Sizing photos for the web

[#1]

@Leapy

If you are just doing a one-off size reduction for the web as in your OP you shouldn't have any issues using the software suggested.

You start to hit problems when attempting to manipulate those photos further post reduction due to the loss of detail. It's always prudent to make a copy of the original (highest resolution) and work on that before reducing it's size or resolution.

[#2]

@PeeGee  WRONG....

nowhere in any of my posts, replying to the OP...or subsequent sideline posts, have I asserted anything about the content of the FILE

as you have intimated here..

the following discussion has been about your assertion that there is no change to the quality of the image in the file,

that is an assumption of yours.... and the assumption of @chenks76  and others......

As I previously stated,  there is no loss of quality or colour  ...  obviously referring to what the OP was querying..   again... ..

with minimal effect on the viewing quality..

he was not concerned, nor did he ask about, any changes in the content of the file or the file structure.. only about ....

[#3]

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shutter wrote:

he was not concerned, nor did he ask about, any changes in the content of the file or the file structure.. only about ....

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That's the wonder of these forums. Always the possibility of extra helpful information

[#4]

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Mav wrote:

extra helpful information

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 You can get rid of that as well, but removing the metadata has little effect on the file size.

[#5]

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@shutter wrote:

@PeeGee  WRONG....

nowhere in any of my posts, replying to the OP...or subsequent sideline posts, have I asserted anything about the content of the FILE

 as you have intimated here..

 the following discussion has been about your assertion that there is no change to the quality of the image in the file,

that is an assumption of yours.... and the assumption of @chenks76  and others......

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The assumption I made is that in using a program to reduce a file size by processing the contents using a jpeg algorithm has resulted in a reduction in the number of pixels in the destination file (to state the obvious). However, if you know of a mechanism to reduce the file size without accessing the content, I would love to know about it (deleting a file does not reduce its size as it no longer exists to have a size).

Phil

[#6]

@PeeGee it seems to me that you change your assuptions according to how it sounds to you,.... so your original assumption was in your post number 26, which I pointed out to you in my reply post number 27

Which, you replied to with an "addition" to your post 26. and a subsequent post trying to explain away your assumption....

when I again pointed out what the OP was querying... you made a further assumption in your post number 29... stating that I had asserted something that was not true.

I refuted this, and again, pointed out your error, in my post number 32..  and so, in your latest post number 35... your assumption has changed tack, again, and gone "off piste" into something that the OP was not querying. and then  continue with a "challenge" to me.....

. However, if you know of a mechanism to reduce the file size without accessing the content, I would love to know about it

Which again, has absolutely naff all to do with the OP request, nor any of my answers nor even your assumptions of the information I provided to the OP in response to his request for....

I understand I can make them smaller, with minimal effect on the viewing quality.

Is there a simple and free way to do this and can it be done in a batch?

     There is no point in taking up your challenge, it being totally irrelevant to the O.P.  and you do not have any coherent solution to the OP`s problem, ( now solved ). I assume there are no more assumptions to be made on the O.P`s request...

[#7]

Has the OP considered using server side scripts to serve an optimal image size, depending on the size/resolution of the web browser?