Reducing File Size and Batch Processing in PSP

One of the recent Q's & A's was about reducing file size.

Q Ron - How do I change the size of photos for putting on our WWW site

A Using PSP. We aim to use images with a maximum dimension of say 500 – 600 pixels in width or height and 72 DPI, These dimensions give a good size image for viewing on the WWW and a small file size. The methods can be applied to other programs.

a) Image Resize .Enter the resolution and say 600 pixels in the W or H fields Make sure that retain aspect ratio is selected to avoid distortion.

b) File Export / JPG Optimiser A compression value of 15 is a good compromise between image quality and file size.

c) Save. Probably with a different name and retain the original image file.

But what if you want to do this with a folder full of holiday snaps?

Use a PSP script.

Perform the steps to process one file and save these steps as a script. Then run the script on all the images

View / Toolbars / Script displays the Script toolbar.

First you need to rehearse the procedure and think about the outcome.

The image file sizes vary a bit so it is best to resize using a % value (25% is OK for my images) that can be applied to all similar images.

Is the value of 15 for jpg compression appropriate and where do you want to save the files??

Create a new folder for the reduced files if necessary.

Every step you make during recording a script is remembered so try not to make too many wrong moves even though every correction is also reproduced.

Create the script.

Open a sample image. When you are ready click the record button and do the steps to resize and optimise a file.

1) Resizing

Shift + S opens the resize dialogue

Fill in Resolution 72 and Pixel dimensions 25%. Check that Lock aspect ratio is ticked.

OK

2) The next step is to reduce the file size.

File / Export / JPG Optimiser. Make any choices and save.

Click the save button on the Script toolbar. give the pspscript file a name, eg “25%” which will appear in the saved scripts dropdown box and save it in the trusted Script folder. (Probably -- My Documents/ My PSP Files / Scripts-Trusted)

Use the script on multiple files

File / Batch process

Browse for the files you want to convert

Select the script you have just made “25%” and “Run in Silent mode”

This means the you won't be asked every time a choice could be made. Not necessary here,

Check the file type and the folder to save the converted files

Click “Start”.

Sit back and wait for all your files to be processed.   In this example 12 files totalling 16.3 MB were quickly reduced to 786 kb.and they can be viewed on the WWW in good quality and without unwanted scrolling