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File Sizes after Saving


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I have a question about the size of my final files that get imported to my client's galleries, and then downloaded by them and sent off into the world. My concern is that they are too small to print to any size. 

My workflow is to import original raw into LR, flag my favs and then export just those original files to a batch folder. I open these for editing in PS, make my edits, and then save each PS file as a JPEG. I reimport just the JPEG edits into a new Quick Collection in LR as final edits and then export those to a client folder so that I can rename them all with their last name - number.jpg. I am finding some of these files are only 3MBs and my concern is that they won't be able to print these wall portrait size. I am not sure if I am working with full RAW size files where the size compression is happening in PS. What am I doing to make the files so  much smaller? I do not resize at all. 

I used to save the files as TIFFs vs JPEG in PS after editing and would reimport those TIFFs to LR once edited, and they were very large files. After exporting the TIFF a final time as JPEG out of LR to the client upload folder they would be in the 18MB range. 

What would be the correct way to do this? I work in LR4/PS6.

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Oh my goodness.

7 hours ago, kellyjonesphoto said:

My workflow is to import original raw into LR, flag my favs and then export just those original files to a batch folder. I open these for editing in PS, make my edits, and then save each PS file as a JPEG. I reimport just the JPEG edits into a new Quick Collection in LR as final edits and then export those to a client folder so that I can rename them all with their last name - number.jpg.

My eyes are watering reading this.  Can't you see, from your own description, how awfully complicated this is?

https://www.damiensymonds.net/examining-the-complexities-of-an-acr-workflow.html

Please please PLEASE take the Bridge Class.  It's only ten dollars, and it will change your life in SO many ways.

7 hours ago, kellyjonesphoto said:

I am finding some of these files are only 3MBs

The file size is important, but not as important as the pixel dimensions.  Can you tell me the pixel dimensions of one of these 3MB files?

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I agree, its too many steps. I only just ran into this when I started saving as JPEG out of PS, as TIFF it was never an issue. 5668 × 3779 is one of the file dimensions. 

I'm happy to take the class, but I love my presets. 

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3 minutes ago, kellyjonesphoto said:

5668 × 3779 is one of the file dimensions.

That's about 21.5 megapixels.  How many megapixels does your camera capture?

3 minutes ago, kellyjonesphoto said:

I'm happy to take the class, but I love my presets. 

Presets are just presets.  They work in ACR too.

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So I have two thoughts, one is that maybe the settings on the image size are off when I save in PS. I never alter them, just go to file, save as JPEG, done. The other thought is that maybe the issue is my final LR export setting should be set to Quality 100 vs 90. I've had it at 90 forever, because long ago when setting things up I read that's what it should be. 

Screen Shot 2018-04-04 at 9.20.23 PM.png

Screen Shot 2018-04-04 at 9.27.12 PM.png

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2 minutes ago, kellyjonesphoto said:

OK on a 4MB JPEG edited file I show the raw file was 5760x3840 (27.3MB). The pixels are the same in this case on the JPEG

That is 22 megapixels.  That's still 6 megapixels shy of what you told me your camera captures?

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It can mean that, but it definitely doesn't automatically mean that.  In fact, sometimes smaller jpeg file size actually means BETTER print quality, because it indicates a less noisy file.

So, I hope the article has helped you understand why your jpeg files are much smaller than the raw files.  That's very natural.

One aspect that the article doesn't discuss, however, is the loss of quality each time you save another jpeg.  And this is where you fucked up.  It's because of Lightroom, of course, and I sincerely hope that you will abandon that shit very soon.

Next, please read this article and let me know when you have done so.

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I did read that one. I used to keep TIFF files, but then I started saving in JPEG, I guess I need to go back to TIFF. They are just so big, I was trying to cut down on the amount of space taken up on my externals with all the sessions I go through. 

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Oh, you've raised a few more good topics here.

1 hour ago, kellyjonesphoto said:

I used to keep TIFF files, but then I started saving in JPEG, I guess I need to go back to TIFF. They are just so big

Yes, TIFF files sure can be big, but it's very possible that yours were bigger than they needed to be.  Do you happen to still have one of those TIFF files, easily accessible?  If so, could you send it to me?  I'd be interested to take a look.

1 hour ago, kellyjonesphoto said:

I was trying to cut down on the amount of space taken up on my externals with all the sessions I go through. 

Well, there's a good argument for NOT keeping tiff files for archiving.  Once you've finished the job, and are about to put it onto an external (or cloud, or whatever), it's quite logical to convert the tiffs to jpegs for that purpose.  I talk about this in some detail in the Bridge Class.

Tiff files, or PSD files, are so important while a job is live.  But if space is an issue, you certainly can consider converting to jpeg for archiving.

Having said that, thankfully disk space is becoming much cheaper with each passing year, so it's not as big a deal as it used to be.

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