Re-sizing and/or JPEG compression question

trtlrock

I'm new to SmugMug, so forgive me if I've misunderstood something...

I think I understand that SmugMug says "don't bother resizing the photo" before uploading, mainly because of the auto-scaling that goes on when someone views it in a slideshow, let's say. So, despite different monitor sizes, the viewer won't be burdened with scrolling the photo unless they pick Original size (let's say) and actually want to scroll for some reason.

Assuming I understand that correctly, my two questions are:

1) does resizing before uploading affect how long it would take the picture to load for a dial-up viewer, as opposed to fast broadband? I think the answer is no, but I'm not sure.

2) JPEG compression. When I save from .psd to JPEG I get a choice of compressions. In Original size on my 1920x1080 monitor I can easily see the differences between low-medium-high-max jpeg, etc. However, if I use high or max (resulting in files that are 3-5MB, rather than the 150-500k sizes I would get with more compression) won't this cause those with dialup or slow broadband (HughesNet or Wild Blue, for instance) to have annoyingly long load times, even if the photo is auto-scaled to fit their monitor?

Thanks for any insight here...

jogle

When you upload your photos, Smugmug stores the original and then creates and stores several versions of that photo at different sizes, ranging from thumbnails to the giant X3 sizes. They use a carefully tuned jpeg quality setting for each different size, so that it looks good without being too big

The Slideshow and the Auto size views can read how large the browser window is, and then the browser only requests the image size that best fits that window size.

So it's best to upload the largest photo you can, at a fairly high quality, as you want a good quality original for smugmug to generate it's different display sizes from.

denisegoldberg

Unless you intend to allow people to download copies of your photos via the original size, I recommend that you select your largest display size in your galleries as any of the sizes other than O (Original). This will remove the save photo option.

The originals will still be used for prints or products ordered through your smugmug site.

--- Denise

trtlrock

denisegoldberg wrote:

Unless you intend to allow people to download copies of your photos via the original size, I recommend that you select your largest display size in your galleries as any of the sizes other than O (Original). This will remove the save photo option.

The originals will still be used for prints or products ordered through your smugmug site.

--- Denise

Thanks for the answers. So, if I want to enable viewing at the original size, then I've also enabled downloading at that size as well. And, from a dial-up vs. broadband speed-of-loading p.o.v., that means most people are viewing via "Auto" anyway & the speed-of-loading wouldn't be an issue. But, theoretically, somebody could choose (purposely or accidentally) to download the original size, in which case photo size & connection speed would suddenly become a factor. Am I getting this correct?

denisegoldberg

trtlrock wrote:

Thanks for the answers. So, if I want to enable viewing at the original size, then I've also enabled downloading at that size as well. And, from a dial-up vs. broadband speed-of-loading p.o.v., that means most people are viewing via "Auto" anyway & the speed-of-loading wouldn't be an issue. But, theoretically, somebody could choose (purposely or accidentally) to download the original size, in which case photo size & connection speed would suddenly become a factor. Am I getting this correct?

Originals tend to be huge and do not lend themselves to reasonable online viewing. You are not limiting the viewing experience at all by setting X3Large as your largest viewable size. As I said before, the originals are always used for printing.

It's your decision though...

--- Denise