Smugmug: How to counter softness from downsizing?

joeinla
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Smugmug: How to counter softness from downsizing?

It's come to my attention that all the gallery pictures that I've uploaded to Smugmug are quite a bit softer than the original versions, which I understand is due to downsizing.

Is there a way to counter this? I read the Smugmug FAQ and it says that if I pay for a higher level subscription, they have a sharpening feature that is automatically applied to the downsized gallery pictures.

Other than loading a downsized picture up to Smugmug or paying for their auto-sharpening feature, is there anything else I can do to show my pictures as originally processed?

Is there another picture hosting site that would address this issue better than Smugmug?

Thanks in advance.

May 05, 2010 at 12:53 PM

plubbry
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Smugmug: How to counter softness from downsizing?

I have no experience with services other than smugmug.

Smugmug does add some sharpening when they create their down rez'd display sizes. However, they state that the images are not heavily sharpened. Supposedly trying to strike a balance for the preferences of all types of users. It is true that only the higher tiered accounts permit you to change the amount of display sharpening.

I have discovered that my landscape shots could still use a little sharpening but am generally just fine with the default amount of sharpening that my basic smugmug account provides.

-Bryan

May 05, 2010 at 01:35 PM

Nickle S.
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Smugmug: How to counter softness from downsizing?

joeinla wrote:
It's come to my attention that all the gallery pictures that I've uploaded to Smugmug are quite a bit softer than the original versions, which I understand is due to downsizing.

Is there a way to counter this? I read the Smugmug FAQ and it says that if I pay for a higher level subscription, they have a sharpening feature that is automatically applied to the downsized gallery pictures.

Other than loading a downsized picture up to Smugmug or paying for their auto-sharpening feature, is there anything else I can do to show my pictures as originally processed?

Is there another picture hosting...Show more →

joeinla,

Pbase gives the viewer the option of seeing the image at full-size with no loss of detail. But I like the look and user-frindliness of Zenfolio:

http://copperhill.zenfolio.com/blueridge/h0/slideshow

Nicholas
www.copperhillimages.com

May 05, 2010 at 02:34 PM

hyperion
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Smugmug: How to counter softness from downsizing?

ot but you could switch to zenpholio - their image quality is vastly superior to smugmug

take care

May 05, 2010 at 04:28 PM

mdude85
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Smugmug: How to counter softness from downsizing?

you could just extra sharpen the image when you upload it that way when they downsize it, it will be at an appropriate sharpness.

or am I missing something?

May 06, 2010 at 10:08 AM

joeinla
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Smugmug: How to counter softness from downsizing?

But then the original wouldn't be "as-intended"...

I'll look into Zenfolio and see if that's any better.

Otherwise maybe I'll pay for the extra sharpening in smugmug. Stupid extra fee is... annoying.

May 06, 2010 at 11:24 AM

urbanwild
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Smugmug: How to counter softness from downsizing?

Bumping this old thread.....given that this was from 2010. I'm experiencing a loss of sharpness on my SmugMug site and would love to improve it if possible. Any tips out there? Thanks!

Dec 31, 2022 at 01:30 PM

dclark
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Smugmug: How to counter softness from downsizing?

urbanwild wrote:
Bumping this old thread.....given that this was from 2010. I'm experiencing a loss of sharpness on my SmugMug site and would love to improve it if possible. Any tips out there? Thanks!

You provide links to your Facebook and Instagram, but not Smugmug, so I have not seen the images you find to be soft.
I have a Smugmug site, Power account, that allows me to control the resolution that can be seen, all the way up to the full resolution of the uploaded image. I limit the displayed images to 4K.
I have not noticed any loss of sharpness when viewing images at less than full resolution. I find the images displayed on my Smugmug site to be essentially identical to what I see when viewing the same image locally in Lightroom or Photoshop. That's the way I want it.
Consequently I have no tips to offer.

Dec 31, 2022 at 02:54 PM

urbanwild
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Smugmug: How to counter softness from downsizing?

dclark wrote:
You provide links to your Facebook and Instagram, but not Smugmug, so I have not seen the images you find to be soft.
I have a Smugmug site, Power account, that allows me to control the resolution that can be seen, all the way up to the full resolution of the uploaded image. I limit the displayed images to 4K.
I have not noticed any loss of sharpness when viewing images at less than full resolution. I find the images displayed on my Smugmug site to be essentially identical to what I see when viewing the same image locally in...Show more →

Thanks for this. I had my website added to my profile but not the smugmug field which I didn't notice....now updated.

I also have the Power account but definitely notice a difference between LR and the JPEGs on my site. I'm thinking it may be how I'm saving them. Are your file sizes the same in LR as what's being uploaded to your site? Mine are reduced by a lot. I'm saving as JPEGs, Quality 100, Resolution 300 and no limit to file size.

This image is a good example......definitely a loss of resolution vs what I see on LR:

With that said, an image I posted in the 50mm f1.2S does look very much the same (saved the same way):

Unpredictable!

Edited on Dec 31, 2022 at 03:30 PM · View previous versions

Dec 31, 2022 at 03:22 PM

dclark
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Smugmug: How to counter softness from downsizing?

urbanwild wrote:
Thanks for this. I had my website added to my profile but not the smugmug field which I didn't notice....now updated.

I also have the Power account but definitely notice a difference between LR and the JPEGs on my site. I'm thinking it may be how I'm saving them. Are your file sizes the same in LR as what's being uploaded to your site? Mine are reduced by a lot. I'm saving as JPEGs, Quality 100, Resolution 300 and no limit to file size.
I use the LR Publish module to keep my Smugmug site up to date. I don't need to save anything as JPEGs. Full res files are uploaded.

BTW, I looked at a few images on your site. It appears to me you limit the viewable resolution to a low resolution (HD?). It appears that you are uploading lower res JPEGs. I recommend using the Publish module and uploading full res and then if you wish limit the viewable resolution in the Smugmug Gallery settings if you want to guard against image theft.

Edited on Dec 31, 2022 at 03:35 PM · View previous versions

Dec 31, 2022 at 03:28 PM

urbanwild
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Smugmug: How to counter softness from downsizing?

dclark wrote:
I use the LR Publish module to keep my Smugmug site up to date. I don't need to save anything as JPEGs. Full res files are uploaded.

Thanks! I'll give that a try.

Dec 31, 2022 at 03:31 PM


FM Forums \| Post-processing & Printing \| Join Upload & Sell