Since latest update Adobe is exporting in 72 dpi and massively increases file size

[TheThinkProject2018]

I am having a very serious problem since the latest update of Adobe, which is making it worse than not useful for commercial printing.

When I go to export artwork from PSD to jpg or png to send to printers - it changes from 300 dpi to 72 dpi and massively increases the file size. This happens whether RGB or CMYK is checked, or whether resampling is checked or not.

Is anyone else having this problem? Is there a way to work around it, bar using a different program?

[Test Screen Name]

When you Export it never sets a resolution. This is shown by other apps as 72 ppi, their default, usually, though some show 90.

Not sure where you see CMYK and resample options in Export?

For making PNG and JPG for print, use Save As.

What is your specific Photoshop version (not "latest" please)?

[TheThinkProject2018]

I'm not sure what you are referring to. Commercial printers often don't take PSD so there has to be a conversion. I have been using the Quick Export with no problem until recently.

Adobe does have a resolution setting on Export. I will attach a copy of the original PSD image details vs what happened when I exported it. It went from 300 to 72 DPI and the dimensions increased astronomically - which affected the size.

I hadn't done anything to the file in the interim.

This has happened exporting using the "quick export", or using "export as". It happens whether saving as jpg or png. It happens whether resampling is selected or not.

If this had been happening before, I would not have been able to upload files to the printer due to a 50 MB cut-off, so I would have noticed.

[TheThinkProject2018]

Sorry the resolution setting is not on the export screen, it's on the image info screen

[D Fosse]

That's right. Export is not intended for this. It's for web/screen/mobile devices, not print. Export strips ppi altogether. A file out of Export has no ppi at all, not 72, not 300, not anything else. It doesn't apply on screen.

But I have no idea how Export could increase file size. Are you sure you're not confusing file size with something else? Print dimensions naturally increase as a lower ppi is assigned by the opening application. Just change ppi back (without resampling) and print size returns to what it was.

[TheThinkProject2018]

Thank you for your information. But I think it may be a bug in the recent upgrade.

I will attach a copy of the original PSD image description; and the exported JPG image description from it, so you can see.

The same happens when I use Export As options.

I've got two artworks that need to be printed for an exhibition by the weekend. The printer does not take PSD files (probably partly due to size issues), but look at what happened below. Normally a jpeg export is under 50 MB for what I do.

[davescm]

Those screenshots do not show file size on disk. The number at the top is size in RAM in MB i.e.

Pixel size x 3 / 1048576  for an 8 bit/channel image
and

Pixel size x 6 / 1048576 for a sixteen bit/channel image

so in your first example 22500 x 15000 x 3 /1048576 = 965.6MB

File size on disk depends on the compression used in the file format being saved

Dave

(NB : 1048576 comes from 1024 x 1024 bytes in 1 MB)

[Kevin Stohlmeyer]

Are you including a color profile when exporting? Embedded color profiles can seriously increase file sizes.

[TheThinkProject2018]

 I turned off the metadata, and the Convert to sRGB and the embed colour profile (See below). It still is huge.

The Printer prefers CMYK; but it does the same in that mode

[Test Screen Name]

You're still not showing us the size on disk. Are you even looking at the size on disk? DON'T look at any sizes shown in Photoshop, they are not the size on disk. I observe your JPEG file is half the dimensions and a quarter of the number of pixels of the PSD file; I don't know what reduced it. Maybe that's a new bug, or feature. 

[davescm]

The scale setting did that - "54%"

Dave

[TheThinkProject2018]

I'm sorry to be so stupid (but I'm not a geek). I assumed the numbers under the tab "Image Size" related to Image Size.

But you are absolutely right that image size in the finder is much less than it appears in the Image Size screen

Thank you.

[TheThinkProject2018]

Thank you to you and everyone who helped me today.

I probably am not the first, and won't be the last to be confused by Image Size info.

The operational DPI of exported images is so important for print quality, that I expect others may have similar concerns.

To summarize, (please correct me if I'm wrong):

1. Use "Save As" to save for Print purposes (Don't use Export. Use Export only for small size mobile images)

2. The numbers in the Image Size of the opened Save As Jpg relate to the uncompressed size in Ram, not the compressed size of the JPG

3. The compressed size JPG (though not the DPI) is shown in the Finder.

I hope these deductions from your advice are correct.

