What is the difference Between Lossy and Lossless?
When you use Lossless in Photoshop, it allows you to keep the metadata and is a reversible compression.
Whereas with Lossy, you lose the metadata (or at least some of it) permanently and can’t reverse it.
This is no big deal since you’re going to export a copy / save a copy anyways (So you don’t lose the original or its metadata).
As for image compression quality - ideally you want your images as small (filesize) as possible while not losing quality. This can take some playing around.
I’d first resize the image dimensions (600 PX’s for emails), 800-1200 for web typically (depending on how many pixels is ideal for your use case (content page, blog, whatever)
Then in the compression screen (after you select WebP for your image type) stay in the “high” category, but go as low as you can. If it is too much and comes out grainy, just redo and don’'t slide the quality slider down so far (keep it higher in teh large file vs small file space.
Thanks for posting this - this is what I am working on right now… just started converting JPGs to WebPs yesterday (following your advice I’ve seen on a few other posts) and was looking at that same screen in Photoshop… I used Lossy @ 90 and saw an immediate 50% reduction in file size (compared to the JPG file size) and couldn’t see any real difference in image quality… I didn’t try anything lower than 90, but looking at your 63 setting, I’ll play with that # and see if I can find a sweet spot that I can use reliably to reduce image sizes without sacrificing quality…
It also depends on where you’re using it. Within the content itself you might want to reduce it a bit more (since it’s not high impact) but on your hero’s maybe you’re 80-90
Also, you should be able to create a batch process in photoshop as well, in order to modify / export as WebP a series of images. (though I have not tried that for WebP specifically)
Was looking into a batch processing feature in PS, but the File:Scripts:Image Processor doesn’t have WebP as an export option, so would just have to whip up a custom Save As action… Also - I tried some other compression settings (< 90) and saw a noticeable visual downgrade from 90 to 80 on my hero images, so am sticking with 90 for now, but will experiment with more compression for smaller (and/or simpler) images… At any rate - for the file size savings of WebP vs JPG (~50% smaller file size) at a 90 compression WebP setting, it’s a no brainer to standardize on that as the image type of choice…
Hey @Morgan, with the growing importance of visual content in the real estate space, it’s become essential for agents to create and use high-quality images on their websites. I believe learning Photoshop basics is vital in achieving this goal. However, I’m just getting started with the software and could greatly benefit from guidance on correctly applying its features to optimize images for my REW website.
Would you consider putting together a training session on Photoshop basics specifically tailored for REW website? I know it is a lot to ask, but I’m sure we all would benefit from seeing one of your REW experts in action improving images. Cheers
