Scanning Photos

[lamar241]

Can anyone recommend a "scanning software" that will scan photos with the ability to "crunch" the JPEG or GIF file size so it loads faster (without losing the picture quality of course[nbsp][nbsp]:)

thanks in advance!

[Benson]

Hi,
There are lots of programs that do this. Paintshop Pro is shareware and reportedly pretty nice.[nbsp][nbsp]Of course if you have deep pockets, you could go with Photoshop (which comes bundled with ImageReady, a image optimizer).

By their nature, jpg and gif files are already compressed files. Photographs are normally saved as jpg files. JPG's can be saved at various quality levels, with the worse quality being the smallest file.

An important thing to remember is to never modify a jpg and then resave it. Always modify uncompressed files and save as a jpg for the last step.

[Justin]

Another quick note: just as with audio files, you cannot crunch without losing quality. As Benson notes, the more you crunch the more you lose (the quality also depends on the type of compression, with JPG being the best for colorful images)... Note that most of the loss in quality is unnoticable to most humans - it's all a matter of perceptual coding, similar to an MP3 - all MPEG compressions (JPG/MP3) are based on perceptual coding, making sure to only take out what will not be noticed. But technically there is quality loss...

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Justin Nelson
FutureQuest Support

[Mandi]

I've used the online utility www.gifwizard.com (http://www.gifwizard.com) with excellent results, too.

[Armand]

Paintshop-- freeware? Not the good versions.[nbsp][nbsp]But an excellent substitute for those of us that can't afford Photoshop.

Another good program for gif compression is Ulead's SmartSaver.[nbsp][nbsp]Came w/ my scanner(s) thankfully.[nbsp][nbsp]I love Microtek for including that.

[Benson]

Actually the term I used was shareware, but it appears that Paintshop is commercial, judging by the boxes on Best Buy's shelf.[nbsp][nbsp]A trial copy can be downloaded from http://www.jasc.com/

slainte,
Benson

[Armand]

meant shareware Benson...sorry.[nbsp][nbsp]Suppose I was just wishing it was freeware so I could get that 6.0 upgrade from Jasc. :([nbsp][nbsp](Can't believe the upgrade price isn't much better than that... but I do want the Illustrator knock off features)