[Conrad_C]

You're correct!

One tip: If you need to quickly “audit” file size and resolution for exported images, try using Adobe Bridge which you already have. Unlike the Mac Finder, the Metadata panel in Adobe Bridge tells you both the file size and the resolution.

Another tip: To quickly view an image or folder in Adobe Bridge without having to navigate the folders in Bridge, drag the image or a folder and drop it on the Bridge icon in the Dock. (Don't drop it in the Bridge window itself, or it will move or copy to the currently shown folder in Bridge instead.)

This is one reason that Adobe includes Bridge. It generally provides more useful information and functions for managing images in a production workflow, compared to the Mac or Windows desktop.

[TheThinkProject2018]

Thank you for your help.

I, possibly like many people that use Adobe graphics products - only use Photoshop. There's enough in there to keep my little "non-geek" mind challenged.

I used Aldus before Adobe acquired it, then Photoshop. Things were added and changed in Photoshop relatively gradually over the following decades, so some of us ordinary folk who did not have any formal training in graphics could use it - but it is no longer a "simple" program. (Some might argue it never was.)

What does this have to do with your good advice?

Photoshop is familiar, but when I venture into LightRoom or Bridge, it is unfamiliar territory that seems very complicated. I don't find either of them intuitive to use (whereas because I'm used to PS, even though never formally trained in it, I find PS more intuitive to use). Besides the apparent (to my mind) lack of an obvious benefit (users and experts may rightly think this is ridiculous), using these programs is like entering a factory full of switches and levers, but having no idea what any of them do. There is no manual to Adobe products anymore, because it's so complicated, and because it's so complicated - recommemding we read the manual is not likely to encourage anyone to enter that complicated engine room if they don't see a major benefit.

On the other hand, I can clearly see the benefit of Illustrator, which if I recall correctly includes features that once were included in early Photoshop. (I'd love to use Illustrator, but the subscription is way too expensive.)

Maybe some of the Adobe experts on here can write a few one page tutorials on why Bridge and Lightroom are useful, and how to use them.

I expect many photographers and graphic artists would a monthly subscription that included Photoshop and Illustrator (because they are complementary programs) - that did not cost so much as the only current alternative - a full package..

[Per Berntsen]

The image size you see in Photoshop (281.6 MB) is the uncompressed size, not the size on disk.

To see the compressed size, select the file in your OS, using File Explorer or Finder (Mac).

And, has been mentioned, Export and Save for web are not designed for print.

Use Save as, which will not change the ppi value.

[TheThinkProject2018]

Hi again,

Thank you. I tried the Save As (Jpg) option - which revealed a new issue.

When I "Save As", the physical dimensions now remain the same, but the size of the file shows it has not been compressed. (It's the same as the original PSD file).

Attaches is a screengrab of the "Save As" Jpg file with the image data (massive size same as original PSD)

If other people are not having this problem, maybe my version of PS has become corrupted (though I don't see how).

If other people are having the problem, there will likely be a lot of complaints by artists and commercial users because of the serious impact on printing - then it's likely a programming bug thing, which needs urgent attention by Adobes experts.

In the meantime, any other suggestions are welcome because I have a deadline.

[Test Screen Name]

Again, you are not showing us the file size. You seem to be basing all your complaint on looking at the wrong number.

[Conrad_C]

No, Image Size is not the correct way to view it. When you open a compressed file in Photoshop, you are only looking at the image size after being decompressed for editing in Photoshop. Therefore it isn't of any use in seeing how much a file has been compressed.

The proof you should be looking at is the file size of the exported JPEG file out on the Mac desktop, not in Photoshop.

I agree with the solution: If you are sending a JPEG to a printer, always use Save As.

Quick Export and Save for Web are designed for web/UX designers where ppi is not used.

[davescm]

Hi

Let's try again 🙂

When you re-open a compressed jpeg it will take the same space in RAM as the image prior to saving i.e

The number of pixels x 3 / 1048576

That is the space it takes after it has been uncompressed and loaded into RAM.

It is not the size of the file on disk

Dave