Suggestion on posted picture size

[Bruce Page]

These old eyes are having a hard time viewing a lot of the pictures that are being posted lately. Some are barely larger than the thumbnail that the SMC software generates.
Might I suggest a minimum pixel width of 450 whenever possible?
What do you all think?

[Vaughn McMillan]

I agree Bruce, but I suspect some people might have difficulty getting the picture large enough to see and still reduce the bitrate (the "Quality" slider in many photo software products) to keep the size within the SMC limits.

For example, a native picture from my 4 megapixel camera, resized to 450 by 340 pixels, still exceeds the limit. I have to move the "Save Quality" slider (I'm using Irfanview) to about 90% to get the file size within limits. Since I like to post pics in the 700 to 800 pixel width range, I have to knock the slider down to about 70% to 70%, and remove some of the excess baggage like the JPG comment and EXIF data. I doubt some folks here know how to do all that. (And of course, many do know how, too.)

Just my 2¢...

- Vaughn

[Bart Leetch]

I save & post my pics at 640 x 480. Does this work OK?

I also use Irfanview.

[Mike Cutler]

I'm with Bart. 640x480, at JPEG Normal, or Fine seems to work OK for me.

I got that "eye" problem also Bruce. Quack says that my near vision is still excellent, I guess I used to be able to see molecules before.;)

[Mark Pruitt]

The few times I've posted a pic, I cropped it to exclude as much of the surroundings as possible and show only the object of interest. The result has usually been an acceptable picture. But I agree with you Bruce, it would be nice if the limit were a bit higher. I suspect that's a server issue that could probably only be explained in Geek (which I barely understand at all).

[Jim Becker]

I typically use 640 pixels of width for any pictures I post here. But Vaughn is correct that many folks have "challenges" with the software they use to condition their pictures for web display...this is especially a problem with software that often comes bundled with the less expensive cameras. There are free and inexpensive third party applications that are a lot more flexible...allowing decent quality in a viewable size while also giving the necessary small file sizes. (I use Adobe Photoshop Elements v4)

[Bruce Page]

Bart, your pic size is easy on my eyes. I normally size mine at 500 to 600 pixel width and let Adobe Photoshop’s “Save for Web” feature determine the height automatically.
The 450 width was just a suggestion for minimum width.