need advice with individual slide file size

[Deb]

I can't seem to get this correct. I have digital photos that are saved at 1000 to 1200 KB as compressed JPG. They will make a beautiful full screen slide show and play well from the hard drive, then not so well when copied to CD. I run my resolution on a 21 inch screen at 1024x768 pixels. When I try to decrease the file size of a slide..I make it smaller through decreasing the dimensions..but it will always show as an image that is not full screen. In the project options, if I set it to display any slide at full screen it will decrease the quality (at least on my monitor) to somewhat unacceptable. Is there something I can do to make a full screen slide with good quality..I have a feeling I'm not grasping something with basic photo manipulation technique.

[Lin Evans]

Hi Deb,

You can decrease file size without changing the image dimensions - just how much and what hit in quality depends on numerous factors.

For playback at a given screen resolution (in your case 1024x768) there is absolutely no advantage to having an original any larger than 1024x768. "Original" in this case meaning the image to be used in the slideshow. If the image is larger than 1024x768, P2E will have to resample or resize to make if fit the dimensions. If it's smaller, to fill the screen it will have to be likewise resampled up to get to the necessary screen dimensions.

At 1024x768, you "should" be able to compress a jpg to around 180K or so and still have a relatively artifact free image. 1 meg (1000K) is way larger than it needs to be. What was the original capture resolution? Use PhotoShop or IrfanView, etc., to both resample and compress the images and you should be able to get the file size down to 200K or so which should display very cleanly at 1024x768.

Best regards,

Lin

[Deb]

Thanks Lin,

I'll try to answer this question. I take all my photos on the 'fine' setting which gives me a size of

2048x1536 pixels. I display at 96 ppi on the monitor when I'm viewing them in Photoimpact. The MB size is usually 1MB or greater per photo. Your information will help me I'm sure..I'll try it.

[Leif]

In IrfanView, load the picture then File | Save (or Save As). In the next box, click on the Options button. Here you can change the Save Quality of the .JPG. I think 80 is the default. You'll have to experiment here ...