Uploading pictures to maintain high quality?

[Stívarðr Reynitré]

What format/recommendations/advice can you give me when uploading pictures (especially 550x175 signatures) in order to maintain high quality??

Thanks in advance!

[Balian76]

Probably best to use is png format unless it's photography then jpeg is probably best.

[Ishan]

Probably best to use is png format unless it's photography then jpeg is probably best.

It depends on the bit type and number of pixels within the given dimensions not quite the format, some format support higher & some don't. Like .png can be 8-bit type and 24-bit both.


For signatures, use .jpg and when using transparency on the background then use 8-bit png or 24-bit to display partial transparency. Though 24-bit pics are bulky as they have more pixels.

[Aanker]

Usually .png with the higher detail setting will work just fine. They are slightly larger, but with the 550x175 limit there is no chance of running over the 500 (gosh, why does no one petition to increase this?) 250 kb size boundary unless you put it at the very highest setting.

.png also allows you to have images with partial transparency, per what Ishan said.

[apple]

I'd recommend that you use .png at the lowest compression (highest quality) as long as you don't override the max size which should never be any problems with plain .png pictures.

[abbews]

Usually .png with the highest detail setting will work just fine. They are slightly larger, but with the 550x175 limit there is no chance of running over the 500 kb format.

.png also allows you to have images with partial transparency, per what Ishan said.

The restriction is actually 250kb, not 500kb

[Stívarðr Reynitré]

Thanks for all the advice guys, I'll take that on board. Looking at my latest sig, I haven't lost the quality I usually would and so your collective advice must have paid off! Much obliged.

[Aanker]

I just realized I'm using the highest compression available, not the highest resolution. Oh well.

After some experimentation though, there seems to be very little to no difference between the compression levels I have at my disposal, so maximum compression appears to be the better choice unless you want to up your file size deliberately.

[apple]

Compression=loss of details, so unless you are ok with some loss stay with the least compressed option.

[Stívarðr Reynitré]

It's often that 'speckled' effect that I want to remove when uploading. It spoils that crispness to the image, that gloss. And it just devalues it in some respects.

I've been uploading to this site directly in the past, but follwing advice here and using Photobucket, I've seen noticeable results.

[Balian76]

It's often that 'speckled' effect that I want to remove when uploading. It spoils that crispness to the image, that gloss. And it just devalues it in some respects.

I've been uploading to this site directly in the past, but follwing advice here and using Photobucket, I've seen noticeable results.

I used photobucket for a while a few years back and hated it, have you tried deviant art? They have a feature called st.ash now, it's basically a place to store art files that aren't visible to the public unless you choose to or link them to another site such as this one, and they don't resize your images which I seem to remember photobucket, does for normal members you get 2gb of storage and 10gb for paid members.

[apple]

You also got dropbox, cloudapp and other numerous services that works excellent for picture sharing without any quality loss.