Compressing photos to upload while travelling

H

half scot

Registered User
Messages
47
Hi,

Heading travelling soon enough and have a camera that takes photos at 8megapixel.Therefore the photos come out at 2/3mb each.

While I'm in a random Cambodian internet cafe, I'm looking to find the best way to reduce the size of the photos to a couple hundred kb which will then make them quicker to upload to the net.While at the same time taking the photos at 8mp and not having to install any software etc.

Anyone with any suggestions please?

Cheers
 
What format are the images? If they are JPEG then they are already compressed so attempting to compress them further will not yield any further reduction in size and could actually increase it! If they are in the camera's RAW format then you could convert to JPEG. Are you uploading in order to archive them or just to share them? If it's the latter then you could always use a graphics/photo editing package to reduce the size/quality. If you want to archive them on the road then you might be better off buying a portable hard disk (preferably 2.5" laptop size one since it's more portable and can be USB powered) to save them off. Or else buy a bunch of memory cards and take care of them!
 
well...you could always open up the images with MSPaint, (Or goto: Start->Run->mspaint) load a photo in, then goto ''image->stretch/scew'' and type 50% in the vertical and horizontal of ''stretch'', or whatever ''%'' suites you. That takes them down a bit. (This is if the images are JPG or JPEG files) However, if they are .BMP files, then loadthem into mspaint and when it's open, goto ''file->save as'' and select ''save as type'' JPEG. This will compress them.

If you dont want to do any of that, then you could always archive them with WinRAR or WinZIP. But this would only really suit bmp files. JPEGs are already compressed so winzip wouldnt do alot to the filesize.
 
Yes they are already JPEG and about 2/3mb in this form.
I only have a 2gb memory card so I'll be looking to upload the memory card along the way to Yahoo photos and also share with family.
It took ages for just one photo to upload at home due to the size and slow upload speed but I was thinking if I was able to compress/downsize without losing quality,I'd do it!!:p
Not sure if cafes will have photo editing packages
 
If I was you I'd buy a few memory cards (e.g. try www.7dayshop.com for good prices - there's another recent thread with additional recommendations, or they might be cheaper in SE Asia) and/or a 2.5" USB portable hard disk (assuming an internet cafe will allow you to connect one to backup your files) so that I could archive things on the road. Depending on your camera you might also be able to tweak the settings and use lower quality/size for snapping and higher quality/size for more important shots. Might be hassle trying to switch between the two modes though. Probably easier just to have sufficient storage capacity on your travels.
 
ClubMan said:
If they are JPEG then they are already compressed so attempting to compress them further will not yield any further reduction in size and could actually increase it!
Click to expand...

Not necessarily true. A lot of digital cameras (incl. mine) are set to save images in the JPEG format. This would be usually be 1 - 1.5 Mb per picture.
If the Internet Cafe has Mcrosoft Office 2003 installed you can use Microsoft Office Picture Manager to compress your pictures to a suitable size for emailing etc. say 30k per picture.
If they dont have this facility, or some other one (they should have), your only option is to put your own photo compression utility (there are lots available) on a usb stick and hope that they will allow you to install it.
 
Yes but surely reducing a image from 1.5MB to 30KB you would definitely lose quality? Don't think half scott would like that.
 
Sn@kebite said:
Yes but surely reducing a image from 1.5MB to 30KB you would definitely lose quality? Don't think half scott would like that.
Click to expand...

Sorry, 30KB was just a figure that came to mind. Higher figures/less compression are available.
 
ClubMan said:
If I was you I'd buy a few memory cards
Click to expand...

Would it not be easier to just buy a small 10 pack of cd's and burn the photos on to them in the cafe? You'd get 7Gb of space for a as little as €5. Ten cd's should'nt take up much luggage space - and for the equivilant flash (7x1Gb cards) you could easily pay over €125.

Edit: Clubman, just checked out 7dayshop as you mentioned above - £10 for a gig - very very impressive... I was working off £12 for Play.com's SanDisk SD card - not a bad price either. However I still say CD's are much cheaper!
 
