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High resolution and compression?

Community Beginner ,
Jun 07, 2021 Jun 07, 2021

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Hello everybody. So this is going to be hard to explain, but I hope you can help me: I need to save a photograph at a maximum size of 100MB, trying to not going to much down with resolution (it's for a print), is there any way that I can save or export this photo knowing from the beginning how many MBs it will be?

 

I know that I can just change the format, but since we are talking about printing this photo I don't want to print in .jpg and the other format allowed is .tiff

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

LEGEND , Jun 08, 2021 Jun 08, 2021

So, if you need 240 ppi, you can print at sizes up to 27.5 inches x 42.5 inches. That's much bigger than the 12x15 you said. Whatever file size results will be fine. Increasing the file size will not improve your print.

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LEGEND ,
Jun 07, 2021 Jun 07, 2021

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So you are going to print.

 

Megabytes are completely irrelevant for printing. Megabytes are not resolution. What matters is the number of pixels (height and width) in the exported image, and the size in inches you intend to print at. Please provide this information.

 

Also, except for all but rare cases, printing from an exported JPG file will produce a very satisfactory result, if you do it right, and 99.9999% indistinguishable from a print from the corresponding TIFF file.

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 08, 2021 Jun 08, 2021

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Thanks for your help dj, so basically the biggest size is 12x15 inches and at the moment my photo is 240ppi.

 

But I have a technical question: if I reduce the size of the file (let's say from 100MB to 50MB) won't I reduce the informations that I'm putting in that image and changing the quality of a print? 

We are talking about fine art, frames and canvas, so it's not something small.

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LEGEND ,
Jun 08, 2021 Jun 08, 2021

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quote

Thanks for your help dj, so basically the biggest size is 12x15 inches and at the moment my photo is 240ppi.

 

But I have a technical question: if I reduce the size of the file (let's say from 100MB to 50MB) won't I reduce the informations that I'm putting in that image and changing the quality of a print? 

We are talking about fine art, frames and canvas, so it's not something small.


By @Twonineone

 

As I said (and as several other people said), file size is meaningless here. You need to stop discussing file size as if it had relevance or meaning when printing.

 

What is important for print quality is the number of pixels (height and width), the more pixels you have, the higher quality print you will get (but there is a law of diminishing returns, after a certain point, adding more pixels will not produce noticeable increases in image quality). And the fewer pixels you have, the lower quality print you will get. You did not respond to my request for the number of pixels (height and width) of the exported photo. Please provide that information.

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 08, 2021 Jun 08, 2021

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6.600x10.200

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LEGEND ,
Jun 08, 2021 Jun 08, 2021

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So, if you need 240 ppi, you can print at sizes up to 27.5 inches x 42.5 inches. That's much bigger than the 12x15 you said. Whatever file size results will be fine. Increasing the file size will not improve your print.

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 08, 2021 Jun 08, 2021

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Ok, thanks a lot dj, I'll go for .jpg without further ado!

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LEGEND ,
Jun 07, 2021 Jun 07, 2021

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A 100mb RGB document in 16-bits per color is 50mb in 8-bits per color. Otherwise indentical. A document with dozens of layers can be much larger in MB than the same image flattened and both will print identically. So as you've first heard here, the size of a document in MB is rather meaningless for anything other than understanding how much space on a drive it will take up. It has nothing to do with printing. 

Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management/pluralsight"

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Community Expert ,
Jun 07, 2021 Jun 07, 2021

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@Twonineone wrote:

is there any way that I can save or export this photo knowing from the beginning how many MBs it will be?


 

Several features in Photoshop can preview the file size of the photo you are about to save or export. But before we go down that road, you should talk more about what kind of print it is. What printing process? RGB for inkjet? CMYK for press? Photo lab?

 

File size is not a good measure because so many factors can change the file size without changing the print quality. Like if all you did was save at 16 bits per pixel instead of 8 bits per pixel, the file size would be double...but with no effect on the print quality. What is important is getting the color and pixel dimensions right for the printer.

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 08, 2021 Jun 08, 2021

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Thanks for your answer, Conrad, I appreciate that.

We are talking about a photo lab that prints fine art photos. The requirements are these: 

 

  1. RGB file
  2. Saved as JPEG or TIFF at full quality
  3. Less than 100 MB in size
  4. Resolution must be a minimum of 1800x1800 px
  5. Resolution must not be larger than 6600x10200 px

 

Now I know that I can save it in .jpg to compress everything, but I also know that in that case big prints for frames won't be nice, if I print a .jpg format. This is not specified in the website, but since they do also post card printing size I guess that the .jpg may be for that size.

 

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LEGEND ,
Jun 08, 2021 Jun 08, 2021

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I also know that in that case big prints for frames won't be nice, if I print a .jpg format.

 

Completely untrue. Many people use JPG to make prints, and they come out excellent (if you do it right), even for large size prints.

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 08, 2021 Jun 08, 2021

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Sadly it doesn't depend on me, that's why I want to be sure that the print will be perfect in any case. 

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LEGEND ,
Jun 08, 2021 Jun 08, 2021

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You are missing the point. JPG will produce quality that is virtually identical to TIFF, if you do it right. 

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Community Expert ,
Jun 08, 2021 Jun 08, 2021

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What dimensions, in inches, is the print you want them to make from the image?

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