Photoshop Crisis

Sketchywallflowr · Post by **Sketchywallflowr** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 8:12 am

This seemed as good a place as any for this, since it IS comic related...

I've been trying to work on Photoshop at work, and there is something I can't get the knack of- sizing. I scanned in several comics using a photoscanner (much higher DPI than one I normally use) and thusly, they were huge files. So I tried to bring down the size by both changing the document size and using the crop tool, but they're always too big. I'm having the same problem with making an avatar as well- while the file says it's 100X100 pix, it's also a 29K file. And if I bring down the resolution, if I resize it, even when it says the image size is, say, 17K (less than is needed), it STILL says it's too big.

So my query is such: How do I get the file size of a document in Photoshop down without making the literal size of the comic so small I can't even read it? I'd really like to know, since it's the only guaranteed acess to a scanner and internet I have. Is the problem in how big I scan it, or is there something I'm missing?

HELP!!

Rkolter · Post by **Rkolter** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 8:20 am

Tips, Techniques, and Tricks forum, maybe?

Kemmy · Post by **Kemmy** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 8:21 am

Hey, Sketchy. Don't worry about the file size until you're ready to save the comic for uploading. Then click on File--Save for Web. This feature will allow you to transfer your file to jpeg, gif, or png format while simultaneously compressing it without making it too small to read. You can also choose a resolution that will allow the image to fit on a standard desktop (generally under 750 or 800 dpi wide).

I think that's all more or less okay. More experienced Photoshoppers may correct or modify my advice, though.

Swikan · Post by **Swikan** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 8:28 am

Yes, photoshop has a "save for web" feature, right there next to "save" and "save as" in the file menu. That should help. I always work in 300dpi and "safe for web" as the last step before I upload to the comicgenesis server.

Based on advice from in here, I also save as a .png file. (my comics have transparencies and this seems to work better than .gif)

Nervous Spy · Post by **Nervous Spy** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 9:54 am

The "Image Size..." dialogue lets you adjust document size, resolution and pixel dimensions separately. For print, set the resolution to 300 dpi, and the document size to the size you want the printed file to be. For web use, set the resolution to 72 dpi, and the pixel size to the size at which you want the file to display. If you want to use your file for both, use the higher resolution and size for the actual Photoshop file, and create a .jpg, .gif or .png for web use by adjusting the pixel size and resolution in the 'Save for web...' dialogue.

Ignore the kb size show above Pixel Dimensions - that's just a theoretical value, not taking any compression into account (and thus, always 29kb for a 100px x 100px file). If you use 'Save for web', the final size is way, way below that.

Robin Pierce · Post by **Robin Pierce** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 9:55 am

rkolter wrote:Tips, Techniques, and Tricks forum, maybe?

yep - sent on over. left shadow thread so it can be found.

Sketchywallflowr · Post by **Sketchywallflowr** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:52 am

Wow, thanks everyone! Y'all so damn helpful! ^_^

Moonshadow · Post by **Moonshadow** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 4:09 pm

The really nice thing about the Save for Web feature, too, is that it lets you preview your file before you save it, so you can actually see how it's going to look reduced. I usually use it to get my compression as far down as I can before I have a noticeable quality loss...