Photoshop resize an image without losing quality. How to compress a photo or picture without losing quality in various ways? Changing an image in Photoshop
17.11.2014 27.01.2018
After studying this lesson you will learn in Photoshop:
- Reduce photo size
- Reduce the size of an individual object in the photo
- Transform photos and objects - twist, compress, flip and flip.
In this article I will tell you how to use Photoshop to reduce a picture, image, text, layer, individual object - everything that can be reduced in Photoshop. Photoshop allows you to quickly and easily reduce objects without losing image quality.
After all, it often happens that it is necessary to reduce a photograph or picture before sending it by mail or uploading it to any website in order to show it to people. The huge original sizes of photos are not suitable and therefore Photoshop comes to the rescue to make the photo smaller.
I will be using Photoshop CS 6 to perform the reduction operations.
How to make a photo smaller
First, open the desired photo in Photoshop. Click CTRL+O or File - Open (File - Open) and select the desired photo on the disk.
The photo was opened in Photoshop:
The photo is a huge size 1600x1200 pixels. But for example, we need 600x450 or so.
There is a way to reduce the photo proportionally, to do this, go to the menu Image - Image size (Image - Image Size). In English Photoshop this window looks like this:
We see the meanings Width And Height (Width And Height), make sure the values are shown in pixels, but if you need you can view and change in centimeters and other measurements.
Enter the width instead of 1600 to 600 and you will see how the height is automatically adjusted to 450 so that the photo resize is proportional.
Click OK and that's it! Our photo has been reduced in size:
Select the desired area and zoom out
But what if we don’t need the whole photo, but part of it? And we need to reduce this part, but not proportionally and in our opinion. The function we used before will not work for this.
Let's say we have this picture with balloons and we opened it in Photoshop:
But we don’t need all the balls, we only need the blue one and we need to reduce it a little. To do this, select a tool Crop Tool(in the Russian version it is called Cropping) - using it we can select the area of the image we need and crop it. Namely the blue ball.
The tool itself on the panel looks like this:
Select the desired area:
Click Enter on the keyboard - we will cut out this ball and the rest of the image will be deleted.
Great. Now we need to make the ball smaller. You can use the function as in the previous step. Or you can do it differently, while maintaining the size of the image. First, let's get rid of the background and make it plain. To do this, we need to select the ball, cut it out and place it on a separate layer. And on another layer we will make the background.
Using a tool Polygonal Lasso Tool select the ball.
Click CTRL+X to cut it and copy it. After you click, it will disappear, and behind it there will be a transparent background. Press CTRL+V immediately to insert the ball. The ball is inserted a little to the side from the original place. And it will be immediately inserted automatically onto a new layer:
Now we'll quickly make a different background so that the ball doesn't seem cut out. But the old background is not suitable because there is a cut-out area due to the ball, and since we will make the ball even smaller, it will be even larger.
Create a new layer under the ball and fill it with any color:
Of course, the ball does not look neat, but the purpose of this article is to tell you how to reduce it in Photoshop, and not cut it out. Read about how to cut in Photoshop and in what ways in our other article.
Now let's make the ball smaller. Select the ball layer and click CTRL+T(or menu Edit - Transform - Scale(Edit - Transform - Scale)) and you will see how a frame appears around the ball to make it smaller:
Now drag the squares to scale the ball. You can make an image smaller as needed while maintaining the overall size of the document in Photoshop. You are scaling down an individual object that is on a separate layer, not the entire image document.
You can apply all these methods as you need, in any order. Knowing these techniques, you will cope with any task in which you need to reduce something in Photoshop.
I was prompted to write this article by a frequently asked question - “How to properly compress a photo and not lose the quality of the picture?” I'll try to answer it quite simply.
I would like to correct myself right away, another reason for writing was the decision to increase the maximum allowable size of published photographs to 1024 pixels on the wide side, while maintaining the maximum allowable file size of 100 KB.
So, let's begin. The described method is the simplest and most accessible, so I am sure that you can master it and remember the procedure the first time.