Last edited:
Along the lines of the portable hard disk (so will assist backup but not saving/sharing online), you could use a large memory MP3 device (space saving [2 birds with one stone - music and storage], may already have one available etc).

Just an option I thought I'd mention. Easier than picking up the multiple memory cards (but not as beneficial as you need to get to a cafe to do the transfer - with additional memory cards you just swap as needed).
 
CGorman said:
Would it not be easier to just buy a small 10 pack of cd's and burn the photos on to them in the cafe? You'd get 7Gb of space for under a tenner. 10 cd's should'nt take up much luggage space - and for the equivilant flash (7x1Gb cards) you'd easily pay over €125.
Click to expand...
I get the impression that the OP would like to upload them to the net in compressed form, not save them to disc/card at full res?
 
Grifter said:
I get the impression that the OP would like to upload them to the net in compressed form, not save them to disc/card at full res?
Click to expand...

Im aware thats the ideal... i'm just offering an alternative. If it were me, I'd prefer to edit/compress/sort my photos out in a relaxed environment at home rather than in some internet cafe in SE Asia. Just my two pence.
 
CGorman said:
Im aware thats the ideal... i'm just offering an alternative. If it were me, I'd prefer to edit/compress/sort my photos out in a relaxed environment at home rather than in some internet cafe in SE Asia. Just my two pence.
Click to expand...

Agreed!
 
Grifter said:
Not necessarily true. A lot of digital cameras (incl. mine) are set to save images in the JPEG format. This would be usually be 1 - 1.5 Mb per picture.
If the Internet Cafe has Mcrosoft Office 2003 installed you can use Microsoft Office Picture Manager to compress your pictures to a suitable size for emailing etc. say 30k per picture.
Click to expand...
I was talking a out compressing the existing JPEG which will yield little, no or negative (i.e. an increase in size) compression because this is what happens when you attempt to compress already compressed date. You seem to be talking about reducing the image quality which will indeed yield a reduction in size. Different horses for different courses.

Good point above about CD-Rs though!
 
I think the best way to upload all the photos is to ZIP them with WinRAR or WinZIP, preferably RAR cause it seems to give mebetter compression. And then just U/L the whole thing, or make little winRAR archives with only certain emount of images inside, incase of a connection break, timeout etc...



EDIT:Or just get yourself a faster friggin' internet connection :D


hmm maybe a library would provide a faster connection that a net-Cafe?
 
Copying straight to a cd is one option alright but I may try to reduce mp to say 3 or 5 which could make them quicker to upload as they'd be smaller in size.
Sn@kebite- How do I zip by WinRAR or WinZIP please?
 
half scot said:
Sn@kebite- How do I zip by WinRAR or WinZIP please?
Click to expand...

Download either program, both should be available free (I know I certainly have free copies, but may have been gotten from utility discs or friends) [7-zip is another option for zipping which is defiantly free - rar would probably give the highest compression]

Install it

Select the files you wish to have in the zipped file

Right click on the selection

You'll have new options in there to allow you to send the selection to a "compressed folder"



Both tools are very easy to use. Not too sure if it'd help much with photos (which are already compressed so little room to reduce the size).. but a good tool to have for your general use with other files (where large savings can and are achieved).
 
If you're going to compress the photos any way, why not use the camera settings to take the pictures at lower setting?

Also, I was in vietnam last summer, most of the web cafe's allowed you to burn CD's pretty cheap from what I remember & if you're on the tourist trail, they're every where.
 
Sn@kebite said:
I think the best way to upload all the photos is to ZIP them with WinRAR or WinZIP, preferably RAR cause it seems to give mebetter compression.
Click to expand...
How many times do I have to say this ... compressing already compressed data will yield marginal, no or possibly even negative reductions in size! JPEG is already compressed data so compressing it again may increase the size! Try it or Google for "compressing compressed data" if you don't believe me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top