Software to compress JPG file to smaller file size
My camera takes a JPG file that is about 5 to 7 Meg big. This is a large file to email. I am looking for a software program that will do a batch "compression" of the photos to a smaller file size.
Forum Discussion
- IrfanView and it is free. :)
- Save your camera files into a "safe" folder. Do not ever manipulate these files.
When you want a smaller file to email, make a copy of the photos into a new folder and use Irfanview to batch re-size them. This will give you smaller files to email without losing data on your original files.
An alternative is to convert all your camera files immediately to TIFF format and save them. TIFFs are lossless - they don't dump data with each save. So, you can then use those master files and resize, etc., then save as to a jpeg. When changing the format from TIFF to jpg, you should be required to do a save as, so you don't risk saving over your original file and losing data. TIFFs will be bigger than a jpg file because it never dumps data it thinks you don't want. Jpgs dump data with every save - it's like photocopying a photocopy, with every copy, the image degrades. - Second Chance, exactly. Degrading my photos to compress is not what I want! Photography is the number one hobby.
- JPEG files are already compressed - that's their purpose. To get them smaller, they need to be resized. The process of saving them may compress them further, but they will also be further degraded. "Compressing" JPEG files is like mashing mashed potatoes.
Rob - IrfanView has a batch conversion mode that will resize, rename and output to the same or new directory. Everything the above 2 posts want.
It's also free.
Normally jpeg compression won't happen vs size reduction. However IrfanView has a lot of options and you could reduce the number of colors, etc and get a compressed file. - I'd like to find one that would take drag-n-drop and save to a subdirectory.
Say you have a directory called CamperPics. Drag into this program and it allows you to save out to CamperPics_sm (directory selectable, but saves last and recent), with configurable size reduction.
FYI. You likely won't compress JPG very much, but you CAN change the size. If your files are that large, resize them to about 35% for major savings.
