Best and correct way to change size of picture without loosing quality

[Tom-75]

Hi all,

I have some basic question what the best way of working is to make sure I get good quality in my end result pictures.

Here an example, i am working on a picture that is about 16.000 px wide (wide panorama). The picture contains some other elements where i applied some styles on and it also contains smart objects coming from illustrator, meaning text objects.

Now when working on. This the quality of the whole thing and all elements is perfect but I will later on not use the picture 16.000 px wide, I will need it maybe 2.000 or 3.000 wide.

Should I continue working on the large file and convert everything when finished to the size I need it to be or will that give quality problems? I just noticed when I just resize an object with some Styles applied turbot seems that the quality is getting really low.

Will the quality remain good if I complete the large version and then change the size of the image. When doing this should I then activate the box called something like "scale down objects" or how should do this the best way.

What would happen if I flatten the image and then change size, will this be positive or negative for quality?


I know it was a quite long description of my problem but I hope you van help me with this to get the basic understanding how this works.

Thanks and regards,
Tom

 

[RTContent]

I always try to work on a canvas that will be the correct size of my final image. If I don't know for sure what the output size will be I will work on a canvas that could realistically be the maximum size for the project. Since you have many different elements in your project, resizing the canvas will probably cause you issues. To avoid this you can either flatten the image into a single layer and then resize, or you can also create a new layer and go Image ->Apply image.. This pretty much does the same thing but preserves your layers.

Hopefully this answers your questions

R

 

[Tom-75]

I always try to work on a canvas that will be the correct size of my final image. If I don't know for sure what the output size will be I will work on a canvas that could realistically be the maximum size for the project. Since you have many different elements in your project, resizing the canvas will probably cause you issues. To avoid this you can either flatten the image into a single layer and then resize, or you can also create a new layer and go Image ->Apply image.. This pretty much does the same thing but preserves your layers.

Hopefully this answers your questions

R

Thanks for your answer.

What if I start out with an original high quality picture? For example if the picture comes directly from light room it will be the original size, should I then resize the image first before staring Amy other work?

Another example, what if I want to create a logo from a high quality picture as basis? I think it would be nice to work on the original high quality image and modify the size later based on my needs ......or am I inking completely wrong?

Regards,
Tom

 

[RTContent]

There is no right or wrong way. I suggest you try both methods and see what works best for you. If your happy with a 200mb+ psd file then it won't hurt using a full res canvas.

 

[MikeMc]

Once you adjust image size...its forever. I always save my orig as large as I can on a DVD and then resize for given project size...(they never change ) ....... Also the format you save it in will allow more leeway in the future..I save a lot of tiffs, because I have the space.

 

[Tom-75]

Thanks RTC and Mike,

It is basically not a problem for me to work on a large file and actually I would also prefer that. Like that I always have the original intact and I can create smaller versions based o my needs

......my big question is, how is the best way to create small versions of a project with different elements, objects etc to get a good quality result?

Would you for example recommend to just resize the canvas or is it quality wise better to flatten the image?

Also how can I prevent that applied styles loose quality when resizing an element?

Regards,
Tom

 

[RTContent]

Since you have many different elements in your project, resizing the canvas will probably cause you issues. To avoid this you can either flatten the image into a single layer and then resize, or you can also create a new layer and go Image ->Apply image.. This pretty much does the same thing but preserves your layers.

Have you tried either of these ways yet?

 

[Tom-75]

I have tried the first one and wasn't very happy with the quality of one element in the picture but the text seemed quite ok in the smaller version.

Regards,
Tom

 

[RTContent]

Can you post the resulting images on here so I can see?

R

 

[Tom-75]

Hi,

here are two examples.

in the first one I only re-sized the large image to 1000px (have just cropped out the important part to be able to see it better)

in the second one I flattened the image first and then re-sized it to 1000.





actually in these two pictures in this size it is almost impossible to see a difference, both look actually good. So I think this is the way to do this since it works here, I just have to re size the image without creating a smaller canvas file and scale down the elements.

Regards,
Tom

 

[RTContent]

I think you may have answered your own question. Your right, I can't see the difference but it could be my bad eyes

 

[Tom-75]

it is the same with my eyes ;-)

Regards,
Tom