# Questions about PSD to JPEG conversion for Web.



## sanj (Nov 1, 2013)

Hello. 
I want to add photos to my website and am figuring out the best way to save .psd files for web. There is too much of conflicting and perhaps dated information on Internet so am requesting you all knowledgeable persons for help. 

I will tell you my current procedure and questions in details for you to comment properly
Photoshop Version CS5 extended. 

Step 1: I reduce image size to width 1200 pixels.
I leave the resolution to whatever it shows. On my sample photo it reads 240 pixels/inch.
QUESTION 1: Someone told me it should be 72. Others said it just does not matter! Does this make the saved file larger than what it needs to be for web? Would higher resolution not be better? What should the resolution be at?
I resample image to Bicubic (best for smooth gradients)
QUESTION 2: Is Bicubic (best for smooth gradients) the best option or should I use bicubic sharper (best for reduction) as I am indeed reducing size? 

Step 2: I apply Smart Sharpen 
As size reduction is supposed to cause sharpness loss. (I learnt this at the famous KR site). Settings of Smart Sharpen Filter: Amount 100. Radius .2. Remove Lens Blur. (I must admit I do this blindly to all photos regardless of their inherent sharpness levels.)
CONFUSION: Supposing I used Bicubic sharper in step 2, could I avoid this step? 

Step 3: Save for Web and Devices.
Settings: Quality 100. Progressive. Convert to sRGB. Image quality: Bicubic. 
QUESTION 3: Should quality be 100 or 70? I read somewhere that 70 gives best quality/file size balance…
QUESTION 4: Should I tick Progressive or Optimized? What is the difference? 
QUESTION 5: Why do I convert it to sRGB? 

Some of this may be basic for you but any and all help you provide will be appreciated. Also let me know if you can direct me to a website that you think describes the process perfectly. 


THX. 


Sanjay


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## neuroanatomist (Nov 1, 2013)

1) The resolution setting matters only for printing, not web display (and not even for straight photo printing since the printer driver takes care of it...so really, it matters only for page layout prior to printing).

2) Bicubic Sharper, and often that's not sharp enough for a substantial reduction, so a little unsharp mask helps. 

3) A 1200x800ish image isn't very large, so 100 is fine. 70 wouldn't likely be noticeable, but you don't want to re-compress much (I output at 95% during RAW conversion, then keep quality at max for the rest of the workflow, unless I'm uploading to a site with small file size restrictions). Lower quality was useful before broadband was the norm. 

4) Optimized. Progressive saves a 'layered' image, so when downloaded you see a low res image that 'cleans up'. Again, useful before broadband. 

5) sRGB is the default color space for web browsers, so you see your output as everyone sees it. You should also embed the ICC profile, as many browsers are color-managed (i.e. respect the embedded ICC profile) so what you see is truly what others get. But for example, Chrome under Win7 is apparently not color-managed; all browsers under Mac OS X are color-managed. 

Here's a test - if the race car is yellow, your browser is color-managed, but if it's purple, the embedded ICC profile is being ignored (it's yellow in Safari on my Mac, but purple in Safari on my iPhone running iOS 6).


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## sanj (Nov 1, 2013)

Thank you Neuro! I appreciate. It helps so much! I had read Juza's procedure but I think it is dated. Do read and tell me your thoughts if you can.
http://www.juzaphoto.com/article.php?l=en&article=28

And yes, the car is yellow.


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## Atonegro (Nov 2, 2013)

I agree with Neuroanatomist.

In photoshop you can make an action to do the job.
First step should be : Flatten image and discard hidden layers.
Not important for a single picture, but when processing a big batch, it saves a lot of time.


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## sanj (Nov 2, 2013)

Thank you Atonegro


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