Step 1. Open the file.
Launching Photoshop, Program menu choose File-Open in the opened Dialog box find the required file and open it in Photoshop.
Step 2: Framing
It is strongly recommended to remove all unnecessary, unnecessary information from the photo (cans, ashtrays, cigarette packs, relatives and pets. Exception: Oleg Yakushenko’s Cat), that is, simply crop the image.
To do this you need to use the tool Rectangular area(highlighted in red in the second photo) and select the desired area. We must remember that to maintain the proportions of the photo, the aspect ratio must be 4 to 3 (resolutions 600:450, 800:600, 1024:768, and so on). 
After selecting an area in Program menu choose Image-Crop, the extra area will be discarded and the object of interest to us will remain.
Step 3: Resizing the Image
In this case, the original photo had the following parameters
Resolution 2592:1944 pixels, file size 2Mb. After cropping
the resolution has become 2208:1563 pixels, which will become visible if in Program menu choose Image-Image Size
in the window Image Size in the column Width set the required resolution, in our case 1024, click Yes and we see how our picture has become smaller 
We have changed the image size, now all that remains is to compress the file itself to the desired size.
Step 4. Compress the file
Without closing the window, select File-Save As in the window that opens, select the folder to save, you can also change the file name.
Attention Be sure to check anything in the column File type was JPEG, otherwise you most likely will not be able to upload the file to the site. 
After the command Save Window will open JPEG options
Below in the column Size the current file size is visible ~143.93 KB, we need to reduce it to at least 100 KB
To do this, in the column Image Options Smoothly move the slider to the left. It is not recommended to compress a file with a quality lower than 5; it is better to reduce the image size even more
The second photo shows that the file size has decreased to ~86.32 KB, which is what we needed.
As a result, from a large photograph with a size of 2592:1944 pixels and a “weight” of 2 MB, we received a cropped image with a resolution of 1024:725 pixels and a “weight” of ~86 KB. 
Before sending photos, it's a good idea to work with Image correction: white balance, brightness, contrast, etc., but I will try to talk about this in the next article.
Good day, dear readers. The heavy weight of website pages leads to negative consequences. The resource is not liked by readers and search engines. Such a seemingly insignificant thing, but it wasn’t, affects the conversion.
Don't rush to get upset. If it were not for the mistakes of inattentive developers, then specialists would have nothing to do. And competition is always good. Simple work on photos will allow you to speed up the work of the site, which cannot but affect the opinion of the audience, as well as search robots.
The benefits of small pictures
Every good webmaster worries about the weight of the images he uses on his site. They must be “correct” on all sides for two reasons.
The first is readers. Everyone's loading speed is different, but everyone wants the resource to open as quickly as possible. If you use 5 MB images, they will load very slowly. Remember, there were times when the drawing was revealed in small portions, stripes? This can be achieved now, you just need to put a heavy image on the portal.
The second reason to lose weight is search engines. Perhaps everything will change soon, but for now the robots only check the fat pages halfway. They analyze only part of the information, a certain weight.
If you uploaded a hefty picture, then perhaps the robot will not even pay much attention to the content, but will say: “Well, please, no need, well, I’ll go check something else, too much work for one day.” As a result, you lose the opportunity to take high positions.
Therefore, I recommend that you upload photos to your multimedia library - this is a good way to lose weight. If you do exactly this, then only a link is used on the page, and as you understand, it weighs pennies. This way you will solve the problem with search engines. The question is still open with readers. It's a way to go, but a heavy image will remain that way and take a long time to load. This is where . It will help “thinner” the picture. First, let's talk about formats.
Which format to use
The two most useful formats for a website developer are jpeg and png. Now I will explain why.
Here we have a drawing of a cow. Open it using Photoshop and save it in two formats.
This is what png looks like. As you can see, the background is transparent. You can embed it anywhere and the picture will look like it was cut out. This image weighs quite a lot - about 3 MB.
