purchase it and then realize, that my photo sizes are all getting messed up..

[Suvek]

... save at the highest quality with no compression ...

Well for standard JPEG there's no "no compression" option. Setting highest quality for JPEG still results in lossy compression (often not significant but its still there). JPEG 2000 provides lossless variant but it's hard to tell if its more or less efficient than PNG (well its probably little more efficient for common photos, but results vary).


Adobe Elements or Paintshop Pro its both the same. Not sure how to change default quality settings, i don't have PSP here (and use it just ocassionaly ) but I'm sure the option is there somewhere, should be even in trial version. Its common thing.

You can try to "save as" different lossless formats and compare sizes or simply forget about perfectly lossless compression and save high quality standard JPEGs and accept some losses (you may hardly notice that quality is lower).

[coningham]

Save the file as a PNG instead or PSP's native file format (.pspimage, which also retains layers and other file information that can be useful). JPEGs will ALWAYS lose quality in some level - in your case, the quality seems to be really low (high compression).