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to change the image size and quality setting. You will instantly see what the image will look like with
those settings without any hassle of having to save and re-open the picture file. Helpful toolbars
show you how big the file will be and how long it would take to download or email at the current settings.
You can save a copy of the picture to disk at any time with the current size and quality settings, or even
send the picture directly to a new email without having to save it. Never waste time emailing large
pictures from your digital camera again!
Important tip about this help page: Many images are just thumbnails. When you move your mouse over these thumbnails and see the Enlarge arrow, simply
click the picture to display the full size image. Click the full size image to shrink it back to the thumbnail in order to read the text underneath it.
There are five toolbars, located just under the Menu Bar, which contain helpful buttons and informative text.
From top to bottom there is the main Toolbar, the JPEG Quality toolbar, the Picture Size toolbar, File Size Information
toolbar, and Transfer Time toolbar.
Don't let the size of the toolbars fool you, their usage is quite simple.
A lot of space is used for the sliders and also for text that simply provides information about the picture you are
currently optimizing. If you do not want to see all of the toolbars, you can hide any or all of them. The same functionality
is always available from the menu options, and you can always reshow the toolbar later. Simply select View on the Menu Bar, then
Toolbars, and then the name of the toolbar you want to show or hide.
The in-program help system contains the same help information that is available online, only it appears in a docking pane
that is by default docked to the right side of the window.
You can show a help pane by selecting it from the help icon on the main Toolbar.
These panes can be resized by dragging the edge
set to auto-hide or be closed using the two buttons in their top right corner
,
or be moved around by dragging the title bar
or tab
The panes can be docked to any side of the window, or left
floating above the entire program, however you want to use them.
,
change the image view
,
draw graphs
,
change the image format
,
change the resize method
,
and open help panes
.
The save button lets you save a copy of the current picture. Morpheus Photo Compressor does not
save over your original picture because the compressed picture may be smaller and thus not suitable
for printing. You will likely want to keep the original picture around if you ever want a print quality
image. Compressed picture files are great for web sites, emailing and sharing with friends.
The image format dropdown lets you see what the image would look like as a PNG or a GIF. These formats
will disable the JPEG Quality options, since there is no quality setting for PNGs or GIFs. Depending on
the type of image you are working with, there may be occasions when a PNG or GIF will produce a smaller
file size, but typically JPEG is best for any photo pictures.
The resize method dropdown lets you change from the normal fast resize to a slower, but better looking
resize method. If the size setting is at 100 still, no resizing is done to the image, and if you plan
to find the best size for your image, you would want to leave the resize method on fast until you settle
on the best size, since it can take a longer time to preview the resize using the quality method. The quality
resize typically can reduce the file size of JPEGs as well, so it never hurts to try it out once you find
the size you want.
either of which can be used to set the JPEG quality setting anywhere from 1 to 100. There is also a display label
,
which shows the current quality setting.
.
When the calculating is complete, the label on the toolbar will change to read "Current: 60" and the image you are
looking at will change to show what it looks like with 60% quality.
to size the image anywhere from 1 to 100%. Alternatively, it is possible to enter a specific width or height
for the image, instead of just scaling from 1 to 100. The label shows the current size in pixels
.
will only change if you click on a different picture when you have more then one loaded. It will always
show the original file size of the image loaded and is not affected by any of the settings. The next label
shows the size of the compressed image, as controlled by the picture type dropdown, JPEG quality, and picture size settings.
show the relative size of the compressed image as compared to the original image.
The colors on the bar represent how much space and time you would save with the compressed image. If the bar is only into
the blue area, you are saving lots of space and making a significant reduction in the time needed to download or email
the compressed picture. As the bar approaches the green and yellow areas
,
you are saving less time and space. Once the bar reaches the red
,
you should consider whether the space savings are really worth it and maybe try to lower the quality or size settings to
save more space. The dark red area past the last tick mark
means the compressed image is actually larger than the original image. This is not a useful outcome, you will want to lower
some settings to decrease the file size.
tells how similar the image is to the original image before compression. Lower JPEG quality settings typically reduce the
image similarity. This value will likely never reach a perfect 100% due to the nature of JPEG compression, but the higher the
value the better. Keep in mind that higher JPEG quality settings used to raise the image similarity will also increase the
file size and the amount of time needed to download or email the image.