And this is jpeg format. Weight – 260 kb, very cool. But the background is white. You can't use it anywhere anymore. For pictures for publication, a rectangular image is perfect, but as a design element it’s a moot point.
What is the best format to store photos in? I think that now you can answer this question yourself. Mostly everyone uses jpg, and their favorite images are stored in png. There are a lot of other formats, but I don’t recommend you fool with them. The difference will be in color rendering. Somewhere the colors are better, somewhere worse. The ideal combination of quality and weight is jpeg. If only there was transparency, there would be no price at all.
Now let's move on to the main question, how to reduce.
The secret to reducing photos that you don't know about yet
So one day I needed to work on one. The site had been in existence for about a year, but the customer could only dream about the first page. One of the points of conquering search engines was working on images. There were an unreal number of them, simply huge! You can't imagine how many there were! I was ready to die under the weight of this amount. It was then that I came up with a wonderful model for reducing photos.
Each of us has Photoshop. When it comes to a mountain of photos, we don’t need it, use the online service! Of course, it's free.
This is the same Photoshop, but much easier and faster. Here is the link - pixlr.com/editor , You can view. The thing is that this service is a greatly simplified version, and therefore works many times faster. While you open Photoshop on your computer, while you open a photo, then a second, then a third. You can go crazy! Fuck it. Use the online service and you won’t regret it.
First of all, set the Russian language. Language tab.
Select all photos by simultaneously pressing the Ctrl and A buttons or simply select them with the mouse. Open it. The whole procedure takes much less time than when working in the program on your computer.
If it is png, and we don’t need it, choose jpg. Please note the size, it dropped instantly.
You can also play around with the quality. See what the image looks like and what its size is.
Up to 50% is an adequate combination, although see for yourself. Who likes it more? As for me, 10 looks pretty good.
Another way to make an image smaller
I don’t really like the second method, you need to act on instinct, and with a large number of images it’s too tedious, but... but it’s effective. Now I will show you how to compress a 5 MB photo to 60 KB in size while maintaining quality.
So, open the photo. In the navigator on the left (shown with an arrow in the picture) you can see the full image. In the main window we see only a small part of it. I intentionally increased it to 100%. You can open such a picture in full size just on a billboard or screen in a cinema. Well, why use such pictures on the site?
Go to the “Image” section and select “size”.
Now click on any arrow - either next to the length or width. Doesn't matter.
And we begin to pull the slider.
That's what I was talking about, you have to act on a whim. The optimal screen size is usually 1024 x 768. According to other sources, 1366 x 768. If you are going to use a photo as visual material for an article, then, of course, the size will be smaller. You can't open it full screen. Although some readers may be interested in the picture and want to open it in a new window. In short, you will have to think for yourself here. Based on the tasks.
See, it seems to me that the picture is still very big.
I reduced it further.
Ready. Now, the weight is only 60 KB.
If the topic seems relevant and interesting to you, I recommend you read more. Also useful information for developers. And in general, subscribe to my blog’s mailing list to receive the necessary information that will definitely come in handy.
There is no need to wait for the weather by the sea; learn about the nuances of the work before you encounter any problem. This is the secret of professionalism. No matter how experienced you are, all sorts of troubles still happen; only a specialist knows how to quickly find a solution to fix everything.
Well, for those who want to understand the magic of Photoshop, I will once again recommend Zinaida Lukyanova’s course - Photoshop from scratch in VIP 3.0 video format . This will significantly speed up your process of learning and understanding the technical part and allow you to move on to gaining experience.
Whatever you say, it rarely turns out great the first time. Be prepared that they will start paying you good money only after your projects become professional.
It's up to you to decide, of course. Now you have all the information to think and make the right decision.
See you again and good luck in your endeavors.
Good day! If you have hundreds of megabytes in a small folder with photos? Or do pictures take more than 10 minutes to be sent by mail, even with decent Internet speed? Or is it like this, does it take half an hour to send an archive of photos to a flash drive? Welcome to the right place, in the article I will tell you in which program and how to reduce the size of a JPG file without losing quality.
