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Lightroom compressing jpgs when exporting?

New Here ,
Jul 25, 2022 Jul 25, 2022

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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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Community Expert ,
Jul 25, 2022 Jul 25, 2022

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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 10 Pro 22H2 -- LR-Classic 13.2 - Photoshop 25.5 - Nik Collection 6.8 - Topaz Photo AI 2

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New Here ,
Jul 25, 2022 Jul 25, 2022

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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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LEGEND ,
Jul 25, 2022 Jul 25, 2022

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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.

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New Here ,
Jul 25, 2022 Jul 25, 2022

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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...

 

 

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LEGEND ,
Jul 26, 2022 Jul 26, 2022

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

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Community Expert ,
Jul 25, 2022 Jul 25, 2022

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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.

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LEGEND ,
Jul 25, 2022 Jul 25, 2022

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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.

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New Here ,
Jul 25, 2022 Jul 25, 2022

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I've tried this - there is no difference that I can see between the images by eye... But there is a big difference in size - e.g. 8.54MB vs 1.43MB

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Community Expert ,
Jul 26, 2022 Jul 26, 2022

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As I said before, the purpose of the jpg format is to produce smaller files.

And the file size of a jpg does not tell you anything about image quality.

There are three factors that influence the file size of a jpg:

Pixel dimensions, quality setting when exporting, and image content.

Image content can have huge influence on file size. Images with lots of busy, sharp detail (or noise) will have a much larger file size than images with predominantly flat, smooth, or out of focus areas.

See the two images below, which have the same pixel dimensions, and are exported with the same quality setting.

One is almost 6 times larger than the other.

 

"The weird thing is that the files are now exporting from Lightroom bigger than the originals..."

This can happen if your original is a jpg, and you sharpen it in Develop, and/or use Output sharpening.

If the image is noisy, and you sharpen the noise, or if you use a high Clarity or Texture setting, this will also contribute to a larger file size.

 

_dsf7592.jpg

2.72 MB

 

_dsf7710.jpg

447 KB

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LEGEND ,
Jul 26, 2022 Jul 26, 2022

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I've tried this - there is no difference that I can see between the images by eye... But there is a big difference in size - e.g. 8.54MB vs 1.43MB


By @sallyd70179725

 

No difference seen by a human eye! Sounds like there is NO noticeable quality problem.

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New Here ,
Oct 03, 2022 Oct 03, 2022

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I have the same problem. I upload 2mb jpg and get the same 8mb file after exporting from lightroom with quality settings 100. If I export not jpg but "original", then I will save an absolutely analogous file to the original one. After that, I resave the file through the bridge, and only then I get a processed photo from a 2mb photo within 2mb.

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LEGEND ,
Oct 03, 2022 Oct 03, 2022

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Quality 100 will increase the file size of the export, so it is possible to obtain a larger export than the original. Usually, quality 70 to 80 will suffice, you can't visually see a difference, and also result in a reduced file size. For more details, see http://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/jpeg-quality

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