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Phuntography #2, Saving files for the web

After resizing, scanning or transferring your photos the next big question is, "What the heck am I supposed to do with them now?" You have several options when saving files for the web - most of which seem convoluted to even the soberest member of the bunch. To which I highly recommend removing yourself to the nearest local pub post haste and remedying your first problem. Back to the second problem, I offer you my quick and easy guide for saving your photos to showcase online.

You have several options - jpg, bmp, gif, tiff, and on and on and on. Those frisky web designers and programmers are always throwing new options at you, none of which seem to make any sense unless you've been schooled by the Industry-Standard-Nazi's. Here's your simple answer - go jpeg. Why go jpeg? Because you can get the best quality at the smallest file size. Phuntography™ isn't about long winded, painful answers - just go with it. If you want to showcase your pictures online, jpeg is the solution.

The next question is, how do you save your files? This quick and dirty tutorial will show you the best way to save your files in Photoshop. As always, save your new and improved files under *new* names so as not to overwrite the original. If you don't have Photoshop, I highly recommend Picasa as a free alternative. FREE FREE FREE!

Step 1) In Photoshop, click on "File" and then "Save for web..."
Step 2) Make sure "JPEG" is the selected file type.
Step 3) The only other control you really need to worry about on this page is "Quality". As a general rule of thumb, I never save photographs lower than a "50" and usually hover somewhere around a "60". The great thing about Photoshop is that as you change the "Quality" you actually get a live preview of the finished, saved file on the right side of the screen. Use your best artistic judgment. If you have the "Quality" set at a 50 and the photo looks too grainy, up the number to a 55, 60, or even higher. Click on "Save" and you're officialy the Zen Master of Web Photography!