I am using Photoshop Elements 7.0. The Forum guidelines require that a photo not exceed 100 kb. I shoot in RAW and store in jpegs that are approximately 1 mb, but some go up to 1.5 or even 2 mb. PSE lets me reduce most of them to close to 100 kb for posting. But, for some of the large photos, even the lowest possible setting (1 out of 10) yields a 300 kb file. I assume that I am missing a step. How do I get PSE to reduce a large photo to 100 kb (or smaller). Thanks

I have elements too but I'm on version 5.0 - so I'm not sure how this translates. I click Image-Resize-Image Size. on that panel I set my resolution to 72 (most cameras shoot at much higher), which automatically notches it down. I then knock the width down to about 400 pixels. This gives me a file of about 56K in size (though on that Image Size box says pixel dimensions 351.6 - so I'm not sure what that means).

Hopes that helps.

I don't shoot RAW so I'm not familiar with ways to shrink it. Have you tried the Save for the Web option in PE? I resize my photo first to 800x600 (or 600x800) with a resolution of 72 pixels per inch. Then I use the Save for the Web and use Jpeg/High qualitive. That will usually take it down to around 100 jpeg. Sometimes it is a little bigger but it is usually under 200K.

Thanks I will it a try. FYI you sholud take a look at 7. I got a news camera who's raw files 5 could not process so had to upgrade. 7 is. With the upgrade fee - it is far superior. Typed on iPod so all typos are Mr Jobs' fault

LOL - thanks zalopho. Maybe after the holidays I'll take a look. I stopped using the raw option b/c I couldn't process them with 5.

save to web does the job thanks

Thanks for following up with what worked. I wasn't certain what was the 'magic' step.

I thought I'd jump in here. I stopped blogging and posting because I am so technologically-developmentally-disabled when it comes shrinking my photos (enough) to post. I am not sure what program I have and do not have the energy to tackle that and other challenges... LOL

Eden, that reminds me, I keep meaning to investigate some free photo software that people can download and write up instructions on how to use it and resize for blogging.

For XP Microsoft has a free Powertoys which includes an image resizer. It adds a menu item on the right click for a file or a number of selected files which will resize to a small, medium, or large size. The small is about 50k, and the medium is about 100k jpeg. I use the option to create a new file and end up with file names with "(medium)" or "(small)" as a suffix before the ".jpg". It is simple to use, and you can use the function to make word documents with embedded images smaller as well.

I will post an example with images showing how this is done if anyone would like it. I will also investigate to see if there is something similar for other versions of Windows.

I use it frequently to add images to posts or put into SlowPhotos.

Thank you John and Kim. I will definitely look into these after the craziness of the holidays... And Kim, do take care of yourself first. Been thinking about you and sending you hugs and BEST WISHES.

Irfanview can be downloaded. It is a simple photo editing program and it is free. Its resize function is simple: Options>resize/resample
A little hard to read because it is a screen snap, but I have included the dialog box for resizing which shows the settings for posting.

Peter

I forgot to add: www.irfanview.com

Peter

Paint.net could be an option too.

windows only though

http://www.getpaint.net/index.html

Windows Live Photo which is also free from MS and can be used in XP and Vista can also provide a shrink function.

The link is to an installer for a number of Windows Live applications, so only check the ones you need. I have installed only the photo one and am evaluating it.

And it works very well.