Fuzzy/Pixelated Images on Facebook

<p>I'm having problems posting pictures on FB. The images are very fuzzy (maybe even pixelated) looking. Sometimes the pictures aren't so bad , while other days they are so fuzzy and I can't even post them. They look fine in PS, but I do notice a slight fuzziness on Blogger too. I don't know this with most other photographers, so there is something I'm doing wrong.</p>

<p>I shoot at full resolution and am wondering if there is something I need to do in PS when I save the images. I set the resolution to 72 and sharpen and usually take the size down to 600 or 800xwhatever.</p>

<p>Does this have to do with color setting, etc? The following are mine:</p>

<p>Mode is RGB color. Proof Setup is Monitor RGB.<br>

Workspace:sRGB, CYMK-US Webcoated (Swop) V2, Preserve Embedded profiles<br>

Assign Profile: Don't Color Manage this Document<br>

Someone once said I should "Convert to Profile" to sRGB before saving?</p>

<p>So frustrated. Thanks</p>

Generally sharpening is the last thing I do to an image, after resizing even. Furthermore it seems you are resizing it twice;

once when you set it to 72 ppi, and another later on when you set the dimensions. Try doing this only once and at the

same time, then sharpen, and see if the images improve.

<p>Thanks Jake! Yes, I was just playing with the image and it seems when I took the large 16x20 image and set it at 72 ppi, the image was more clear on FB (not perfect, but better). If I brought the image down to 5x7, then set it to 72ppi, it was fuzzy.</p>

<p>Thanks again! I'll see what I can do.</p>

<p>Darn. Nope, still too fuzzy. Do I open "Image" then simply change the resolution to 72 or do I change the resolution and pixel dimensions? Or are you saying crop the image and change the res. right when I crop it?</p>

<p>I've been experimenting with uploads to Facebook. It appears Facebook automatically does some resizing and compression, so it may not be possible to use it for best possible display of critically sharp photos, no matter what we do.</p>

<p>Pay no attention to the 72 dpi, etc., stuff. It doesn't matter for uploading photos online, whether on Facebook or photo.net. That's a printing instruction and has no bearing on monitor resolution.</p>

<p>I'm just resizing photos to 700 pixels wide or smaller, adding a little sharpening after resizing, and not worrying too much about how they appear on Facebook since it's impossible to completely control the final appearance. I just regard 'em as snapshots, nothing more.</p>

<p>Darn. Nope, still too fuzzy. Do I open "Image" then simply change the resolution to 72 or do I change the resolution and pixel dimensions? Or are you saying crop the image and change the res. right when I crop it?</p>

<p>Yes, Lex, but other people have pretty clear images, so I want to know how they do it.</p>

<p>Be sure to work from a copy, of course, to preserve your originals.</p>

<p>Use the "resample" option in your software, not "resize" - depending on your software the resize option may produce artifacts, jaggies and ugly results. Resample to around 700 pixels wide. Use a little sharpening after down-sizing. Sometimes a simple bit of light global sharpening is good enough, sometimes you may need to set a custom unsharp masking setting for the small JPEG.</p>

<p>Again, ignore the 72 dpi, 100 dpi, 300 dpi stuff. It doesn't matter for shrinking JPEGs to be suitable for web display. Only the pixel dimensions matter.</p>

<p>I agree, nevermind the 72DPI stuff. I resize my 10 and 12MP camera images to 750 pixels in Paint Shop Pro XI, do an unsharp mask and upload them. I've got hundreds of images in various albums and groups I own/belong to, and they are decently sharp. Especially since Facebook recently upsized the way the images display. </p>

<p> </p>

<p>Chimera - Are you able to consistently post images to photo.net which meet your standards of sharpness? I quickly looked, and couldn't find any images that you posted, but I did notice that you have mentioned image sharpness problems in a number of threads. I'm trying to discern whether your problem is only with Facebook, with the method you use to prepare images for the web (ie, in general), or with your initial capture. Examples would be *extremely* useful.</p>

<p>BTW, photos on Facebook will get a bit better. They are increasing the size to 720 pixels:<br>

http://www.allfacebook.com/2010/03/facebook-officially-launches-resized-photos/</p>

<p>Tom M.</p>

 

