BACKGROUND TO PREPARING IMAGES

Digital Photos can be stored in a number of different formats, but by far the best for everyday and even most professional use is a format known as JPEG. Almost all digital cameras will use this format. On Windows XP, highlighting a photo will show you in the Details panel (show left) that the image is a JPEG. On other versions of Windows, right-click the image and select “properties”. On the Macintosh, highlight the image and press Command (apple) + I.

Resolution

The next issue with preparing images for the web is the resolution. Normal digital photos are stored at a resolution of around 300 dots per inch – ideal for printing. However, the maximum resolution of a computer monitor is 72dpi. Therefore if you upload a photo at 300 dpi, it will be shown roughly four times bigger than its normal size. On any website, you will waste time and bandwidth uploading the bigger files – and the images will look better resized in a desktop graphics package. Images should also be compressed to around 70?80% compression (sometimes called "Good") and if your software offers the alternative, in RGB mode rather than CMYK.

Accordingly, we recommend usage of a graphics package to resize the images before uploading. Our recommended graphics package is Adobe Photoshop Elements.

Alternatively you can resize your images by hand. Use your preferred graphics package to save the images as JPEG format (use high quality, around 75-80 for systems that use the numerical format), 72dpi, maximum of 500 pixels wide.

Using Photoshop Elements to process your images for upload

If you have a copy of Photoshop Elements (version 2+), you can process all your images for upload in one go using the “batch processing” function. Follow these instructions to do this:

• Create a folder to save your photos for upload. Ensure that this not “beneath” the folder where you store your existing digital photos.
• In Photoshop Elements, select File->Batch processing.
• Ensure “Files to convert” is set to “folder”
• Click “Source…” to select the folder with your digital photos. Optionally tick “include all subfolders” if required.
• Conversion options – ensure this is set to “JPEG High Quality”.
• Image size – ensure “Convert Image size is checked”.
• Enter 500 as the width. Leave height blank.
• Enter “72 dpi” as the resolution.
• Ensure “Constrain proportions” is checked.
• Ensure “Rename files” is checked.
• Select “Document name” in the left hand list and “Extension” in the right hand list.
• You only need to check compatibility for your own system. Don’t check the other boxes. All users will be able to see your images anyway.
• Finally, select a destination folder by clicking “Destination…” This MUST be a different folder to your source otherwise you will OVERWRITE your images.

Once you’re set, click “Ok” at the top of your page. All your images will be opened and saved to the folder you selected as destination. You are now ready to upload your photos.