How to export images for NPN

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To effectively upload images to NPN, please adhere to the following guidelines for optimal results:
  1. For quick loading times, we recommend a JPG file of around 1 MB, which is easy to achieve using the methods below. The forum software will accept files up to 100 MB but will downsample any images over 3 MB automatically.
  2. Utilize professional tools such as Lightroom or Photoshop for superior compression, as opposed to relying solely on forum software downsampling.
  3. Aim for a file resolution of 1500px on the longest edge. This size strikes a balance between image protection and display quality. However, feel free to adjust the size based on your preferences.
  4. Opt for a lower-quality setting to significantly decrease the file size without compromising web display quality. We have provided specific settings for each software below.
  5. Ensure that your images are in the sRGB color space for consistent color representation across various web platforms and browsers.

Lightroom Classic Export

  • Select the image you want to post.
  • Choose File > Export, or click the Export button in the Library module. Then, choose Export To > Hard Drive in the pop-up menu at the top of the Export dialog box.
  • Under the File Settings heading, change the Image Format to JPEG, set the quality to 60, and the Color Space to sRGB.
  • Under the Image Sizing heading, check Resize to Fit, select Long Edge from the dropdown, and set it to 1500 pixels.

The important settings are highlighted in red in the screenshot below.

CleanShot 2023-01-30 at 20.30.24@2x
CleanShot 2023-01-30 at 20.30.24@2x1924×2744 396 KB

Photoshop Export

  • Choose File > Export > Export As…
  • Set the Format to JPG
  • Set the Quality to 6
  • Set the image size to 1500px on the longest edge
  • Set Resample to Bicubic Automatic
  • Check Convert to sRGB
  • Check Embed Color Profile

CleanShot 2023-01-30 at 21.32.18@2x
CleanShot 2023-01-30 at 21.32.18@2x614×1622 105 KB

Capture One Export

  • File > Export > Export
  • Click the plus button and select “JPEG - 2048px for web use” to use this as a starting point for a new recipe
  • Rename the new recipe to NPN
  • Change the settings under Scale to 1500px or whatever you prefer
    image
    image626×1380 137 KB
  • Ensure ‘Format’ is set to JPEG and ICC profile is set to sRGB
  • Make sure the NPN recipe is checked, not just selected
  • Click the Export button in the lower right

Affinity Photo Export

darktable Export

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image516×730 77.6 KB

RawTherapee

Click the Queue tab and use these settings

image
image1508×245 53.7 KB

DxO PhotoLab

ON1 Photo RAW

Luminar Neo

3 Likes
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Thank you, @NPN_Editor (David?) for creating/posting this info on how to post. After all the time I have been posting (not that long 2years+/-) I had not been embedding the color profile and could not figure out why my jpg images looks so awful when I opened them in Photoshop. So much to learn.

3

Hi there!

Thank you for the suggestions - I’ll try the settings. I tried before to find the best image settings for NPN by trial & error, but with no luck. I usually see a massive quality loss (especially in sharpness & details) when uploading files here. Do you know when the website downsizing will kick in? Is it dependent on some particular file weight?

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I had to do some digging here Andrzej, I figured out that anything over 3 MB will be automatically resized by the software. I did a lot of export testing and found that if you’re using a quality of 60/6 then the file size should not approach this unless you have the pixel dimensions set incredibly high. If you have any examples you would like me to look at I’d be happy to do some testing. You can send me an email with the files to david@naturephotographers.network