what is your process for formatting a layout to share online? do you use an action? do you sharpen first then resize? resize then sharpen? neither? do you just resize then save as...? i have always flattened my images then resized then saved as... but in PSP it's a bit different. bear with a newbie to PS... reason i ask... i have the size for web action from m4h, but when i use it on a 3600x3600 image, it changes the look of things quite a bit. maybe i'm just not used to seeing it in action (ha)....
I used to use my own action...which was a weird and complicated thing I learned a long time ago from who knows where. Then I found this action by paislee press (FREE). Love that it gives you a chance to adjust the sharpness before saving or just go with the default.
Never even thought to do any of that! I have PSCS3 and I just go to >File>Save for Web, and then just resize it. Then I go back and save as my PSD and JPG.
I have used Annie Manning's (Paint The Moon) Resize for Web action for years. It does the resize, boosts sharpness, and allows you to increase the saturation, all of which you can adjust if you set the action step to show its dialog box. It is so easy to use. Then I just File->Save For Web and adjust the size until it's just under 150kb. She has both a PSE and PS version available. I've only used the PS one. Before I used this, I would occasionally accidentally save a 72-pixels/inch web-res version accidentally overtop my print-ready 300ppi version and would just be mortified. Because the very first step in this action does a duplicate, I've never had that happen in the years I've used it.
I use my own little action.. which is like this--- resize to 600 duplicate layer on the top layer...filter>highpass about 1.0-1.4 (whichever I like better) set that layer's mode to overlay and adjust the opacity, save for web with CTRL/CMMD + SHIFT + S on high quality as saving I add "-web" to the end of the file name. That's what I do.
I just hit Save For Web, then in the dialog box change the image size to 600x600. I adjust the quality percent to anywhere between 65 and 80, to make sure it's clear and also make sure that it's under 150k. If it looses too much quality I'll go back and sharpen it a bit. I only keep the original PSD file on EHD and this web version.
I do it the same way. I know that my images are not the sharpest on web but I sort of don't care. For me it is important to have it full size while printing.
I resize to 600, bump the saturation to about +5 and then use the Unsharp Mask Filter. Sometimes I'm not sure why I even bother because I always think my LOs look like crap after I resize them even when I think the original looks good.
what is your process for formatting a layout to share online? I use CS3. Once I am finished with my LO, I save a psd copy. Then I flatten it and save it as a jpg. I then resize it to 600x600 and run a sharpen filter on it. Then I go into the save for web option, select optimize for file size set at 150 kb and then save with _web behind the original title.
wow- ok so i'm feeling kinda lame! All i've ever done is resize to 600x600 and save at 72 dpi....that's it, nothing more.....am i missing something? i've never noticed my LO's looking yucky-haha! i guess i should go look now lol!
I use this one too and I LOVE it. I actually like that it's not customisable. That is the part I always mess up. lol I just click and and go. The results are always great. I have tried several others but keep coming back to this one.
i actually save 4 copies of every layout i make: 1) full with layers 2) flat but full print size 3) Low res, which is essentially the flattened image set to 10x10 at 72 dpi, then 4) 600/150 which is the one i post to the web. i just resize to 600 px squared. adjust the quality to fit the 150 requirements for most sites. and leave it at that. i do NOTHING fancy to post my layouts. i used to sharpen first. i guess it made a bit of difference, but not so much that i felt like it was worth doing every time. ??? *shrug*
