Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

decreasing image size

Apr 13, 2011 6:25AM PDT

I have iMac duo 24in and photoshop elements program.
How do decrease image that is 9 MB to 1 MB. Please advise.

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
The only way I know
Apr 14, 2011 10:47PM PDT

is to convert the image to a different format. This applies in a Mac as well as in any Windows OS.

You don't say what file type this image is, but typically, images in BitMap, (.bmp), or TIFF, (.tiff), are high resolution images and so are often very large.

To reduce the size of the file, (but not the size of the image), you would need to convert it to something like JPEG, (.jpg). This will reduce the size of the file dramatically but there is a consequence. JPEG images are compressed, and that means that the compression process 'averages out' pixels with neighboring pixels. This reduces the resolution and you will see blurred effects, especially at the edges of any objects in the image.

For web pages, JPEG is fine, but for photography you may find that the lower resolution produces a less than perfect image, especially if it is printed out.

Most image editors will allow conversion, but perhaps the easiest way is to open the image in your favorite editor, then "Re-Save" it as a different file type.

You can test this of course, but I would suggest you make a copy of the image being tested, and work on the copy. That way if you make any errors you still have the original.

Hope that helps.

Mark

- Collapse -
The alternative, of course.
Apr 14, 2011 11:08PM PDT

Make the picture smaller. Changing from 3000x2000 to 800x600 pixels makes a big difference.

Combining the 2 methods (3000x2000 bitmap to 800x600 jpg) works both ways and makes a huge difference.

Kees