photoshop tutorials - resize & optimise image

It is very important when using CMS systems such as Coppermine Photo Gallery that the images you are trying to upload aren’t too large in file size or too large to be viewed on the screen. If you have a copy of Photoshop, here’s a simple tutorial on how to resize and optimise your photos.

Note:This tutorial was written using Photoshop CS2, but this function hasn’t changed much since previous versions of photoshop, so if you have an old version, it should still work fine.

1. Open the photo you wish to make smaller File > Open.
2. To resize, click on Image then Image Size. A box will now appear.
3. In the Pixel Dimensions section, change the width to anything 800 pixels or lower. I highly recommend not going over 800 pixels for landscape pictures. For portrait pictures, make it 800 pixels high. Make sure there’s a little lock joining the height and the width, otherwise your image will skew out of shape. (If it isn’t, put a tick in the Constrain Proportions box). Click OK.
4. We’ve resized it, now we have to save and optimise it (which can be done together). Click on File > Save For Web. A box will pop up.
5. In the top left of the Preset section, a drop down box will have the following options, GIF, JPG, PNG-8, PNG-24, WBMP. Choose the JPG option.
6. Make sure there is a tick in the Optimised box, and set the quality to somewhere between 65 & 75. You will get a preview of the image as you do this. If 65 is too grainy, slide it up a little. The larger the number here, the longer the file will take to load on a customers computer and the more hosting space you will use up. Click Save.
7. Give the photo a name and choose a location to store it on your computer (like you would with any other file). Click Save.