Saving Graphics Files by Sunni

There have been enough questions from the students about saving the graphics files from Image1.psp to jpeg format to warrant an in-depth explanation. In an effort to make this easier, I have cobbled up this visual lesson. The example graphic I am using here is named "aa2-1.psp" and we will save it into a couple different formats in this lesson.

Looking at your work space, you will find the title of your graphic in several places. The first one is at the top of the page along the Title Bar which I have circled in the example on the right. The other one is at the top of the image you are working on. That's not shown here as the FILE pull-down menu hides that.

To save a file, mouse up to the menu bar and click on File (circled in the example) then scroll down to Save As shown highlighted in blue here with a red arrow pointing to it.

After selecting Save As, you will be driven to the Save As window. The name of the file in the pop up window matches the name at the top of the graphic, shown circled in the graphic on the right. The format type will be shown in the Save as type: box just below where the red arrow is pointing.

To change the format, follow these steps, referring to the matching arrows and numbers in the graphic on the right.:

1. Left click on the little down arrow button to pop open the pull-down menu.

2. Left click on the little up arrow button just below the little down arrow button to scroll up through the choices.

3. When you see JPEG - JFIF Compliant, move your mouse over it and left click once.

When you left click on the JPEG format, the pull-down menu will snap shut and, looking at the arrow in the graphic to the right, JPEG will now be in the Save as type: box instead of the *.psp format. Notice the name in the File name box changes from aa2-1.psp to aa2-1.jpg. It is now different from the name at the top of the image itself. Look at the red circles in the graphic to the right.

Now left click once on the Save button to the right of the File name: box.

Looking at the red circle in the graphic to the right, you will notice the name at the top of your image is now in jpeg format!

Ok - now let's save this jpeg into a different format - let's save it into a *.gif file. Again following the steps in the graphic to the right:

1. Left click once on the little down arrow button in the Save as type: box then

2. Left click on the little up arrow button just below it until you see

3. CompuServe Graphics Interchange (*.gif). Mouse over and left click on CompuServe.

Again, the pull-down menu snaps shut and the name in the File name: box changes from aa2-1.jpg to aa2-1.gif. Notice the name is different from the one on the top of your image. That remained aa2-1.jpg. It will always retain its format until you left click once on the Save button.

Now go ahead and click on the Save button.

Now the format of the file changes and the name at the top of your graphic reflects the change in format.

Once you have done the File/Save As, you have not changed the original image. You still have aa2-1.psp in your files on your computer. You also have a duplicate of that in jpeg format: aa2-1.jpg and in *.gif format: aa2-1.gif - giving you three images of the same thing in three different formats.

They are all the same size in pixels - same number of pixels wide and same number of pixels tall. To change the size of any of these, you must do so with each one individually.

However, they are not the same size in kilobytes (Kb)!! On my computer, the aa2-1.psp file is 227Kb, aa2-1.jpg is 13Kb and aa2-1.gif is 81Kb!! BIG difference!!

The *.psp file has all my layers and special effects saved separately. That's why it is so big. When saved into a *.jpg file, everything is merged into a 16 million color image in a single layer with all the special effects blended together with them so you just get the results of all the layers and special effects. Also, *.jpg format strips any redundant bytes from the file effectively and efficiently reduces the image down to the smallest possible size. It can be reduced further using the JPEG Optimizer option when you save the file. This is why, when you zip a *.jpg file, it can occasionally be larger than the unzipped image! There's nothing left to reduce! By the same token, though, when you save a file as a *.gif file, the colors are decreased down to only 256 colors, all layers and special effects are merged and the extra bytes are not stripped away. So, while it is still considerably smaller than an image in *.psp format, they are generally larger than *.jpg format. Only exception to this is, occasionally, when you are using just black and white only in your *.gif images.

If you have any further questions, please post them to the EggersPSP Yahoo group and someone will get you an answer! --sunni