Trouble attaching an image

[Rose]

The maximum image size is 256 KB, so why is the forum telling me that an image 171KB in size is till too big ??? !!

[Mike Farley]

You have probably exceeded the maximum dimensions of 1024 (W) x 768 (H) pixels.

[Rose]

You have probably exceeded the maximum dimensions of 1024 (W) x 768 (H) pixels.

It's 733 x 789 ...

[Mike Farley]

Reduce the height to a maximum of 768 pixels and you'll be OK.

[Nina]

Can't we do something about the image size limitation on this forum. I find it a real pain in the proverbial as it prevents me from linking images I already have published on my website and elsewhere? I thought Peter was looking into this.

[Mike Farley]

Can't we do something about the image size limitation on this forum. I find it a real pain in the proverbial as it prevents me from linking images I already have published on my website and elsewhere? I thought Peter was looking into this.

Lightroom's Export function allows you to specify both pixel dimensions and file size, and create a preset to automate the process. Photoshop has both Fit Image and Image Processor options which allow image dimensions to be set, but not file size unfortunately. It will be necessary to experiment with the quality setting, but you do get a prediction of the file size before you save the image.

Personally, I will never post anything to the web other than an image with reduced dimensions and file size as this is one of the more effective ways to discourage miscreants from purloining my work.

[Rose]

I always reduce file size before posting pics on the web... But I have to create an additional, even smaller file if I want to post something here.

The image in question is just a screenshot of an article in the latest PAGB news...

[Mike Farley]

My maximum dimensions for web image are width 800 pixels and height 768 pixels. I restrict the file size to 150k or less; very occasionally I get issues with compression artefacts, but usually I am content to live with those.

[Peter Boughton]

The maximum image size is 256 KB, so why is the forum telling me that an image 171KB in size is till too big ??? !!

It will be as Mike says.

If you can provide the precise wording of the message it displays, I can go find and update it to clearly identify that the issue is the image dimensions being too large, not the file size.

I thought Peter was looking into this.

Peter is looking into a lot of things, including how to make time stand still so I can actually get some of them done.


The image dimension limit of 1024x768 was chosen when the forum was first setup for a number of reasons, including that it's what the club projector outputs, and is considered big enough for a photo on a monitor at normal viewing distances.

Some monitors are larger these days, but equally many people use small notebooks and tablets.


The file size limit of 256KB is plenty for a 1024x768 image, and was chosen because not everyone has superfast broadband - even with this size it only takes four images to make a page a 1MB download.

It is a litte bit of extra work to save a file twice, but with a sensible workflow/software it's not that bad, and the differences between a 500KB 100% quality jpeg and a 100KB compressed one are very slight - sometimes enough for a competent judge to notice, but for sharing/critiquing images it's rarely a concern - and in the situations when it is, the full size image can be uploaded elsewhere and linked to - instructions for which are here.


However, simplifying this is one of the things I am looking into - by adding image processing on upload, this potentially allows members to upload their existing images and have them automatically reduced in both dimensions and filesize to fit the forum limits.

Working out what can be done and what should be done will take time, but it is being looked into.

The image in question is just a screenshot of an article in the latest PAGB news...

The article is a mere 2KB as text, and copying and pasting text is much easier than saving and attaching a screenshot. Doing it as text also means the content is searchable and that URLs are automatically linked.

[Mike Farley]

........ simplifying this is one of the things I am looking into - by adding image processing on upload, this potentially allows members to upload their existing images and have them automatically reduced in both dimensions and filesize to fit the forum limits.

The company which I am using for my as yet unpublished new website does something similar and also has a trick to overlay the image with another one consisting of a single clear pixel, if I recall correctly, to stop people saving the image with a right click. I am not sure that I am totally in agreement with the use of the latter for the forum as I sometimes save photos from the Image Critique section to try things out before giving a response. Unless it is something which can be easily implemented, I am not proposing that we add any more to Peter's workload by incorporating it.