Loss of picture quality when uploaded

Any help really appreciated

[phantombookman]

Hi
I wondered if anyone could help. When I upload pictures onto my webspace they sometimes appear poorer quality compared to the original.
I sell books and when scanning jacket covers there is no problem but when scanning book cloth or older books the problem shows.

Just bought a digital camera today to hopefully help. Picture looks great on my computer - upload to my site then view - quality is degraded!?

The images tend to be approx 200k jpg's.
I am not an expert but would expect the picture quality to remain the same when uploaded.

Any pointers or advice would really be appreciated especially as I have just shelled out on all this camera stuff.
Regards
Rod

[Mark_A]

more details please ..

do they look great in your browser on your hard disk and then less so in your browser from the server online?

[john_k]

The first thing that comes to mind is that you are viewing these in IE and have the option set to automatically resize images. That option is set under Tools/Options/Advanced. This would cause your images to be poorly scaled.

After that - how are the images getting uploaded? If it is something other than FTP, then maybe the upload process is setup to reduce the images. Another idea is that, if the images are hosted on some type of free-service, then they are being reduced by the host simply to keep costs down.

[phantombookman]

Hi Guys
thanks for this really appreciated. I have just switched off auto rescaling and it is still the same, the pictures are not that large so I presume that facility would not be used?

I view the picture in photoshop 7 where it looks great.
Upload via coffeecup ftp to my website then it is not as clear. The problem appears mainly with large blocks of colour.
I can post a URL of just a single picture but not if anyone would object of course.
Cheers
Rod

[The_Hat]

I am not to sure about this but could it be that you are viewing the pictures with Photoshop directly from the camera. Then with photoshop saving them to a location as a JPEG thus loosing some data resaving them into a compress file type such as a JPEG?
<edi> hmmm.. never mind.. i reread the post.. sorry..</edit> I still think it is a lossy saving problem tho.

[phantombookman]

Hi Hat
I save the image in my documents and when opened with adobe then cropped , then 'save for web'.

I can understand me messing the picture up or saving it incorrectly but what puzzles me is when I open the saved image is is better than the online one?

If they are colourful dust jackets though there is no real problem.
Regards
Rod

[john_k]

Don't compare adobes with jpgs:)

Drag one of the questionable JPGs on your harddrive (using Windows Explorer or whatever) into your browser and then compare that with how the JPG looks on the website. Those should be the same.

If they are, then the deterioration you are seeing is due to the compression. If you are not being prompted for this when you save the file as a JPG, then hunt around for the settings.

If they still look different, and you are uploading via FTP, then I suspect the hosting server or your ISP is utilizing compression to deliver the images.

[The_Hat]

Doesn’t "save for web" by definition mean that Photoshop is going to remove some information and compress the images?

[PatrickDeese]

it sounds like you are accidentally saving them a jpgs in "low" setting, or perhaps you are saving them as GIFs? That would explain "large blocks of color".

I always set my "Save for Web" to show a "2 UP", so I can compare the original with the saved version.

[phantombookman]

Hi Guys
thanks for the input, really appreciated.
I have just dragged a pic into explorer and they do indeed look the same as the pre uploaded image.

It is looking most likely that John_K is right I am afraid. Something which is beyond my control could be spoiling the images.
Very frustrating
All the best
Rod

[cwebb]

It's not out of your control!

When you choose "save for web" there are some options, main one for you the quality.

I'd try to resize your images to be a little smaller and then use the filter "mask unsharp" (or whatever the correct translation is) and then save with higher quality.

[jamesa]

You're not using AOL are you?

[sidyadav]

If you're using FrontPage, you should try turning off "Specify Size", its in the properties of the image (Open FP, Double click on the image).

Sid

[globay]

To me, this sounds like you are saving the images in a low quality (save for web). You can still use that option but play with the options: choose jpg, and a higher quality (by the way, when saving the image that way, you get a preview of the image quality. Zoom in to get adjust the image qualtity to your needs).

[henry0]

HMMM...
200k per image!
this is way too much

averaging in the 60k total per page is already quite a max

users on a 56k modem will click away in no time

possibly you should limit to one image per page
and offer thumbs
I will deal with the above even before being concerned with image quality