Best Quality / Size of photos to use for faster loading

[purplemagpie]

Hi Everyone,

I'm using tons of photos on some of the sites I'm working on and don't know much about photo things.

Is there a Best Practice for deciding what quality or how big the photo should be or how large the  file should be for using photos on a site?

I want them to load quickly, but don't want to suffer quality. One site needs 5-Star quality and others just need to look really good.

I used PhotoScape and it allows me to choose the quality as a percentage. It defaults to 95% and if you make it lower it says something like Are you sure you want to do this as the quality will stink?

This site I used the suggested 95%  http://www.senseofplacepress.com   It loads a bit slow (has inside sliders and will have LOTS of flower photos). She's a photographer so quality matters.

How do those photo album themes hold all those photos without bogging down?

This other site is more like most of the ones I'll be doing. Want the photos to look good, but load fast.  http://www.alaskafishradio.com

Got any suggestions? I tried Google but it didn't help.

Thanks in advance,

Maggie

 

http://www.senseofplacepress.com

[bmaven]

Hi Maggie,

I usually use 72dpi resolution and 80% quality for a .jpg. If you use a program like Photoshop Elements, when you "save for web," it will let you preview what your image will look like at various qualities so you can make an informed decision. You definitely have to balance loading time with the visual effect...although with a .jpg, I've found the resolution and quality I mentioned to be fine.

Hope this helps!

Jeni

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Blogging growth strategist & revenue coach at The Blog Maven, fearless leader of 3 preschoolers…tweeting it up @theblogmaven

[purplemagpie]

Jeni,

Thanks. That helps a lot. Now I have gone from "clueless and faking it" to "informed".

I'm sure it will help others new at this as well.

Maggie

[Author]

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