One of the photo images on my site (if you want to check it out, it is the 'Spotlight Photo of the Month' image) is loading slowly. I was told that changing it from jpg to gif would help optimize the image. Is that true? When I go to the image and click, 'save as', I am only given the option of jpg or bitmap. How can I change this image to gif? Or can I? thanks~

Not through a web browser, to the best of my knowledge.

You'd need a program like Photoshop to change the file type/extension of a file. If you have a copy of MS Office, it comes with a program called Photo Editor (which usually isn't a default install, but can be installed from the CD) that will do the same thing.

Better yet, take your own advice: http://www.seethisitem.com/image_help.html

As far as optimizing your images goes, usually photos are best saved as JPGs at around 75-80% quality. I find that the file size gets lowered by half or more with next to no quality loss. Mind you, this is something you'll have to play with and experiment with yourself.

It's true. Just save it with the gif extension

what's true? that you can just change the file extension (which won't work without saving/exporting it as a gif after reducing the colour depth) or that gif will be smaller for a photo than jpeg - not true either
?

GIF files are best suited for simple graphics (line drawings, buttons, icons, etc). Not good for photos, since the colour depth is so low.
For quick loading photos, use JPG or PNG. Use an image editor to make them a suitable physical size.

There are different elements you need to concider to decide what format would be best for your images. JPEG is Different than GIF loading times do not depend on the extension of your image but in the compression you use. JPEG is good for certaing images as GIF is best for other images. There are a lot of factors to know before deciding what is best for you.

Long story short:
JPEGS are best for PHOTOS
GIFS are better for Buttons, Icons, Small Photos, etc.

I wanted to make the long story short as I dont think you wanna go around: Dithering, Bit Depth, DPI....

If you want to learn more there are tons of articles about JPG vs GIF

Originally Posted by kIDJOE

There are different elements you need to concider to decide what format would be best for your images. JPEG is Different than GIF loading times do not depend on the extension of your image but in the compression you use. JPEG is good for certaing images as GIF is best for other images. There are a lot of factors to know before deciding what is best for you.

Long story short:
JPEGS are best for PHOTOS
GIFS are better for Buttons, Icons, Small Photos, etc.

I wanted to make the long story short as I dont think you wanna go around: Dithering, Bit Depth, DPI....

If you want to learn more there are tons of articles about JPG vs GIF

I guess I will keep the jpg then since it is a photo. thanks.

No problem!, keep in mind that a JPG can be heavy still, you can optimize it though... u would have to use some software and save the picture for the web. Export for web use

Good luck

Janet do you have any image editing software? Photoshop is the grandaddy, but you can try The Gimp which is a free alternative. It's not quite Photoshop, but it should meet your needs especially for the price.

If you want you can always attach the image to a post. I'm sure one of us will be happy to optimize the image and return it to you.

I have psp. Would that work? Anyway, here is the image if you can help. thanks.

http://www.seethisitem.com/images/th...01866-3073.jpg

It should, although I'm unfamiliar with PSP. It's an image editor...I don't see why it wouldn't.

But if your site is running slowly, it's not because of that image. It's only 4 KB in size (right-click on the image, then left-click Properties and you'll see the file size.)

what's the filename of "'Spotlight Photo of the Month' image" i don't know which one it is?
oh and try this for that artists palette thing (dreamstimeweb_48664) as a gif it's half the size (though still large at 55k) with only a slight drop in smoothing on the gradients compared to jpeg

Originally Posted by davemies

what's the filename of "'Spotlight Photo of the Month' image" i don't know which one it is?
oh and try this for that artists palette thing (dreamstimeweb_48664) as a gif it's half the size (though still large at 55k) with only a slight drop in smoothing on the gradients compared to jpeg

Thanks! The other file is: thumb_200605110001866-3073.jpg and the link is above. I appreciate your help.