Compressing an image is a simple science. You can reduce all the pictures in one folder en masse, at one time, this is called batch processing. Or process each image separately. Let's talk about these methods.
How to reduce Jpg file size - a little necessary theory
Regarding the JPG format (and its variant JPEG), there are 3 ways to resize files. The size of PNG, BMP, GIF and other graphic formats can be adjusted only by the first method.
- Reducing the image resolution (number of pixels) without losing quality;
- Reduced quality without reducing resolution;
- Simultaneous reduction in both resolution and quality.
Any photograph is a collection of pixels. In modern cameras their number exceeds 2-4 thousand horizontally and vertically. This is a lot, and megabytes “grow” from such a resolution. Does this improve image quality? Almost none, especially for non-professional photographers during everyday shooting. Since changing the resolution of a photo can be almost painless for quality, many people use this method to make the image smaller.
I will definitely tell you about the most convenient methods in a note; all you have to do is choose the one that suits you.
By compressing the image by 2 times (by 50%, in terms of graphic editors), we will reduce its area (and volume!) by 4 times, school geometry in practice.
It is logical to reduce the number of dots in order to reduce the size of the photo - and not notice any changes in quality.
An alternative option for JPG files is to leave the image resolution at its original size, but allow the computer to reduce the quality. Some blurriness, smoothing, or fuzziness is acceptable. We can assume that the compression quality in graphic editors is something like this:
- 100% — there is no compression of the image;
- 90% — the default setting in many programs is minimal compression;
- 80% — deeper degree: files are compressed quite strongly;
- 70% — still an acceptable loss of quality, but within reason;
- 50% and below– a radical reduction in the appearance of the pattern, noticeable to the naked eye.
How to compress an image: workshop in graphic editors
We will experiment with this “still life”: an ordinary telephone photo that does not pretend to be artistic, rather of the “terrible to show” class, but suitable for a family archive.
Technical details: JPG format, resolution 2560 by 1920 pixels, source file weight is unacceptable 2.44 MB. Before compressing a photo, we recommend copying it to a separate folder so as not to lose the image during the compression process.
Source file: 2.44 MB, with extension 2560x1920 pixels
Compressing an Image in Paint
It’s in vain that this standard graphic editor included with Windows is considered a frivolous tool. Firstly, it is very interesting and useful to teach “dummies” the basics of PC literacy, and secondly, it is available everywhere and always - and when a more powerful program for working with graphics is not installed on the computer, its capabilities will come in handy more than once.
Opening the source in Paint: the number of dots is amazing, but their number does not mean beauty or quality. Scale: 100%.
To open an image in Paint, you need to right-click on the file and select "Edit".
This editor doesn't allow you to manually adjust the JPG compression level, but it feels like it sets it to about 80%. It is enough to resave the file to get 1.83 MB instead of the original 2.44 MB. By eye, the level of quality remains almost the same.
The image was compressed to 1.83 MB after resaving in Paint in 2-3 clicks and 10 seconds.
Paint has a way to reduce the pixel size of an image. This is a button "Resize". When you click it, a dialog box appears asking you to enter new horizontal/vertical dimensions as a percentage of the original number of points.
Let's choose 50 to 50: 2 times less length and width means an area 4 times less. By the way, the resolution must be changed equally in both dimensions, otherwise the picture will be deformed.
Function “Change picture resolution” standard in most graphic editors, from primitive Paint to monstrous Photoshop.
The result is 616 kilobytes. Not enough for a family archive, but great for publishing on websites. Without a magnifying glass, the difference with the source is barely noticeable.
616 kilobytes with a resolution of 1290×960 px.
Note that 0.6 megabytes was obtained not only as a result of changing the resolution, but using a “combined” method - the image size in Paint is also adjusted by reducing the JPG quality by about 85%. It is impossible to change the value of the compress parameter in the desired direction. Paint does this automatically.