The Transfer Speed dropdown lets you pick the speed of your Internet connection, which is used to estimate the transfer
times for the pictures. You do not need to know the exact speed of your connection since this is an optional feature,
but the dropdown has many common speeds and technologies listed such as cable modems and ADSL to pick from. The (U) and (D)
next to some of the samples mean that speed only applies to Upstream speed (such as uploading, sending pictures, emailing
pictures) or Downstream speed (downloading, browsing the web, receiving emails). For example, it is quite common for a "56K"
dialup modem to be limited to 53K downstream and 33K upstream.
The first two labels tell how long it would have taken to transfer the original picture, had you not used Morpheus Photo Compressor,
and how long it will take to transfer the compressed image, given the current transfer speed selection. Look at the Compressed Transfer
Time to get an idea of how long you will have to wait to send an email with the current picture attached.
shows the relative speedup of the compressed transfer time compared to the original transfer time. The
higher the speedup the more time you are saving.
lets you create a new email with the current picture attached in its compressed form, without having to save a copy of the
picture and then find it and attach it in your email program. The Email All Pictures
button will create a new email with all of the open pictures all attached in one email.
,
Resized
,
Original
,
and Difference Image
views.
View Compressed Image is the default view which lets you view exactly how the image will look if were to be saved or emailed
using the current settings. This is the view you will use most of the time.
View Resized Image lets you see what the image looks like resized according to the picture size setting, but before any JPEG
compression is done. This is useful if the size setting is not set to 100% and you want to compare how the JPEG compression
affects the resized image.
View Original Image will show the image as it was loaded without any settings affecting it. The image will be displayed in its
entire size and you will likely have to scroll around to see everything. This is useful to compare what the image looks like
before and after being resized.
View Difference Image is a special setting that will calculate the difference in the pixel colors between the compressed and the
original image after being resized. No difference in pixel color will be shown as white. The larger the difference the
brighter the color will show. The difference image colors are exaggerated to help show where the differences are, so if the most
any pixel differs by is 2 (on a scale of 0 to 255) then the color values in the difference image will be 0, 128, or 255.
Increasing the JPEG quality setting will typically reduce the difference between the images and make the difference image become
more solid white.
,
Size Graph
,
and Quality-Size Plot
.
Using the graphs is not required in order to compress your pictures, but
they can aid in locating good settings to use.
The Quality Graph lets you view how each of the 100 JPEG quality settings affect the file size. Since the graph depends on the
picture size setting, changing the picture size will produce a different graph. The graph shows vertical bars with colors similar
to the Relative Size Bar in the File Size Information toolbar. A magenta colored line graph is overlayed on the graph to show how
similar the compressed image is at each of the quality settings. The graph also includes markers to show where PNG and GIF are in
relation to the various JPEG quality settings. It is typical that higher quality settings produce larger files and higher
similarity values, but this may not always be the case. Sometimes there are large jumps in the graph at a certain quality setting,
or other strange patterns you would only notice if you look at the graph.
The Size Graph is similar to the Quality Graph, except that it shows a vertical bar for each of the 100 size settings. Changing
the quality setting or the image format will produce a different graph. This graph does not include the PNG and GIF markers since
selecting PNG or GIF will produce a graph for that specific image format showing each of the various size settings.
The Quality-Size Plot shows a colored box for every combination of quality and size setting available The box color represents
the file size and can be thought of as the top color of the vertical bars from the previous two graphs. Changing the image format
does not affect the plot, but changing the resize method will produce a different plot, just as changing the resize method will
produce a different graph for the previous two graphs. There is also no image similarity line graph overlayed on the plot like
there is on the other graphs.| Ctrl+O | Open a new picture |
| Ctrl+S | Save a copy of a picture |
| C | View Compressed Image |
| R | View Resized Image |
| O | View Original Image |
| D | View Difference Image |
| Q | View Quality Graph |
| S | View Size Graph |
| L | View Quality-Size Plot |
| F1 | Show help pane |
| Mouse Wheel Up | Decrease JPEG quality |
| Mouse Wheel Down | Increase JPEG quality |
| Alt+Down Arrow | Decrease JPEG quality |
| Alt+Up Arrow | Increase JPEG quality |
| Alt+Left | Decrease picture size |
| Alt+Right | Increase picture size |
13. Additional Help
Please run through the tutorial and read the FAQ that come included with Morpheus Photo Compressor.
If you have come to this point and still have questions or would like to suggest a feature, feel free to visit our support forums and we will do our best to assist you in making your experience with Morpheus Photo Compressor a great one.
Thank you for using Morpheus Photo Compressor.