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SSL-ADT
Inspiring
April 19, 2025
Answered

Saving a copy of a .PSDC file on computer as WebP to reduce file size, but... not consistent

  • April 19, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 612 views

Hi Everyone,

 

I have two .PSDC files that I saved as a copy to local SSD.  The first one has a size of 2.57 MB, and the other 2.58 MB.

 

Once converted into WebP files, one ends up with a file size of 43 KB, and the other 193 KB. Why so much difference? 

 

The both compressions were set at Lossy 65%. Is this a good percentage for website use?

 

Regards,

 

-Ron

Correct answer Stephen Marsh

I'm trying to understand why I get 43 KB on one image and 193 KB on another. They are both the same image size within the .PSDC files.  They were both saved as WebP using Lossy at 65%. I just tried 15%, and the output image file is still too heavy to load.

 

 


Compression is dependent on image content, even more so for lossy. Even if two different images are the same size and pixel dimensions when uncompressed or lossless compressed, saving to lossy formats like JPEG or lossy WebP will compress differently and provide much smaller sizes and the resulting files may well be different in file sizes ratio when they were originally 1:1.

 

If the size is still too large, then you can do four things:

 

1) Add greater compression 

 

2) Reduce pixel dimensions 

 

3) Reduce bit depth 

 

4) Blur non-critical content (or not sharpen)

1 reply

Stephen Marsh
Community Expert
Stephen MarshCommunity Expert
Community Expert
April 19, 2025

Wouldn't a local save of a PSDC be a PSD?

 

Regardless, the native Photoshop document uses lossless compression.

 

Your WebP examples use an aggressive lossy compression.

 

What if you saved the WebP as a lossless compression? Keep in mind that PSD can also contain layers and other things which may also impact file size.

S
SSL-ADTAuthor
Inspiring
April 19, 2025

All my .PSDC files are stored on Adobe Cloud. Both files utilized the same compression, and a single layer on both.

Nevertheless, I will try your suggestions.

 

Thanks

 

 

Stephen Marsh
Community Expert
Stephen MarshCommunity Expert
Community Expert
April 19, 2025
quote

All my .PSDC files are stored on Adobe Cloud.

 

That's why I said they would be a different format when saved locally, your original post mentioned PSDC on a local SSD, which didn't make sense.

 

quote

I will try your suggestions.

 

By @SSL-ADT


My suggestion is only to try to help you understand that file sizes are related to whether lossy or lossless compression is used.

 

You seemed surprised that the WebP files were smaller than the PSDC files, when this is to be expected. Lossless compression may result in similar file sizes for similar dimension files, while lossy compression, which is dependent on the content may show more variation in file sizes. 

The larger sized WebP files likely have more "action" in them (detail, noise, sharpness) than the smaller sized files.

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