Shrinking JPEG Files

[John Stone]

As I work on a photograph, applying different fixes to make it better, the jpeg file seems to be getting smaller and smaller each time I save it. I'm concerned that Elements 2 is re-compressing each time I save and that I'm losing resolution etc. in the process. Has anyone else experienced this? Is there a way to save interim images -- that are fixed part way, but that you might want to do more to -- without losing any quality?

Thanks,

John

[Barbara Brundage]

Hi, John. Yes, you've discovered a very important thing about jpegs--they are what is called "lossy", meaning that each time you save as a jpg you are squishing out more of the data.

The best thing to do is to save your jpegs as .psd files while you work on them, and then turn them back to jpegs at the end, if you need them to be in that format.

[Chuck Snyder]

John, it probably goes without saying but I'll reiterate it anyway: even
though it makes the image bigger, it's a good idea to save the layers intact
(i.e., don't flatten the image before saving) so you can do the
're-tweaking' that Nancy mentions. Once the image has been flattened,
saved, and closed, you can't undo it; and if you save it in JPEG, the
flattening will occur as part of the save process.

Chuck