Lost resolution when moving photos to a background

[marlenep61648856]

Help! I am making a collage of photos on a background in Photoshop Elements. Each of my photos plus my background are anywhere from 1-9 MB. I have to resize my photos to be small on my background, so I'm going to "Image Size" and resizing them so the resolution is not lost. But then when I go to save my new creation as a jpeg, it will only save at around 200 KB. What is going wrong? I've watched a million videos online and tried everything I know, but I still can't get it to work. Any ideas?? Thanks so much!

[99jon]

You don;t need to use image size. That will probaably change your background also. For each separate image choose the move tool (top left in the tool box) and when the outline (bounding box) appears hold down he shft key and drag the corner handles in and out to scale. Drag in the center of the image to positiin on the collage. Repeat for each image highlighed in the layers pallet. Use the top menu:

Window >> Layers

if you can't see the layesr pallet.

[marlenep61648856]

Thanks for the quick reply!  A couple other questions/clarifications: I'm not necessarily cropping my picture....I want the same exact picture (with all that's in the picture) only in a small size. I'm actually making a Christmas card that's like a collage with several small photos on the background. When I copy and paste the picture onto the blank (background) file, it shows up HUGE, and I have to resize it again. Once I get it to the size I want as well as all of the other photos onto the collage, then when I go to save the overall project to a jpeg, the resolution is only around 100 KG, when it should be somewhere between 2-4 MG. Any ideas on that?

[hatstead]

marlenep61648856 wrote:

Help! I am making a collage of photos on a background in Photoshop Elements. Each of my photos plus my background are anywhere from 1-9 MB. I have to resize my photos to be small on my background, so I'm going to "Image Size" and resizing them so the resolution is not lost. But then when I go to save my new creation as a jpeg, it will only save at around 200 KB. What is going wrong? I've watched a million videos online and tried everything I know, but I still can't get it to work. Any ideas?? Thanks so much!

Here are the ground rules:

It's best if the resolution of the background, and of the picture files, be the same value. For printing, resolution of 240-300 px/in recommended. For web work, 72px/in is ok

How to get there:

Go to File>New>Blank file.

Assuming that you wish to print, enter the height &width of your paper stock, and resolution=300px/in. In the layers palette, this will be the Background Layer.

Next, prepare each of the individual picture files. Since you have to crop, use the crop tool. On the tool's option bar, set the resolution to 300 px/in as well.

Copy/paste each picture to the blank (background) file. Each picture should come in on a separate layer.

Use the move tool, and the corner handles of the bounding box, to position and make minor size adjustments.

[marlenep61648856]

Thanks for the quick reply!  A couple other questions/clarifications: I'm not necessarily cropping my picture....I want the same exact picture (with all that's in the picture) only in a small size. I'm actually making a Christmas card that's like a collage with several small photos on the background. When I copy and paste the picture onto the blank (background) file, it shows up HUGE, and I have to resize it again. Once I get it to the size I want as well as all of the other photos onto the collage, then when I go to save the overall project to a jpeg, the resolution is only around 100 KG, when it should be somewhere between 2-4 MG. Any ideas on that?

[hatstead · Accepted solution]

There is probably a disparity in the RESOLUTION (px/in) of the background and the individual picture files.

If you use Image>Resize>Image size, enter the document size (H&W)n and resolution (px/in). Be sure that "Constrain Proportion" & "Resample Image" are ticked.

You need to do that for each of your picture files, esp. if they are derived from different cameras or other sources.

I would save as after resampling with a different name so as not to overwrite the originals. You can also batch process the files via File>Process multiple files. If you go this route, save the files to a destination folder that is different from the source folder, again to preserve the originals.

[99jon]

Try starting with a new document:

File >> New >> Blank File

Set your dimensions (width and height) and resolution (300 ppi for printing)

Then fill with your background and stretch/shrink and then add images and scale.

[marlenep61648856]

It worked! Thank you SO much for your time! I really appreciate it!

[hatstead]

You're very welcome.

Sent from my iPad

[marlenep61648856]

It worked! Thank you SO much for your time!! I really appreciate it!