# Jpeg files are so small upon export



## Mesa (Jan 17, 2015)

I am editing in lightrrom then photoshop.
Once the images are back in Lightroom and i export them to a folder on my desktop as hi res jpegs the files are smaller then when I worked in Aperture.
What am I doing wrong?


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## clee01l (Jan 17, 2015)

Welcome to the forum.

You have probably added sone restriction in your Export settings.  Can you post a  screen shot of the Export dialog sections labeled "File Settings" and "Image Sizing"?

Also, some clarification on what you mean by "smaller".  Smaller as in fewer pixels or Smaller as in image dimensions?


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## happycranker (Jan 17, 2015)

Mesa, First welcome to the forum. When you export from LR select File > Export go down to the the file settings, this is where you select the file size the quality slider goes from 0 to 100 % this controls the JPEG size. If you tick the limit file size checkbox then this limits the file size to to the number in kilobytes you have entered. The next section down in the export window Image Sizing is where you can add additional controls over pixel size, if required or pixel resolution. The resize to fit checkbox controls these functions. So in summery for a full size JPEG slider to 100% no checkboxes selected.


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## Mesa (Jan 17, 2015)

Thank you both for responding to my post.
I had previously worked in Aperture and when I was finished with my final editing in photoshop and the image went back to aperture, I would then export the file to give to my client as a hi res
jpeg. In aperture the final file size after all editing (viewed in preview mode for quick review ) was between 9 to 12 MB, now in Lightroom 5 after the same process the final hi res image is showing the file size to be around 4.6 MB.
I am exporting in Lightroom with the slider set to 100% @ 300 ppi.
Im a bit confused as to what I might be doing wrong.


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## clee01l (Jan 17, 2015)

You can ignore the PPi setting as it does not apply to pixels in an image file.  A quality setting of 100 (it's not a percentage) corresponds to the PS quality setting of 12.  (as does anything above 93).  If you are not cropping the image before sending to PS or after, then the pixels of the derivative should correspond to the same pixels going in and the compression is determined by the quality setting.  It is the compression that determines the number of MB of the derivative file.  
If you begin with a 12-14 bit RAW file, this will yield a 16 bit TIFF or PSD when you use the Edit-In function to call PS.  Check your Preferences in LR to see that you are sending 16 bit uncompressed image to PS with the Edit-In function.
 If you have verified that your quality setting for the Exported JPEG is set to 92 or higher, and no cropping, then the compressed 8 bit JPEG will be what the data dictates. If you have lots of blues sky instead of a very complex ever changing forest, the image will always compress smaller than the "busy" forest scene.  The only way that you can retain high quality and no loss of data is to maintain 16 bit throughout your post processing and use a lossless file format like TIFF.


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## Mesa (Jan 17, 2015)

Thank you Cletus for all your info!


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## CGphotography (Jan 20, 2015)

I am also migrating from Aperture to Lightroom (5.7.1) and experiencing the exact same problem. Working on a RAW file from a Nikon D3, it would always export from Aperture to the desktop as a full size JPEG at 10-12 MB. Even with my LR quality settings at 100, no file size limit and 300 dpi, the same file will result in a 5.1 MB file export from LR. I just quit LR and restarted to see if it reset anything glitchy, but nothing changed. Does LR simply apply more compression than Aperture? I'm concerned about reproduction quality. Thanks in advance for any suggestions or help.


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## Mesa (Jan 20, 2015)

Hi CG,
Im glad to hear that I'm not the only one experiencing this issue. If anyone can explain why this is happening it would be most appreciated.


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## happycranker (Jan 21, 2015)

With my D800 files from LR and Photoshop I get a approximatly 2.4 reduction of size when I export to JPEG, which I guess is the lossy compression effect!

This background information may help from Jeffrey, who is a very knowledgeable guy.

http://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/jpeg-quality


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