# HOW MANY PIXELS



## jcm71 (Jan 18, 2012)

My pictures on my web site load way too slowly, and I have a lot of work to do to retake and load them.   How many pixels are your pen pictures?  Is there a good compromise in picture quality and speed of loading?  Thanks guys.


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## Ted iin Michigan (Jan 18, 2012)

The pics on my site are in the 100k-200k neighborhood. And if you're working on dialup, yes, large pics in the "couple meg" range can take a while to load, esp if there are a lot of them. 

I take pics at pretty good quality and then resize them on line to a size that works well. I use a "free" service here: Resize Images online . It allows and original image up to 6 Meg and gives you several options to choose from as far as output is concerned. Tthere is also a "batch" add on you can pay for (I think) but I haven't used it.


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## Fibonacci (Jan 18, 2012)

If you want to do bulk image resizing on Windows, Microsoft has a free tool for it.

Do a search for "windows power toys" and find "bulk resizer".  It works well.


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## randyrls (Jan 18, 2012)

A free program called FotoSizer also works well, can batch resize many photos at a time.


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## G1Pens (Jan 18, 2012)

I size my pictures at appx 800x600 pixels and save at a medium-high compression. This make the pictures about 150-200k in size.


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## mg_dreyer (Jan 18, 2012)

Take this coming from a guy - but size does not matter as much as resolution. Computer monitors only need 72 dpi. So if you have an image with more resolution it is basically wasted. What you want to do is take the picture at a high resolution - this gives you the best options for editing. Once you get the part of the picture you want (cropped) then change the resolution for web (72 dpi). This will dramatically make your pictures small in size. Do not cheat and think you can take 72 dpi pictures in the first place - they will be very grainy. Use a software package to change them to 72 dpi and they will fly.


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## MesquiteMan (Jan 18, 2012)

Compression can play a big part in the size of the photo.  I try to keep ALL photos on my website at the recommended 50kb or less by using a combination of compression, resolution, and size.

Can you tell the difference between these 2 photos?












The first one is 82KB and the second one is 53kb.  The second one will load quicker on slow connections.  Sure, there may be a slight difference between the 2 but it is hardly noticed by most people and the guys with slower connections are less likely to leave before the photo is loaded.  IMO, 100-200k is way larger than is ever needed on a web page.


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## jcm71 (Jan 19, 2012)

Thanks so much, guys.  You've given me tons to work with.

John


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## toolcrazy (Jan 19, 2012)

Curtis is right. My rule is 100k max.  Most users will wait for smaller images to load, but leave if it is too large. But even with 100k images, too many can be a bad thing. Luckily the cart I use re-sizes my thumbnails for me so I don't have to.


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