Artifacts added to my JPG files, why?

[dennis1960]

Hi all, I'm running Paint Shop Pro X. I create a 100x100 pixel JPG using only black and white, then use Alt-L->M->M to collapse down to a single layer, and save the file. When I reload the picture, the black and white are accompanied by several pixels in varying shades of grey. I'm guessing it's trying to apply an anti-alias effect when I load the image but I'm not sure. I've looked through the preferences but haven't found anything. How do I set PSP so it only saves/loads exactly what I created without changing any pixel colors?

Thanks,
Dennis

[Joelle]

Hi all, I'm running Paint Shop Pro X. I create a 100x100 pixel JPG using only black and white, then use Alt-L->M->M to collapse down to a single layer, and save the file. When I reload the picture, the black and white are accompanied by several pixels in varying shades of grey. I'm guessing it's trying to apply an anti-alias effect when I load the image but I'm not sure. I've looked through the preferences but haven't found anything. How do I set PSP so it only saves/loads exactly what I created without changing any pixel colors?

Thanks,
Dennis

Oh my, have never come across that problem before.

This might sound odd, but why do you use those keyboard shortcuts?
Alt-L is Colorize.
I have no idea what the additional M>M does.
Why not right-click on the Layer in the Layers Palette and select Merge>Merge All.
When you re-open the file it will open exactly as you saved it
When you save, what compression factor are you using? Maybe that affects the result.
I save Jpgs at a compression of 6.
The default is 20, but I find that too high.

Another thought: Are you re-opening the Jpg file work on it, then save it again, re-open etc? That would lead to loss of quality.

Joëlle

[dennis1960]

On my version "Alt-L" pulls down the Layers menu, "M" opens the merge submenu, "M" flattens all...I love keyboard shortcuts
Oddly enough, I tried saving the image as a .gif and reopening and I get exactly what I saved with no artifacts...but saving as a .jpg gives artifacts... I'll give the compression a try and see what happens...

[dennis1960]

Yup, lowering the compression fixed the problem, Thanks

[Joelle]

Yup, lowering the compression fixed the problem, Thanks

Excellent

Joëlle