Best technique for scaling down images for web?

[DaveyD-UK]

I'm just wonder how people here scale down their images for the web and retain as much detail as possible?

I find that bilinear is better for scaling down images than bicubic, where as bicubic seems best for scaling up.

[Gadget Daddy]

I normally let the uploader s/w for the website scale it down automatically

Pete

[DaveyD-UK]

yeah flickr does a very good job of scalling, however I want to get as much detail in the original uploaded image (the one that flickr creates all the other sizes from). I normally scale theses to 800x533. I feel that photoshop can make scaled images look a little soft and sharpening them makes them look unnatural.

[pixelpixel]

I use photoshop....All I do is image resize to 1024 x 768, save as to keep exif info and keep the jpg under 250kb for flickr.

Have you got any examples of this softness ?

[DaveyD-UK]

They're not really soft, just not as detailed as I would like, I'm sure there is software with fancy algorithms that will preserve as much detail as possible when scalling down?

[Zone]

Originally Posted by DaveyD-UK

They're not really soft, just not as detailed as I would like, I'm sure there is software with fancy algorithms that will preserve as much detail as possible when scalling down?

A samll amount of sharpening will usually bring that back, doesn't need anything too fancy

[senu]

Originally Posted by Zone

A samll amount of sharpening will usually bring that back, doesn't need anything too fancy

He means small.. but makes the point


Try to leave sharpening to the very last
What I do some times is to import the image into PS, rescale it to 800 pixels, then edit.. leaving sharpening to the last.
The advantage is that any PP ( including sharpening) is not affected by resizing so no surprises at the end..and the sharpening really has to be subtle
I then save at a quality that keeps the filesize within limits.. It isn't as longwinded once you start doing it but I wouldnt mind using software which could do it automatically sometimes

[DaveyD-UK]

I apply 1.0 pixels 100% USM before resizing, and then 0.7 pixels 50% USM after resizing with the bilinear algorithm.

But sharpness isnt the issue here, its detail or lack of it, I've seen scalled down images on the net that look far more detailed than my images, maybe its because they use lenses with a better optical resolution or maybe its because they have a better scalling down technique?

[DaveyD-UK]

Found this excellent guide
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tut...e-for-web.htm#