7 Replies Latest reply: Jul 14, 2009 1:22 PM by reyam1 RSS

    Adding Text Layer to an image & trying to keep file size manageable?

    reyam1 Community Member

      I am trying to add a simple text layer to some relatively small JPEG files - each file is only about 3 or 4 MB in size before any editing or additions are made to the files. I am using P-shop CS2 on a PC with Windows XP SP2.

      When I add a few lines of simple text (with no special effects) to any of these files and attempt to save the edited file as a .TIFF or .PSD file with the text as its own layer in the file - the resulting .TIFF or .PSD file is a 30 or 35 MB file which is hard to work with because of its size. These files have only two layers in them - the text layer and the base image. It just does not seem logical that a simple text layer would make a file increase in size by 10 times. I would like to try to save the edited image files as .TIFF or .PSD so that I can go back and make future edits to the text layer.

      I have tried to save the edited file with the text layer as a .zip file but these files are also still very large - 20 MB or so.

      Maybe I have some basic file settings wrong that are making the files so large? Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can add a simple text layer to a relatively small image file, save it as a .TIFF or .PSD file and keep the resulting file size manageable?

      Thanks

        • 1. Re: Adding Text Layer to an image & trying to keep file size manageable?
          John Joslin Community Member

          You have to understand that JPG files are heavily compressed .

           

          If you want to keep the size down, flatten the file and save a copy as JPEG.

           

          Of course the text won't be editable, but it will be in the original PSD or TIFF.

          • 2. Re: Adding Text Layer to an image & trying to keep file size manageable?
            reyam1 Community Member

            Thanks for the quick reply.

             

            I would like to be able to edit the text - I understand about flattening images in P-shop and JPEGs are compressed files.  If I flatten the image I can not edit the text.

             

            Should file sizes increase that much (the image file size goes from 3MB to 25 MB) if I add just a couple of short lines of basic text?  It seems like there is a pretty simple setting in P-shop that would prevent the files from getting so large (when saving as a .TIFF or .PSD file) while still being able to edit a simple text layer of an image file later on.

             

            Any other suggestions or ideas?

            • 3. Re: Adding Text Layer to an image & trying to keep file size manageable?
              John Joslin Community Member

              3MB is the size of the JPEG when compressed on disk.


              If you just open it in PS and look in the status bar you will see its true size when decompressed.


              Adding text will increase that figure.


              I opened a 3MB JPEG – it was 15MB in the status bar. I added a few text layers and it was soon up to 20 MB


              What are these images for?

              • 4. Re: Adding Text Layer to an image & trying to keep file size manageable?
                reyam1 Community Member

                Hi John,

                 

                Thanks again for your reply.

                 

                The images are from a recent backpackpacking trip to the Sierra Nevada mountains in California.  I often put together a slide show for past trips and take a few of the images and use those as background for a slide(s) that describes the trip, ie. "Backpacking Trip to ..." Attached is an example that I saved as a JPEG file.

                 

                I have been researching this a bit more and I can't seem to get around the fact that if I try to save the image file (with a text layer) as a .TIFF or .PSD file the file size will become very large.  If I edit the image layer in P-shop is there anything I can do to lower the opacity or lessen the image quality so that the image layer is smaller and I still have a text layer that has sharp text all in a .TIFF file that is not too large?  Since the image is in the background and the text is on top the quality of the image doesn't have to be first class.   Are there any other image file formats that support layers othern than .TIFF or .PSD?

                 

                Since I am more interested in this instance of just adding some text to an image for purposes of turning it into a 'descriptive' slide for a slideshow could I just perfrom these tasks in Adobe Illustrator and save it in a format that would allow layers (for future editing) and keep the file size relatvely small.  I know that I can also save the image in Illustrator as a .PNG.

                 

                 

                Thanks again

                • 5. Slideshow pictures
                  polar_bare Community Member

                  If you are using them in PowerPoint as an example and only showing them on a computer screen, then make your images 10" wide by 7.25" tall and "save as" or "save for web & devices"  at 96dpi. That should be sufficient for a background image. Make sure that you keep your original files intact and you don't have to save the text with the originals. Disk storage is cheap if you want to save the layered file and have the disk space, then do so.

                  • 6. Re: Slideshow pictures
                    John Joslin Community Member

                    I was about to make a similar recommendation.


                    If I do a slide show I save flattened copies of the files with the necessary text included.


                    Also, as Jim says, you can normally reduce the pixel dimensions (W and H) to suit the means of display (eg projector) – the original size may be overkill!


                    (You also need to improve the quality of the text if your example is typical.)

                    • 7. Re: Slideshow pictures
                      reyam1 Community Member

                      OK, those are good ideas.

                       

                      Thanks for your time and ideas.