Adobe PhotoShop - Saving with higher quality

Curtis- rather than exporting my GIF's, I have always had better luck with the Image>Mode>Indexed color feature. This seems to work better in export... The exact option is only if the total colors in the image are under 256... but anyway the indexed color feature should work pretty well. After you have converted to indexed color, just click save and then choose file type GIF.

I hope this helps!

Brian Farkas

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When I try that, it will only let me save it up to 256 colors and that is what it looks like below.

Thanks
Curtis

Hi Curtis,

Your problem isn't Photoshop. It is the GIF file format. Here is an exerpt from CNET's Glossary.

Most color images and backgrounds on
the Web are GIF files. This compact
file format is ideal for graphics that use
only a few colors, and it was once the
most popular format for online color
photos. However, GIF has lost ground
to the JPEG format when it comes to
photos. GIF images are limited to 256
colors, but JPEGs can contain up to 16
million colors--and they can look
almost as good as a photograph.

Sorry about that.

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Jim,

Do you have to find an image that is in Jpeg format or can you save it as a jpeg format and will that work?

Thanks
Curtis

I agree - no doubt, go with the second one.

Matt

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Curtis,

You do not have to start with a jpeg to end up with a jpeg. You can convert easily between the different file formats.

With Photoshop, I would suggest the following:

1) Save the original file as is in Photoshops 'native' format (psd). This is so you can try different methods without messing with what you already have done.

2) If the image is fairly complex, meaning that you don't have large areas of solid colors, then save it as a jpeg. Jpegs are great for complex graphics since they search for pattern groups. You can play around with the slide bar and try different space vs quality issues as well. They are very poor at saving large areas of the same color. That is where Gifs come into handy.

3) Close the Jpeg image and reopen the psd image. Move the image where you can see at least most of it when you hit the 'Image' option at the top... (you will see why in a second). Then click on the 'Image' option at the top, and then 'Mode' and then 'Indexed Color...'

If you used multiple layers, you will be asked to Flatten layers. Answer Yes. (A very good reason to have already saved this earlier!)

Check the following settings:

Palette: Adaptive
Dither: Diffusion
Color Matching: Best
Preserve Exact Colors: Non Selected
Preview: Selected

Now, before you even continue, look at your graphic. If the image has degraded an undesired amount, then you are done - use Jpeg. If it has not yet, then continue.

Click on the Color Depth drop down and select 7 bits. The colors will have dropped to 128 and your graphic will have dithered as well. Is it still acceptable? If so continue to 6 then 5 ... until the graphic becomes unacceptable... then you move back up. You can actually go to a specific number of colors if you would like after you have a range or just do it by bits/pixel.

The only reason that reducing the colors helps reduce the size for Gifs is that it increases the number of color runs (the same color for several pixels) and gifs compress them very well. You can get an additional savings if you reduce it to 16 colors or less since the palette will actually be smaller... but that would only be for text on a solid background and I use 4-8 colors for that.

Once you have the image to the minimum number of colors, save it as a gif.

Now, compare your Jpeg and Gif sizes and images. Use the smaller of the two unless the one that is larger looks better and is only slightly larger.

Hope this helps,
Matt

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Thanks all of you for your help.

I have decided to go with one of these two. Which one do you think will work better?

Thanks for your time.

Curtis

The second, for sure, and it is such a ridiculously obvious choice in my opinion
Nice work.
JP

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