Size of EXE Files

[mightec]

I am looking to use exe files for purposes of displaying my slideshows from my website or an on-line file storage site. What is the best way to minimise the size of the exe file. I want to have a reasonable number of slides to reflect the mood of the slideshow. Is there any benefit or way of reducing the size of the displayed show to less than full screen and does this make any difference to the file size?

Has anyone used or considered WINRK 3.0.3 Executable Compression Software

[Ken Cox]

Mike

if you planning on using Mediafire or the like, as long as you stay less than 100 mb/exe why make a duplicate show -- quality sells

ken

[fh1805]

Hi Mike,

Reading betwen the lines of your post, it sounds to me as if you are wanting to create some "trailers" of your main sequences and have these trailers downloadable from your own website. If this is the case then I would have thought that all you need to do is resize all the images that you use to, say, 512x384 or even to 256x192. You could probably also get away with a resolution as low as 50 pixels/inch unless you were zooming in significantly. I suspect that any animation in PTEv5 would have to be worked to keep the alignments in their proper places.

I've been thinking of building some trailers myself but haven't got beyond the "I wonder if I could..." stage. If you want to build one as an experiment, I'll be happy to check it out on my systems for you and send back some screenshots. My desktop is 5:4 aspect ratio, my laptops are 16:9 and 4:3

Whatever you eventually decide to do - good luck!

[Hatter]

As far as I can see, the size of the .exe file is the sum total of the .jpg and .mp3 files used, plus a tiny amount of code. As the .jpg & .mp3 files are already heavily compressed, I can't see there's any scope for further compressing the .exe file to any noticeable effect.

The best way to keep the file size down is to make sure your images are no larger than they need to be - PTE works fine with the 3072 x 2048 pixel images straight from my camera but if the show is never going to be viewed at a resolution greater than 1280 x 1024 the full size images are a lot larger than necessary.

Reducing the display size to less than full screen by using smaller images would indeed reduce the file size further, but (in my opinion) that would greatly reduce the impact of your slideshow.

As Ken says... up to 100mb should be acceptable to download. I suppose you could offer a "small" version as well as the full show.

Gareth

[mightec]

Ken, Peter and Gareth

Thanks for your advise, it seems that if I don't want to sacrifice quality then use a resolution not less than 800 x 600 and possibly zip the file. If I can accept a lower quality then use images with a lower resolution. I will give this a go and see if I can reach a reasonable solution.

[fh1805]

Mike,

Don't expect too much from zipping the file. This morning I zipped a couple of mini sequences using PTEv5 Create Backup via Zip.

I've just opened one of them in WinZip and studied the stats.

mp3 music file - 0% reduction

png files - 1 or 2% reduction

jpg files - 11-21% with some exceptions as follows

hi-res jpg (6megapixel original involved in some big zooms) - 0%

Black slide - 87%

the pte file itself - 87%

[mightec]

Good Afternoon Peter

I have had a similar experience with WinZip and that is why I asked the open question, 'Has anyone used or considered WINRK 3.0.3 Executable Compression Software'. It claims an significant reduction of the size of exe files.

[fh1805]

Hi Mike,

I've just downloaded WinRK and tried to use it. It's publicity said it had an intuitive userr interface. Clearly, my mindset is totally different from the developer's. I cannot get it to do anything at all.

[mightec]

Hello Peter

I did one better than me, I cannot even download the software.