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sallyd70179725
Participant
July 25, 2022
Question

Lightroom compressing jpgs when exporting?

  • July 25, 2022
  • 3 replies
  • 4470 views

It looks like my jpgs exporting from Lightroom Classic are getting compressed...  I don't think that I changed any settings but the exported files are much smaller than the originals and I'm not sure that the quality will be as good for printing.  This didn't use to happen so I'm wondering if something in the export settings changed when Lightroom was updated??  When looking for a solution I noticed that there are Facebook & Instagram plug-ins - I didn't install these but could this be causing the problem??  I want to export my jpgs as high quality as possible and I''m having a nightmare having designed a photobook with Blurb which contains hundreds of photos - I don't know which ones were exported at high resolution so it looks like I will have to go through every photo at this rate and replace them with newly exported versions...

As you can tell, I'm an amateur and don't really know what I'm doing - if anyone can help I would really appreciate it.

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3 replies

Per Berntsen
Community Expert
Per BerntsenCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 25, 2022

Jpgs are always compressed, that's the whole point of the jpg format; to reduce the file size at the cost of quality.

If you want the highest possible image quality, set Quality to 100 when exporting.

This does not mean 100% quality, i.e. identical to the original, there will still be some quality loss, but it may not be visible.

To evaluate image quality, export full size jpgs, import them back to Lightroom, and compare with the original at 100%.

Do not use Output sharpening for this comparison.

    dj_paige
    dj_paige
    Legend
    July 25, 2022
    quote

     

    To evaluate image quality, export full size jpgs, import them back to Lightroom, and compare with the original at 100%.


    By @Per Berntsen

     

    Assuming there is no Develop preset applied at Import, and the default settings of all sliders are at zero, then yes this will work. If there is a develop preset applied at Import, or even non-zero default settings for the sliders, then this does not work.

      dj_paige
      dj_paige
      Legend
      July 25, 2022
      quote

      It looks like my jpgs exporting from Lightroom Classic are getting compressed...  I don't think that I changed any settings but the exported files are much smaller than the originals and I'm not sure that the quality will be as good for printing. 

       

      JPG file size is not an indicator of quality. How can you determine the quality of an image that is needed for printing? You need to have the proper number of pixels per inch when you print; again this has nothing to do with file size. For a 4x6 or 5x7 print, you might need 300 pixels per inch. For larger prints, you can get away with fewer pixels per inch. (In addition, JPG is a compression technology, JPGs are supposed to be a lot smaller than the original)

       

      I want to export my jpgs as high quality as possible and I''m having a nightmare having designed a photobook with Blurb which contains hundreds of photos - I don't know which ones were exported at high resolution so it looks like I will have to go through every photo at this rate and replace them with newly exported versions...


      If you are creating the Blurb book from within Lightroom Classic (are you?) then LrC takes care of all of the quality business, you don't have to set any settings. But you don't have to export a JPG first for LrC to create the book, you can select the original (edited perhaps) from within LrC, no exporting needed.

        S
        sallyd70179725Author
        Participant
        July 26, 2022

        Thanks for responding.

        I'm not creating the Blurb book within Lightroom but using Blurb's BookWright software.  I'm wishing that I had used the Blurb plug-in in Lightroom now but with a book of 100+ pages and 500+ photos I don't think that I can start again...

         

         

        dj_paige
        dj_paige
        Legend
        July 26, 2022

        So what is the quality issue here? File size, as I stated above, does not indicate quality problems. Please explain.

        AxelMatt
        Community Expert
        AxelMattCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        July 25, 2022

        Which export settings do you use? Can you please post a screenshot about the settings?

        I don't think that the plugin where a part of the issue.

         

        More infos about export settings you'll find here:

        Export presets, settings, and plug-ins in Lightroom Classic (adobe.com)

        Best Lightroom Export Settings To Use (photographylife.com)

        What Lightroom Export Quality Should You Use With JPEGs? - PFRE (photographyforrealestate.net)

         

        My System: Intel i7-8700K - 64GB RAM - NVidia Geforce RTX 3060 - Windows 11 Pro 25H2 -- LR-Classic 15 - Photoshop 27 - Nik Collection 8 - PureRAW 5 - Topaz Photo
        S
        sallyd70179725Author
        Participant
        July 26, 2022

        Thanks for responding.  The weird thing is that the files are now exporting from Lightroom bigger than the originals...  So if I import a file, export it and then compare the 2 files side by side there is no difference that I can see visually but the exported file is bigger.  Now I need to know if I need to replace all of the pictures in the Blurb layout with re-exported files (which will take many many hours) or if the files that I've worked with already will look the same as re-exported files once they're printed.

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