I think this might have been discussed before but I can't find it.
The problem:
whenever I download a photo for a challenge it always seems to be a little washed out and the contrast is lacking. It isn't super noticeable and most pictures I just shrug my shoulders and say, "oh well". But on others it really bugs me(like my upcoming challenge entry).
Could I be resizing things wrong. When I re size my photos for challenge I just click on the "save to web" tab in photoshop. I then re size to 800 pixels. Select JPEG and save it.
The original size is usually over 3000 pixels. Am I missing a step or doing something wrong?
Resizing have have a definite effect on contrast and sharpness. I very much prefer to resize it myself, instead of letting a save for web operation do it. That way, I can sharpen or bump up contrast after the resize happens.
I checked both things and I think giantmike was right, I need to resize before save to web to make sure the contrast and lighting are right. Still, its frustrating why would resizing change those things?
If that is the case, you should be able to view the change prior to resizing. View your image at 25 % then at 100 %. If you see a difference, then you have a culprit.
Here is a link to a tutorial on DPC that covers using Photoshop to prepare your images for submission. It Is an older tutorial and references a maximum photo size of 640 pixels, so use 800 pixels instead for the current allowable size.
I always resize my photos in Photoshop Elements before doing a Save For Web, but instead of being lighter, my photos are sometimes darker. I haven't been able to figure that one out yet.
