I want to pass along information about a shareware app for producing compressed JPGs, PhotoShrinkr. I have no association with the app or its creators, but was so impressed with the results I wanted to pass this along.
If you save originals in a lossless format, there are probably still times you'd prefer smaller image files, especially if it can maintain image quality. It helps in preparing and communicating reports, to allow e-mail transfers that otherwise would be blocked, and, if nothing else, to improve rendering performance.
Where PhotoShrinkr really seems to deliver is quickly compressing to JPG while maintaining image quality. It's a 5 MB app with drag'n'drop interface that converts input image files using all available processor cores to high quality compressed JPG output. You specify the output file folder location; the compressed files have the original name appended with '_optimized'. Originals are untouched. The app has a slider that can be moved laterally, across an image window, allowing you to compare original (left of the slider) to compressed, to the right of the slider. Even if that description doesn't do it for you, it will immediately make sense when you see it.
It accepts a variety of input file types. To determine the amount of compression, I tested TIFF, PNG, and JPGs images. I did not see any before/after degradation for any.
1. 50 JPG images averaging 500kB each were dropped into the input window. The batch compressed 40 - 50% in 10 seconds or less.
2. 885 PNG files, 473 MB total, were dropped into the input window. The 818 that benefitted from compression were reduced to 68 MB in 70 seconds. The 67 that didn't compress were untouched, retaining original creation dates, but names appended with "_optimized". Those were all 50 kB or less, and all of them were clippings from online newspaper archives. That suggests the archives are already using something like this.
3. A 4 MB TIFF file compressed to 246 KB in less than a second.
Although the optimized images were indistinguishable from the originals to my eye, I didn't evaluate them under extreme magnification.
The only downsides I could see were 1) the changed file name means compression must be done prior to linking or embedding into a report. Maybe there's a way to batch-remove the appended text with GraphicConverter? And 2), for the app to run you have to explicitly give permission in System Preferences/Security to work around Apple's refusal to launch the app. That's a one-time event.
After spending much time over the years trying to accomplish the same results, I'm amazed at how well this app worked. I'm not sure what features paying the $9 registration fee may add; documentation is ... umm, sparse, but the good news is that it's also sufficient. It's an easy-to-use one-trick pony.
-Paul
If you save originals in a lossless format, there are probably still times you'd prefer smaller image files, especially if it can maintain image quality. It helps in preparing and communicating reports, to allow e-mail transfers that otherwise would be blocked, and, if nothing else, to improve rendering performance.
Where PhotoShrinkr really seems to deliver is quickly compressing to JPG while maintaining image quality. It's a 5 MB app with drag'n'drop interface that converts input image files using all available processor cores to high quality compressed JPG output. You specify the output file folder location; the compressed files have the original name appended with '_optimized'. Originals are untouched. The app has a slider that can be moved laterally, across an image window, allowing you to compare original (left of the slider) to compressed, to the right of the slider. Even if that description doesn't do it for you, it will immediately make sense when you see it.
It accepts a variety of input file types. To determine the amount of compression, I tested TIFF, PNG, and JPGs images. I did not see any before/after degradation for any.
1. 50 JPG images averaging 500kB each were dropped into the input window. The batch compressed 40 - 50% in 10 seconds or less.
2. 885 PNG files, 473 MB total, were dropped into the input window. The 818 that benefitted from compression were reduced to 68 MB in 70 seconds. The 67 that didn't compress were untouched, retaining original creation dates, but names appended with "_optimized". Those were all 50 kB or less, and all of them were clippings from online newspaper archives. That suggests the archives are already using something like this.
3. A 4 MB TIFF file compressed to 246 KB in less than a second.
Although the optimized images were indistinguishable from the originals to my eye, I didn't evaluate them under extreme magnification.
The only downsides I could see were 1) the changed file name means compression must be done prior to linking or embedding into a report. Maybe there's a way to batch-remove the appended text with GraphicConverter? And 2), for the app to run you have to explicitly give permission in System Preferences/Security to work around Apple's refusal to launch the app. That's a one-time event.
After spending much time over the years trying to accomplish the same results, I'm amazed at how well this app worked. I'm not sure what features paying the $9 registration fee may add; documentation is ... umm, sparse, but the good news is that it's also sufficient. It's an easy-to-use one-trick pony.
-Paul
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