jpg compression help

[scrapcity]

I'd like to have a website that offers 8 1/2 by 11 graphic downloads to print out as paper. (I realize that only a few printers are borderless but that's ok...)

Graphics purists recommend that the images I offer should be 300dpi jpg for best printing results but that results in a huge file (around 24 Mb) which is impractical for downloading. I've seen a site that offers some free 300dpi full-sized images but their files are only around 460k to 1 Mb. http://www.cottagearts.net
How did they do that?

Thanks, Susan

[scrapcity]

I forgot to mention that there's another site I found last year when I thought I made up this download idea...

http://www.scrapbookscrapbook.com

They offer about 20 pages of graphics per set, yet manage to fit it all into a single download of 2-4mb. They use Hotsend to archive the 20 pages as a single set. I kind of like that approach because it's so simple for novices to use--yet I don't want to seem like I'm totally copying the site. If I don't copy them, I end up with such huge files which is why I haven't been able to start this thing after thinking it up over a year ago! (Thanks for the forum!)

They have instructions, too for converting the files to jpg, 300 dpi. It seems like such a good route to take but it's their idea and I don't think I can do it too without their loyal following despising me for attempting to rip it off.

.pdf files don't seem to compress as much as I'd hoped...

Thanks! I sit by my computer, anxiously awaiting your replies!
Susan

[Pixelchik]

Maybe this won't work, but maybe putting the high rez artwork in a zipped file may compress them better. I often send large files in a zipped file to email clients or for downloading from a web site.

[scrapcity]

Thanks--is there a zip that both MAC and PCs understand or would I have to make separate files for each?

As you can tell, Im an absolute amateur. Thanks so much for taking time to respond!

[essence]

Hello to you!

There sure is a compression that works for both its called Zipit

www.maczipit.com

You will have to have your customers download it before they can UnZip your files. By the way, if your customers have Windows XP, they wont need to have WinZip, so maybe include that in your website!

-essence

[zbgump]

Any Mac that has come out in the past 8 years or so comes with stuffit expander installed by default, which can open zip files just fine.

[Aronya1]

I recommend using Irfanview. It's a free program for manipulating image files. It's great for what you want to do. Use the batch conversion option or the image resize/resample. You'll have to experiment with the jpg compression ratio. Usually, something around 80% will give you a much smaller file size without losing much image quality.