Can I reduce a photo to a target file size instead of changing its resolution?
Asked 4/22/2021
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2 answers
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I may receive a high-resolution TIFF portrait from a studio and want to upload it to LinkedIn or another site with file size limits. Is it possible to reduce an image to a smaller target file size (for example, from 15 MB to about 9 MB) without specifically resizing by pixel dimensions? What software or workflow should I use?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
5y ago
2 Answers
14
You can use ImageMagick:
convert original.tif -define jpeg:extent=9MB output.jpg
And quoting one of the comments:
IrfanView will allow you to do it, for those on Windows who are afraid of the command line
Originally by user34947. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user34947
5y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes. File size and image resolution are related, but they are not the same thing. The usual way to make a large TIFF upload-friendly is to export it as a JPEG (or sometimes PNG), which uses compression and often reduces the file size dramatically even if pixel dimensions stay the same.
If you need a specific approximate file size, some tools can target one directly. For example, ImageMagick can do this with:
convert original.tif -define jpeg:extent=9MB output.jpg
On Windows, IrfanView was also mentioned as a simple option.
In practice, you usually do not need an exact size for sites like LinkedIn. Social platforms typically only require the file to be under a maximum size, and they may recompress or crop the image after upload anyway. So the easiest workflow is:
- Keep the original TIFF.
- Export a copy as JPEG.
- Adjust JPEG quality until the file is comfortably below the site’s limit.
- Only resize pixel dimensions if the site also has dimension limits.
So: yes, targeting file size is possible, but for web uploads, exporting a JPEG under the maximum is usually all you need.
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