resizing files for upload, email, etc.

[Jerram]

OK so bear with me b/c I am very new to digital photography yet I have been blessed with what I think is an excellent set up. I received a B-day gift of a Nikon D70 with Nikkor 18-70mm lens. I have already taken a couple of hundred pictures (we just had a baby) so I trying to take high quality pictures under low compression. I was told that this would optimize quality then I could resize the pics using editing software for email. Well, I have several photo editing programs and none of them seem to let me resize the photo!!!

They include: Epson Film factory "(came with the printer)
Picture Project (basic)
Dell Picture home studio (basic)

The closest I have come is the Dell program that says I can resize with an upgrade (for a charge of course.)

PLEASE tell me I am missing something. There has to be an easy way to do this. I want to be able to create a smaller copy of the original then retain the original for printing/editing etc.

Thanks so much. Hopefully I can figure this out and upload some reasonably sized pictures for you guys to critique....

Jeremy aka Jerram

[jerrymeola]

You have a $1300 camera and it is time to spend $60 on Adobe Photpshop Elements 3.

There is a lot more you are missing in the software you have. The D70 is a professional grade camera that shoots photos that are soft. This is intentional because it gives more control in post processing. You need to post process especially sharpening. You do not realise how much better your photos can become.

for emails I can give you a free quicker solution. Get a hotmail account. It is free and they have the best attachments for putting photos into an email. It allows you to select any number of photos from a file by clicking on a browser type window and then resizes for you without changing the original. Even if you never use the account for anything but photo emails it is worth the effort.

For internet postng like this forum you need to resize to about 400x600 pixels at compression 6 for about a 56K file.

[Jerram]

Thanks...I found Adobe Photoshop 7 that my wife had but never used. I know its not the most current but it'll serve my purposes for now. Please look for my first couple of photos on the critique page. I will try to post some opinions of my own but I am afraid they will be kind of amateur. I am eager to learn!

Jerram

[jerrymeola]

I still use Photoshop 7 myself.

At your level the only feature missing from CS is the ability to work directly with raw images. It did not seem like you were using raw, and really unles you are very heavy into post-processing the extra controls is confuse more than help your photos.

Learn one feature at a time. Start with levels either direct Cntl L or use the adjustment layers. Layers allow you to change it later but at the expense of much bigger files. Layers works with sliders and you can see the changes so it is easy to learn.

Then use unsharp mask try my favorite setting of 30-60-1 this sharpens and brightens a photo without the harsh effect of direct sharpening. Occasionally direct sharpening works better then try 200-3-1 this sharpens the edges a lot. It also gives you immediate results on the screen so is easy to judge results.

Find the history palette and use it often to view yourearlier results backward from the current. You can go back to any step that is saved and restart from that point.

That is enough for you to start. Then go to the stamp tool Cntl S and move detail from one part of the photo to another such as removing spots. Learn one tool at a time and do not try too much at first.

Under image is the resize tool. When resizing for the web set the size as 400-600 and the dpi at 72. Leave the resample box checked or you accomplish nothing for the internet. It will overwrite your original to save this image now so use Save As and give it a new name you will recognise such as OLDNAME_small file.jpg Compression amount 5 is a good value. Then you will have two copies the original and the saved smaller file. The smaller file will be a 4x6 inch image on most monitors and small enough to load quickly.

[Jerram]

Thanks Jerry! I have printed your advice and I will be spending some QT with the program. If you have a minute, please check out my first 2 photos posted for critique. One is a B/W in the people page and the other one is a pair of Marigolds on the nature page. I am seeking honest critiques so don't hold back. Thanks again,

Jerram

[melbaby]

Thanks Jerry! I tried your tip on unsharp mask 30-60-1. I had never tried that one, and it takes care of lots of imaging all in one step. I was doing many roundabout things , and one simple step seems better than what I was doing!

[jerrymeola]

Another thing you may like is NoiseWare from

http://www.imagenomic.com/

Your camera image size does not have much noise so you may never have used noise reduction software.

I find this product when used at its default settings does an excellant job in blending the uneven skin tones in a child's photograph. It interprets the uneveness as noise and blends it.

They have a Community Edition that is a free download. It is simple to use and quite fast for what it does.

[jerrymeola]

I should have mentioned that with unsharp mask it should be the last thing you do before using the image to print ot post.

It has different results depending on the size of the image and many other tools in photoshop will modify the result. So it is best to be the last step in your retouching.

[ponder]

Jerry,

You're a welcome wealth of knowledge concerning post processing. I myself use Photo Element 2.0 and I really like the product and don't relish the thought of spending $800 or more on Photoshop CS. As it is I only use the basics in Elements even after purchasing the training videos from Total Training which helped me immensely in the art of post processing.

I tried your unsharp mask 30-60-1 and 200-3-1 rule and the effects are very interesting. I have a document that I created when I first became a member here at Byte that I copy interesting tidbits into that I can use later when I need them. Your information went into that document.

I also downloaded and installed the Noiseware Community Edition that you talked about in your last thread. It is a very interesting product too, since I'm always looking for ways to reduce noise in some of my images.

Thanks again!

Ponder

[jerrymeola]

Ponder,

The only reason I can see for moving from Elements 2 is to use Raw images and you can get this in Elements 3 for about $65. There is really very little reason for any regular photographer to upgrade to CS.

[ponder]

Jerry,
Many people on this site, Chronos III included have recommended that I move up to Photo Elements 3 and I think I will do just that in the near future. Like you said, unless you're using Photoshop CS for a business or you're a graphics wizard, there's really no reason to purchase it.

I hope you keep checking back here in the future to give us some more of your tips and tricks, because it's nice to learn from someone who's into Photoshop like you are and especially if some of those tricks can be done in Elements too.

Thanks again,

Dave

[jerrymeola]

when using 60-30-1 on unsharp mask do not use a magnification higher than 30 as the results become harsh, but you can apply 30-60-1 several times for greater sharpening.

Then use the history palette to compare the the different results. You should over do it once it see the overall results. You will find once or twice is sufficient, but sometimes i find after I have gone too far that going back in the history palette to the last almost perfect one, I can change the intensity to 10-15 instead of 30 and fine tune it better.

[RDC]

For easy photo resizing, Photosize.com provides a free online resizing service. There is no limit to the number of photos that you can resize. Speed depends on your internet connection. Dial-up users may find this site too slow.