Reducing Image Size in Photoshop
This powerful editor can be used for the tasks described. But it’s like transporting a bag of groceries not in a car, but calling a Kamaz. Photoshop is an overly powerful application for something as simple as reducing the weight of a photo.
Opening this program and saving the file in it will take much more time than the compression itself. However, to make our instructions complete, we will also describe how to compress an image in Photoshop.
After opening the file in Photoshop, you should select the “Image” section, click on it to the “Image Size” item. As shown in the picture below.
A dialog box will open where you can manually set the height and width of the picture. OK button – save the file. The same dialog is called hotkeys “Ctrl+Alt+I”, quick saving of the result, keyboard shortcut – “Ctrl+S”.
Second way to reduce file size pictures or photos, this is to apply quality when saving. Whatever you think is suitable for you. Let me show you with an example how to do this.
A window should open with settings for saving the image in the desired quality and format. I will continue to torture my photo with the doggies. Let me remind you that the file size is exactly 2.44 MB, let’s see what we can squeeze out of it.
Choose from above - 4 options. Look at the quality changes during compression, you can move the image by previewing it.
Please note that at the top left is the Source, then they come with compression.
If you look at the second option, the quality has not changed, and the weight of the image has decreased to 1.6 MB, when choosing quality 72. A completely suitable picture for storing or sending by mail.
You can also set the image size before saving. Which you need. And click save, select the recording path and you're done.
The best compression programs. Batch Processing
Paint is always at hand, but it’s too primitive. Photoshop is excessively bulky and clumsy. What programs are best to compress JPG? Good viewers are also image managers! Their advantage is support for batch compression: simultaneous processing of all or several selected files in any folder instead of manually changing pictures one by one.
ACDSee, XnView and IrfanView: just three of the many programs for compressing images en masse. Even the thoroughly commercial ABC has a free but fully functional version. If the program is not Russified, you should remember the word Compress - “Compression”. Let's look at batch compression technology using the XnView graphic browser as an example.
Having opened one of the files in the target folder, double-click on it. A filer window will open with previews of all images.
The XnView viewer and editor says that 9 files take up almost 20 MB. Disorder!
Viewers also have the “JPEG Compression” function without reducing resolution.
Image compression in online services
Although it is convenient and correct to have a program at hand to resize a graphic file, you can use numerous online services for this task.
The principle of operation is completely similar to the work of classic PC applications: either compression, or resizing, or both actions at once. All parameters are customizable.
The disadvantage of the online method is the need to send an initially large file: this process takes some time. Web services for compression are usually free, but you also need to download the result back to your PC.
The waste of time is justified if the number of files being reduced does not exceed several pieces per month. Any specific recommendations? Please, those online services that I use myself.
TinyJPG.com - Foreign service
Not a bad foreign service, without unnecessary settings. The service will do everything for you, just specify the location on your PC to download the pictures, after which the compression process will begin automatically.
I’ll warn you right away that the site has compression restrictions for unregistered users - 20 images with a maximum size of 5 MB.
Upon completion of the process, it is possible to download all files in one archive or one at a time, as is convenient for you.
IMGonline.com.ua - convenient and understandable
If you use this service, you can change the size of the image itself, as well as compress the file itself and set the desired quality. I wrote about what quality is acceptable at the beginning of the article.
One of the free online services.
Both services allow you not only to play with sizes and quality, but also to edit pictures. There is a detailed help system. Which I advise you to read before using.
In other operating systems, including mobile ones, the principles and settings of compression technologies are the same.
Processing drawings in Mac OS
Let's look at the process of working with images on a Mac. For example, pictures can be perfectly compressed by the standard Preview application: there is no need to install additional software, even for batch processing. Preview on Mac knows how to resize several photos at once.
Select one or several images, open them in preview, then select Tools > Adjust Size, and fill in the required values. And save it.
Conclusion
We recommend experimenting with image compression yourself, copying them to a test folder first so as not to lose important photos. After 3-4 attempts, you will understand in practice how to reduce the size of an image in an optimal way, with the most suitable compression, width and height parameters.
