Avatar file size limit

Fireman_DJ · Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2011 4:37 pm Post subject: Avatar file size limit

I'm trying to upload an avatar, however I came across a problem.
I can't get it below 9.5 KB. Infact, as I resize it smaller, the file size starts to increase.

This was me doing it manually at first with Photoshop CS5. Then I ran it through Lightroom so I could use it's automated export feature with size and dimension limits.
Lightroom promptly told me it could achieve a file size of 8 KB.

I have no idea on how everyone else can do it, but this is a 2 colour image and it can't be as complex as the colour face pictures I've seen on others avatars.

Attached is the image I wish to use (in it's full avatar size as used on other forums). That image is 16.9 KB, but I can reduce it to about 12 KB without the loss of too much clarity.

So, the big question. Why is the file size limit so small? In the current world of huge bandwidth. I can understand hosting limits, however this limit also applies to external linked images.

Can the limit please be increased, or can someone please let me know how to reduce the file size beyond what I can do.

(Note: I'm an amateur photographer and not a idiot in photo editing. I just don't normally save my photo's at such low resolution. Here's a link to my gallery)

Ominivision1 · Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2011 5:40 pm Post subject: Re: Avatar file size limit

Try this.

slimjim · Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2011 6:41 pm Post subject: Re: Avatar file size limit

I ran into this same problem with Photoshop. Turns out the .jpg compression in the newer versions like v5 are very inefficient. I went back to an older version and it did a beautiful compression which was a much smaller file size and met the requirement. I can compress this in my older photoshop on my home computer this weekend and give you a full-size avatar.

Fireman_DJ · Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2011 7:37 pm Post subject: Re: Avatar file size limit

Thanks Omnivision1 and slimjim.

It seems that while it's regarded as the best photo editing program (and indeed I've tried others like Gimp), it's the little things it can't achieve (pun intended).

I'd still pose the question of why the limit is so low. Some other sites allow up to 50 KB which by today's standards is small.

I have no problem with dimension limits however, saves us from the idiots who use a 1024x768 avatar and mess up the layout of the entire forum.

Elvis · Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2011 9:26 pm Post subject: Re: Avatar file size limit

Ive just shifted and lost broadband and are back on ol snail net (dial up) so any size picture is plurry slow...my avitar was a photo and we kept chopping it down till we found a size that was ok.

Fireman_DJ · Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2011 10:29 pm Post subject: Re: Avatar file size limit

Hang on, I didn't think NZ had the internet yet. Too busy "tending" to their sheep.

Vince · Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2011 7:21 am Post subject: Re: Avatar file size limit

There is plenty of free software on the net for making an avatar. I used a piece of software actually called Avatar, but I can't find it now.

OK...found it:

JQL Avatar Sizer

Very easy to use...and it's free.

Cheers, Vince

slimjim · Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 7:32 am Post subject: Re: Avatar file size limit

Fireman_DJ, see if this one is full-size for you.

DallanC · Site Admin Joined: Jan 18, 2005 Posts: 3572 Location: Utah

I got it down to 3.79k Smile

-DallanC

Ominivision1 · Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 12:42 pm Post subject: Re: Avatar file size limit

Hey a contest. I'll submit my entry. 441 bytes

slimjim · Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 12:46 pm Post subject: Re: Avatar file size limit

OV1, what program did you use? It lost some of its sharpness.

Ominivision1 · Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 1:01 pm Post subject: Re: Avatar file size limit

slimjim wrote:

OV1, what program did you use? It lost some of its sharpness.

I just wanted to squeeze it down the furthest I could get it, Gimp is what I use and took the image originally posted by DJ and converted it to gray-scale and reduced compression. If I would have saved it with 10% or so compression, you would have not noticed any image degrading and file size would have been around 1.5kb.

We have Adobe CS4 and CS5 at work that we use and are very well documented on how to use the program. Gimp which is open source has a somewhat limited documentation but on my Linux machines at home, they are faster, uses less resources and just as good as the expensive Adobe products.

DallanC · Site Admin Joined: Jan 18, 2005 Posts: 3572 Location: Utah

As an FYI I upped the allowable avatar size to 16k. Most of the board settings default to smaller values when webspace, and bandwidth really mattered. Now that my host gives me 5x more space than I ever would have dreamed and 10x the bandwidth, I can up the settings to be a bit more forgiving.

As a request I also upped the allowable size of attachments and number of.

-DallanC

Fireman_DJ · Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 8:53 pm Post subject: Re: Avatar file size limit

Umm, thanks for the competition?!?

Btw, just for randomness sake I searched my photo collection. One image is 20,157 KB (19.2 MB).
With over 11,000 images stored I'm lucky that not all of the images are stored with such high quality. If they were, I'd need over 200GB.

The average quality pics I store are 2.5MB each.

Elvis · Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 9:19 pm Post subject: Re: Avatar file size limit

that will explain why its easier to post pictures, thanks Dallan I could even do it with dial up so its pretty good.