Straightening Tool reduces 4.18MB photo to 806KB photo

[Phil47]

I just noticed that when I straightened the horizon just a small amount on my sunset photos tonight there was a massive drop from 4.18MB to 806KB.
This is from only a slight correction to the horizon.
Am I doing something wrong?
Is this normal?
This is using the PSP Pro 2020.
Thanks.

[Jean-Luc]

Hi Phil47,
verify your JPEG compression rate when saving.
Set it to 10 or less.
(Use "Save as" for checking the rate)

[Phil47]

Thanks Jean-Luc. It was at quite a bit over 10 so I reduced it to below 10 as you said.

[Jean-Luc]

If you want to retain the maximum size (Best Quality), go for 1.

[JoeB]

Better yet, save it in a lossless format like .pspimage, PNG or TIFF. You don't need .jpg for almost any use because even PNG or TIF can be printed at any print shop, and PNG (not sure about TIFF) can be displayed on a web page if you are creating websites. Only use .jpg if you actually need to keep the file size small for some applications - which might include a website.

[Phil47]

Thanks JoeB.
I'll look at that .

[Phil47]

I have just found out why the cursor on the Save thing was set so apparently low, because when I want to publish to Ausphotography they want a photo that is 400kb or less.
So when I just resized some bird photo they came out as 800kb or twice the allowable size and wouldn't upload so I had to resize them all again at a different setting.

[Jean-Luc]

If you want to control the JPG Kb size, go to Save As:

[hartpaul]

In addition if you have an image that is a set pixel size and you can't reduce its Save As size to your limits then you can try and soften background material using a soften brush.
This helps to occupy a smaller Save As size without causing compression pixelation in the main subject. The more detailed the background the more information has to be saved and the larger the Saved Ss size becomes.

[jorgensen]

I have just found out why the cursor on the Save thing was set so apparently low, because when I want to publish to Ausphotography they want a photo that is 400kb or less.

Instead use File->Export->JPEG Optimizer.