Conversion of tif to jpg and increase in file size

peter5643 · Post by **peter5643** » 01 Nov 2004 11:06

I have read various threads regarding converting tif to jpg files and have successfully used the IrfanView software to do it which I found on this site. (Excellent software)
My problem is tif files downloaded from the 1901census. When they are downloaded they are about 170 Kb as soon as I convert them to jpg their file size shoots up to 1.5Mg or more. Even if I use Adobe Photoshop Elements to just rotate a tif image and save it as a tif file the size goes right up.
Is there any advice to enable me to make the convertion from tif to jpg and still keep the file size down.

ID:601

YouTube · Post by **Jane** » 01 Nov 2004 11:37

A couple of things to try are
1. Trim off any excess 'black' around the images.
2. Check the jpg compression and 'play' around with it to get the best compromise of size and resolution.

vliet · Post by **vliet** » 01 Nov 2004 14:47

IrfanView is an excellent ptogram, I agree. Also, Vallen Jpegger, which is free too. Included on the December CD with Your Family Tree magazine, is ACDSee. One of these programs should allow you to convert the file, making sure it is RGB format. As Jane says, try the compression. If necessary, convert to greyscale which should drop the file size a bit. Maybe save as a bitmap (bmp extension). Of course, you could drop the physical size of the image, nearer to A4 anyway.

Nigel

vliet · Post by **vliet** » 01 Nov 2004 14:48

Sorry for the typo spelling of program!

Post by **Guest** » 02 Nov 2004 23:37

It should be noted also, there are 2 types of Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) files.Compressed and uncompressed! Perhaps the file you are downloading is actually quite big, but is in compressed format?Maybe that is why there is such a difference??? JPG compression should be able to match it though, or come close to it, with little lose of quality.I use a 10% compression most of the time, which provides good compression over BMP or TIF, but with very little noticable lose of quality.Also if its a black and white image (say just text or a 'copy' of a handwritten document), try saving as a 256 color GIF or a PNG file, maybe your results will be better.(Since JPEG is a 24bit only format, you don't need all those colors (and extra space they take up!))

YouTube · Post by **Jane** » 03 Nov 2004 09:06

Just a note to say gif is not supported directly by FH, however png seems to work very well with 1901 census images.

A 2.2Mb Tif (uncompressed) became a 3.3Mb JPG, but a 345Kb PNG.

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