File reduction

[cathullyett]

Do you have any resources on reducing file size? I've got a portrait photo I need to reduce to passport size, and by using the Image size tool it still looks like rubbish when shrunk down.. Is there a way to keep quality when making photos that small? 

[Damien Symonds]

Oh, this is a great question.

What exact specifications have you been given for the image?

[cathullyett]

40mm x 50mm at 200dpi

 

[Damien Symonds]

Great!  And anything about "distance from tip of head to top of image" or anything like that?

[cathullyett]

No (it’s not for a passport, just needs to be similar)

[Damien Symonds]

Great!

So just do exactly what it says.  Choose your Crop Tool, enter 40 and 50mm in the Width and Height fields, and 200 in the Resolution field, and crop, then sharpen.  That's all there is to it.

Make sure, when viewing it after the crop, you don't zoom further in than 100%. It sounds like you must have been doing so.