Watch the video above then read the instruction below which document the actions taken in the video. The video above is intended as a visual indicator of where to go next, the detail of the tutorial is contained within the textual content of the page below:

Once you have created you image you will need to export you image to a format compatible with the context you image is going to be used within. A rough rule of thumb would be to use Jpeg for Photography and use Gif for the internet. This isn't an absolute rule though as I tend to use Gif for graphic files that I am going to use within a website and I will also use Jpeg for photos that I am going to use within a site. Jpeg will normally preserve the image clarity better when reducing a photo to a size compatible with delivery over the web.

Photoshop files (.psd) are only to used for image editing and are only compatible with Photoshop. If you were to try and embed one within a webpage no-one be able to view it and due to the high file size of PSD files you would probably render you page useless.

To start you will need an open image that you wish to save.

In the video above I have used an image I created earlier that contains many high contrast areas that will allow use to see image degradation at different levels of optimisation.

In the video above I am satisfied with my image and I am ready to export to Jpeg format, to do this I go to File - Save for Web & Devices... This will launch the Export window that contains a preview of the image and the options for adjusting the image to gain an acceptable file size against resolution. When an image is to be used in printed media the highest quality out put is often the best option as a printer will adjust according to application, so best to provide them with too much information rather than too little. The image optimisation features come more into there own when saving for the web where many images my be passed to compose a web page and cumulatively can add up to an unacceptable download speed to the client.

A very nice feature within the export window is the ability to have multiple views of the same image on screen at the same time so you can directly compare the Original against the Optimised version. Views available are Original, Optimised, 2-Up and 4-Up, each view will provide you with a snapshot of the image quality at the setting selected along with the size the file will be once exported. There are no hard and fast rules on file size for the web as connection speed are ever increasing allow for much richer content, however I would suggest that you just put a little thought into the context your image will be used in, for example a thumbnail of an image that is embedded within a page needs to be small as the client may not have any interest in that thumbnail and will not want to wait for it to download. The image that the thumbnail links onto can be much bigger as by clicking onwards the client is expressing an interest and will be prepared to accept a longer download time (still produce the smallest file you can without impacting image quality).

The export window will default to GIF format so you will need to select Jpeg from the drop down menu directly beneath the Preset Options.

Initially just adjust the image by selecting from the Quality drop down menu which includes:

• Low
• Medium
• High
• Very High
• Maximum

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