Workaround for 'Save for Web' Feature's Limited Functionality?

[superherobyday]

I am trying to compress relatively large images (15-30mb) to smaller sizes of >5mb so that they are more manageable (able to be uploaded/downloaded/emailed etc)

I am using the compression (quality) tool in the Save for Web feature to do this.

I always received a warning message when opening up the SFW window that says "The image exceeds the size Save for Web was designed for. You may experience out of memory errors and slow performance. Are you sure you want to continue?"

And indeed, about half the time, on large images only, the tool stops working. I'll select a given quality/compression and the preview will turn all pink, no size will be shown, and it'll be unable to be saved. Though if I go through the whole process of closing the SFW tool, re-opening it, and re-compressing 3-5 times, I can usually get it to work at least once, but this usually takes 5-10 minutes because it is also extremely slow for larger images.

I guess I don't understand why a feature whose entire purpose is to compress large images is unable to handle large images. It'd be like a personal trainer telling someone they're too fat to benefit from exercise.

I am running CS6. Is this something that has been improved in newer versions? Does anybody know a good workaround for this?

Cheers

[D Fosse]

Why can't you do a regular "save as" if you need these large pixel dimensions? The jpeg compression is the same.

Web images were traditionally in the 1000 pixel range, and that's what SFW was designed for. Nobody ever needed a 5000 pixel image on the web.

I assume you know what this aggressive compression does to your file, so I won't bore you with that...

[superherobyday]

The only reason I prefer the 'Save for Web' feature over 'Save As' is that SFW gives me a real time file size for any given compression. Which comes in handy when I'm trying to eek out as much quality as possible without surpassing my file size limit of 5mb. Whereas with 'Save As' I have to guess which compression to use from the preset levels, then check the file size, and repeat if the compression I chose is too much or too little. Though given the issues with SFW, even that might be quicker/easier, unless there is a third option.

Cheers

[D Fosse]

OK, then use Export As. This is SFW's replacement, all new code with no size limit, and file size indicator.

[superherobyday]

The only options available under Export are 'Paths to Illustrator": which saves the image as an ai file and has no compression options, or "Zoomify" which has pretty much an identical compression feature as 'Save As.' No file size indicator, just the compression slider with preset compression levels.

Maybe the file size indicator is something that was added in later versions?

[D Fosse]

You don't have this? What version are you using?

[Nancy OShea]

File > Export > Export As.  Adjust height & width as needed.

Move the Quality slider to your left to further reduce filesize.

On the web, I use 2x images at approx 20% quality.  See screenshot.

[fenjas29325284]

In Photoshop CS 6 there's not yet "Export as ..." and "Save for Web" is - as D Fosse said - a very old module with limitations.

So I don't see a possibility to resolve this problem except to buy a newer version.

You could try GIMP, it's free - I cannot say for sure if it does what you want.

Fenja

[Nancy OShea]

I stopped using legacy SaveForWeb except for animated GIFs.  ExportAs is better. 

I also use RIOT - Radical Image Optimization Tool  http://luci.criosweb.ro/riot/

[rayek.elfin]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Nancy+OShea  wrote

I stopped using legacy SaveForWeb except for animated GIFs.  ExportAs is better. 

I also use RIOT - Radical Image Optimization Tool  http://luci.criosweb.ro/riot/

Be VERY careful downloading RIOT: the v0.5 installer is known to have malware in it - only the portable version was safe to use.

It seems the installer version of the latest v0.6 beta is no longer infected with malware. But download and use the portable versions only, just in case.

RIOT is pretty good, though: much better than the original old SFW.

Another (paid) alternative is PhotoLine: the web export is very close to the old SFW.

Btw, the reason why SFW in Photoshop bugs out is that it is a 32bit application, I believe.

[gener7]

superherobyday  wrote

The only reason I prefer the 'Save for Web' feature over 'Save As' is that SFW gives me a real time file size for any given compression.

Cheers

The regular  Jpeg save dialog does give you the file size as you move the slider when Preview is checked, and you see it below the Preview checkbox.

I am using it on a 650 MB open PSD

[Jeff Arola]

Why not reduce the image size (pixel dimensions) instead of over compressing the image with jpeg compression.

You can still save as a jpeg, but then you could use save for web without so much compression and get a better quality image.

You can resize the images using Image>Image Size then go to Save for Web.

You could also if you don't want to resize the images, make a new document of the same size, paste the old into the new to get rid of all the metadata and then use File>Save As>Jpeg.