- Install and use every day any quality image file manager.
- Forget about Photoshop: it is too powerful and clumsy editor for such simple tasks.
- Use online services only when there are no other methods at hand - and use Paint for single files.
Disclaimer: no dogs were harmed during the artistic or programming experiments. :)
Often in our lives we are faced with the need to reduce a drawing or photograph. For example, if you need to put a photo on a screensaver on a social network, or if you plan to use a drawing instead of a screensaver on a blog.
If a photo is taken by a professional, it can weigh several hundred megabytes. Such large images are extremely inconvenient to store on a computer or use them for publishing on social networks. That's why before you publish an image or save it on your computer, you need to reduce it a little. The most “advanced” program for solving our today’s problem is Adobe Photoshop. Its main advantage is that it not only has tools for reducing, but also has the ability to optimize the quality of the image.
Before you reduce a picture in Photoshop, you need to understand what it is – reduction. If you want to use a photo as an avatar, it is important to maintain certain proportions and maintain the required resolution. Also, the image should have a small weight (about a few kilobytes). You can find all the required proportions on the website where you plan to place your “ava”. If you plan to post pictures on the Internet, the size and volume need to be reduced to an acceptable size, that is, when your picture is opened, it should not “fall out” of the browser window. The permissible volume of such images is approximately several hundred kilobytes.
In order to reduce a photo for your avatar and for posting it in an album, you will need to perform completely different procedures. If you are resizing a photo for your profile image, you will only need to cut out a small portion. As a rule, the photograph is not cropped; it is saved in its entirety. If the image you need needs to be sized, but weighs a lot, you can degrade its quality. Accordingly, saving each pixel will require less memory. If you used the correct compression algorithm, the original image and the processed one will be practically the same.
Method 1: Cropping
Before you can reduce the size of a photo in Photoshop, you need to open it. To do this, use the program menu: "File - Open". Next, indicate the location of the image on your computer.
The second option is to use a tool "Rectangular area".
Method 2: Canvas Size Function
If you need to crop an image to specific sizes, removing the outer parts, the menu item will help: "Canvas Size". This tool is indispensable if you need to remove something unnecessary from the edges of a picture. This tool is located in the menu: "Image - Canvas Size".
"Canvas Size" is a window in which the current parameters of the photo and those that it will have after editing are indicated. You only need to indicate exactly what dimensions you need and specify which side you need to crop the picture from. You can set the size in any convenient unit of measurement (centimeters, millimeters, pixels, etc.). The side from which to start cutting can be indicated using the field on which the arrows are located. After all the necessary parameters have been specified, click "OK"— your photo will be cropped.
Method 3: Image Size Function
Once the photo takes the form you want, you can safely begin resizing it. To do this, use the menu item: "Image - Image Size".
In this menu you can adjust the image dimensions and change their value in the desired unit of measurement. If you change one value, all the others will automatically change. This way, the proportions of your image are maintained. If you need to distort the proportions of the image, use the icon between the width and height indicators.
You can also resize a photo by decreasing or increasing the resolution (use the menu item "Permission"). Remember, the lower the resolution of the photo, the lower its quality, but at the same time low weight is achieved.
Image saving and optimization
After you have set all the required dimensions and proportions, you need to save the photo. Besides the team "Save as" you can use the program tool "Save for Web" located in the menu item "File".
The main part of the window is occupied by the image. Here you can see it in the same format in which it will be displayed on the Internet. On the right side of the interface, you can set parameters such as the picture format and its quality. The higher the indicators, the better the image quality. You can also change the quality a lot using the drop-down list. Select any value that suits you (Low, Medium, High, Best) and evaluate the quality. If you need to fix any small things in size, use Quality. At the bottom of the page you can see how much the photo weighs at this stage of editing.
By using "Image Size" set the parameters that suit you for saving photos.
Using all of the above tools, you can create the perfect photo with little weight and the required size for publishing online.
