Saving JPGs for Premiere Elements Slideshows

[j.pady]

What is the best way to save a JPG for a Premiere Elements Slideshow...

1) RGB or Grayscale?

2) Use "Save As" or "Save for Web"? Save for Web automatically turns it to RGB, but I read it doesn't save as many colors. Does it matter if viewing on an LCD HDTV?

3) Any reason not to make my images 1920x1080?

I haven't picked my output resolution yet (720p or 1080p). It's been a long time since I did this - I won't be using DVDs anymore. I'll either play it from a USB drive or cast it to the TV. Any tips would be appreciated. I'm just about to re-edit a lot of Grayscale JPG scans.

[Steve Grisetti · Accepted solution]

1) RGB. Grayscale will make your pictures black & white. But, if your pictures are already black & white, there's nothing to be gained by making them RGB.

2) Save for Web optimizes color and sharpness -- but, if you're going to be using the photos in a video project, you probably won't be able to tell the difference between a Save for Web and a simple Save As JPEG.

3) You don't say what your project settings are -- but there's no reason not to make your photos 1920x1080. Especially if you want them to fill a 16:9 video frame.

[Peru Bob]

I prefer to save as PSD files to use in Premiere Elements.

[Steve Grisetti]

Because they are not compressed, PSDs will give you cleaner lines.

[williebegoode]

I use JPEG all the time with PRE. Since I use images from a variety of difference sources, I don't have a lot of control over the initial image format. Most of the images from mobile devices are in JPEG format or PNG (on the Web). If PNG, I convert them the JPEG.

While Peru Bob and Steve are correct in asserting you get the best image with PSD format, I have found that the gain is not that great and your resolution is limited to the DPI of your screen in any case. Further, when editing with larger PSD files, you'll use more memory which slows down the process or clogs it up altogether. Also, I try and make the size of the JPEG file to fit the resolution of the screen, which in my case is 800 x 800 with room for a video to the side. If no video is used in conjunction with your images, then make sure they fit the screen resolution as best as possible.

I'd have to double-check, but I believe that all images are converted to JPEGs in all streaming video; so while you may start with PSD images, they may be converted to JPEG when you render and export your video. What I'd suggest is this: try out the different formats and see which one works the best in terms of presenting your images. If the PSDs work best; by all means use them. However, if there's no difference in the final product (the video); then I'd go with JPEG.

[j.pady]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Just a follow up:

Grayscale vs RGB: I'm asking because I heard some software (mostly Microsoft) doesn't like grayscale JPGs. I was wondering if anyone knew of any issues with Premiere Elements, or even viewing grayscale JPGs directly on an HDTV from a USB drive.

Project Settings : Steve - I'm still scanning & editing photos and haven't gotten to the project yet, but my goal is to play the video from a USB drive on an HDTV. I'm assuming the project settings will be AVCHD 720p30, Full HD 1080i 30, or HD 1080i 30 (don't know what the difference is between the last two), and my output will be .MPG or .MP4. Let me know if I'm on the wrong track.

Resolution:  The last time I did a slideshow like this was using PrE 2.0 and resolution mattered a lot. Large files bogged down the processing. I've done some simple slideshows since them (using PrE 8 to 11) and it seems that HD processes faster. There didn't seem to be a huge difference between 720p and 1080p. I figured it had something to do with square pixels (and/or a faster computer).

[Bill Sprague]

Not all TV USB ports work the same.  On one of my TVs, it can't be more than 30 FPS.   Most TVs now are 1920x1080, so I think that's what I would choose for a project setting.  In other words, "1080p30".  And I would check the box that "Forces selected project settings on this project".  At output I think I would choose matching specifications.  In version 15 there is a choice under Devices > "TV".

FWIW, in addition to the file formats mentioned, PrE 15 can use RAW.  If the RAW files are edited in Lightroom and saving the changes to XMP files has been elected in the catalog settings, those edits are read by Premiere Elements.  It is not necessary to create resized intermediate JPEG, PSD or PNG files unless your machine bogs down.

[j.pady]

Thanks for the input everyone. There seems to be no warnings (or "correct answer") regarding grayscale JPGs (specifically to Premiere Elements), but I'll probably save them as RGB (for web) to make them more "standard", just in case I want to view them on different TVs from a USB drive.