Re: Converting normal jpg's to avatars?
Gottcha, Other reducing options I have tried just blur the picture.
That's because it's a "raster" image format. Jpeg is also a "lossy" compression method. Compression makes them take up much less space on your computer, camera, or whatever storage their own. The down side is that quality is reduced as compression is increased.
Think of a jpeg image as a grid of dots. (Actually, all raster formats are colors on a grid) To resize that image, a new grid has to be made. Then an approximation of which colors to put in each space on the grid has to be made. It is impossible to perfectly recreate the image on a different size grid. What works in your favor is to have the highest resolution image possible. That means there's more dots per inch in the grid. This is why it's important to keep the settings on your digital camera on the highest quality settings. Sure, your images might look the same on the screen, but when it comes time to print them or resize them there's a huge difference.
All tools that resize images are not created equal, but the image quality and resolution are key.
This doesn't answer your question, but you might be interested to know...
There's another type of image format called vector. Instead of using a grid of dots, it uses curves. Think of it as a set of mathmatical formulas to recreate the object. Vector images can be scaled infinitely larger or smaller without any loss in quality at all. Some examples of software that produces vector images would Adobe Illustrator and Corel Draw. Vector images are particularly suited to type faces and logos. Sign shops, print shops, and anyone who does graphic design and production works with these files every day. If you ever need a sign or cut vinyl letters made you will be ahead of the game if you give it to them in vector form. If you bring them a jpeg, they will just have to redo it and you will pay for the extra time involved.