<p>I've not run into your situation but here's what I see that may or may not be a problem.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Mode is RGB color. Proof Setup is Monitor RGB.<br /> Workspace:sRGB, CYMK-US Webcoated (Swop) V2, Preserve Embedded profiles<br /> Assign Profile: Don't Color Manage this Document<br /> Someone once said I should "Convert to Profile" to sRGB before saving?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>RGB should be sRGB. That's what it's going to be on FB and just about anyplace else anyways. But why are you applying a CYMK (sic) profile? Do you have the option to not apply any profile at all? Again this may not do a darned thing, but when I applied that (in Canon's DPP) the resulting jpegs had clipped blacks blocking up, which could be construed as noise. It looked like blotchy noise to me anyways, but it looked bad on my monitor and I never uploaded them to the web.</p>

<p>Here are two samples: Like I said, the images look fine in PS. The one of the girl, of course, is more clear on FB than the one of the kids. I think any time my ISO is raised, even if I run it through Noiseware, FB shows the noise (or it could be pixels, not sure).</p><div></div>

Here's a question: after you resize and save an image, does the copy look okay when you open it up in PS? How about if you open in Windows Gallery? If the copy looks good before uploading, then bad after uploading, you know it is Facebook's software reworking your image, and not something you are doing. Finally, check what size Facebook is outputting your images (I'm not sure, but they may only be 600 pixels wide) That's your target size.

<p>What should my CYMK be? There's US Coated, Uncoated and so on...</p>

<p> </p>

<p>To me it seems like you are over thinking it. As others have said Facebook does its own resizing and compressing when you upload. I take my RAW image and the only thing I do is make it 1024 pixels in the longest direction and then save it as a .jpg and upload it to facebook. Sometimes I don't even resize it I just leave it as is and save it out as a .jpg and upload it. The other adjustments I might do to a photo before uploading it are just regular adjustments I might do to it anyway.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>"What should my CYMK be? There's US Coated, Uncoated and so on..."</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Again, that is completely irrelevant to the problem you've described. Printing instructions like CYMK, paper type, etc., are relevant only to printing. These have absolutely no influence on how your photos will appear on Facebook.</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>"...even if I run it through Noiseware, FB shows the noise (or it could be pixels, not sure)."</p>

</blockquote>

<p>It might help if you can provide a link to where we can view your photos on Facebook. Otherwise we're just guessing about what might help resolve the problems you've described. There's no way for us to tell from your description whether you're actually seeing "noise", pixelation and blocking from overcompression, jaggies from resizing or any of a number of other problems.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>What should my CYMK be? There's US Coated, Uncoated and so on..</p>

</blockquote>

<p>If you have a NONE setting then try that. Otherwise ignore my post. The most recent and only version of photoshop that I own is PS Elements 3.0, and it doesn't even let you set a CMYK profile. I just had a problem with it in Canon's Digital Photo Professional and that one setting was the problem.</p>

<p>One thing I'm surprised nobody's asked: What quality JPEG are you saving? Try saving at a higher quality to reduce artifacts.</p>

<p>Save jpeg file as a low compression image in camera (finer setting). Export to photoshop, resample to image size shown on webpage. In your web browser check the resulting image size of Facebook's thumbnail of your image. Resample to that size to avoid resizing by FB. Set to 72dpi while your at it if you wish. Note: use RGB mode for screen intended pics.</p>

<p>Its not you, its FB. For some reason when I put my photos on there too the sharpness drops and the color is significantly lacking from its original form, ive never been able to figure it out myself, doesnt do this on any other site I upload to....</p>

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I just saw this in another thread, and I wonder if FB resizes images, as I noticed the same thing:</p>

<p ><a href="../photodb/user?user_id=5157732">Nathan Gardner</a> <a href="../member-status-icons"><img title="Frequent poster" src="http://static.photo.net/v3graphics/member-status-icons/3rolls.gif" alt="" /></a>, Apr 16, 2010; 12:43 a.m.</p>

 

<p>Are you viewing them at the correct ratio on your computer screen. For example, my computer screen isn't the same ratio as my photos, so if I make a photo my desktop backround, without resizing it, it will look grainy due to the distortion. Now when I look at them on normal full screen mode, it adjusts the ratio, but if for some reason your computer is stretching or distorting the ratio, even just a little, it can make it look grainy.</p>