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I am editing multiple jobs in Lightroom. I will be uploading all to my blog and I might also need to print some of them (not sure which ones) in the future. I dont want to double save same images for separate use as it takes space. What settings should I use if I want the same image to serve for both - web and print at the same time?

Many thanks

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  • Print quality should be significantly better than 'web quality', so if you want to use the exact same images, either you get ugly prints or very large files online. You'll have to pick one – or separate the jobs.
    – Jongware
    Commented May 9, 2016 at 11:34
  • Look at it like this, if you hate to keep several versions because it uses up space than your web users will really hate your overlarge images.
    – joojaa
    Commented May 9, 2016 at 11:35
  • I am not going to print super large. A4 probably would be largest. Can I save 300ppi with 1500 pixels for long edge? Usualy for blog I use 1500 long edge anyways but not sure if it is not too small for print...Also 96ppi to 300ppi doesnt change file size.
    – Kasulia
    Commented May 9, 2016 at 11:41
  • A4 @ 300dpi is 3500ish pixels on the long edge.
    – Vincent
    Commented May 10, 2016 at 16:11

3 Answers 3

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The cost of disk space is insignificant if you value your work.

  • Buy an external hard drive, save your RAW files.

  • If you really adjusted your RAW files export your JPG at the original resolution. Use theese for print. Use very little compression, maximum quality.

  • Make a batch action on photoshop or whatever program you have to make a copy at lower size, Which size depends on you but they can be lets say 1000 px on the longer side. You can compress theese to medium quality.

You need to keep the 3 types of files. They serve diferent purposes.

Edited: Just as a tip. An excelent quality for a 8x10 print would be 2400x3000px.

A good quality would be 1600x2000px.

A decent one 1200x1500px.

But if you care about quality, do separated jobs.

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  • keeping 3 types of files is exactly what I am trying to avoid :) I am already keeping RAW on external hard drive and backing up online too. It complicates my life. Cannot I use 1500px long edge 300ppi files for web and for print? - taking into account that my prints wont be larger than 8x10.
    – Kasulia
    Commented May 9, 2016 at 13:33
  • @Kasulia no you can not unless you want your prints be really small what you suggest isnt really even good enough for 8x10. The real option is to regenerate the files automatically from the raw files. Then you would just be storing it once. Personally tough i could care less for disk space, its cheaoer than milk.
    – joojaa
    Commented May 9, 2016 at 13:37
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In this day of 1TB (and larger) external drives for less than $100, not to mention all the cloud space/dropbox etc. available, there's absolutely no reason not to have at least two versions of every image. Especially when most web images will (and should) be under 100kb.

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First of all, what everyone else is saying is correct, you really should have different assets for print and web.

However, depending on your desired print results you may be able to do what you want. As a general rule, 300PPI at your desired size is an acceptable resolution, it could be double that for high-end products or half that may be acceptable for general home printing. Decide what is appropriate for your use. For example, a 10x8 inch print at 300PPI is 3000x2400 pixels.

Depending on the platform you use for your blog, you should be able to upload at a larger size and have the platform automatically resize and compress the images to a more appropriate size for the blog.

So—decide on the smallest size and resolution you will be able to print at and be happy with, save you images to that size and optimise them enough to be able to upload through your blog platform. Simple.

Note, this is not an ideal solution if you care about image quality to any great extent and you will be pretty stuck if you ever need to print you images any larger.

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