Help with Gimp 2.8

[BlackCatStudio98]

I'm so annoyed right now. About a month ago I just started using Gimp 2.0 to edit my pictures and I LOVE it. Actually I lovED it. I had to take my computer in to get rid of some viruses and so when I got it back I had to download gimp again which is now version 2.8. I tried to use it today and I can't save the images as jpeg, so I googled it and apparently you have to export instead of save if you want jpeg. So I exported my image, which I had to wait for (not happy about that), and then when I tried to download it on Etsy for a listing Etsy said the file was too big. I am really frustrated, this was so easy before.

Is anyone using gimp 2.8 and if so have you found a better way to save images? Am I doing something wrong?

[maydaylabels]

I use export in gimp - why not open it in paint and resize it before uploading to Etsy? Or you can probably resize it within gimp but I'm not sure how to do that.

It was always pretty much instantaneous for me to export in gimp, so maybe your file is just very large - if you resize it in gimp it will likely take less time to export.

[BlackCatStudio98]

I can't see where to resize in gimp. I can resize from my computer, but when I go to compress image it says the original is 13.7 and will be compressed to 4.58, but that is too small. If I try resizing it in paint or microsoft, it goes by pixels, so I don't know how many pixels to change it to in order to have it be 10 mb or less.

Well even if I do figure it out, it's now going to take longer to edit photos and create listings. Not exactly a good thing.

[FreshlyBakedGraphics]

I don't use gimp, but i'm a graphic designer: you can try save the images as PNG. What is the size (pixel) ?

[spacefem]

I use gimp but I don't see how "export as" is any more steps than "save as", the change didn't really bug me and they're right next to each other under the file menu.

I also resize all my photos for etsy to 1000x800, that way they match the thumbnail ratio, they're never too big, and the resolution isn't high enough for people to want to steal them.

image > scale image to resize.

[Pininkie]

Image -> scale image

Under that menu you can also lower your resolution, which will make for a smaller file. But it depends what you are using the resulting image for as to whether you want to do that step or not.

[Paintspiration]

Like others said, I use Scale Image to reduce the size. If it's something that I want buyers to be able to zoom in on, I do 1000 pixels width and allow height to scale in proportion. If it's something I don't want them to zoom (like a print), I do 570 pixels width, because that's how wide Etsy shows photos in the listing.

If you don't need the original photo (as in, you are just editing the photo and want to save it as the same file) you can select File > Overwrite

I feel your pain... I lost my editor program when I had to get rid of Windows and move to Linux, and Gimp has quite a learning curve.

[BlackCatStudio98]

Spacefem, it's not that export is another step, it's the resizing that is another step. Thank you for posting the 1000 x 800 ratio, I didn't know how many pixels to resize it to, so that helps me a lot.

And thank you everyone for the image-->scale image tip.

I haven't done a thing with photos since I started this thread, so hopefully I will have time over the next couple of days to get some new items listed, and I will try gimp again and resize my photos.

Thank you!

[LeedsRadio]

Michelle-
If you want people to be able to zoom to a max of 1024 you do not have to scale the photos down to that size it is done automatically. Try uploading something 1500 by 1500 and then right click on "image info" and it will show "1,500px × 1,500px (scaled to 1,024px × 1,024px)"

One of really silly things about the Etsy interface is that the thumbnails are square (75 x 75) , the images are rectangular and of all different max sizes & aspect ratios depending on the original's aspect ratio. Which makes it near impossible to make both look great.
BTW: The max zoom is again square (1:1) at 1024 by 1024. This is silly.

Amy,
I've been using Gimp for years and always download the update when it's available. I initially didn't 2.8 but am already used to it and it's much better than previous version. Many of the features work better than ever.
The Export vs. just save is a huge plus. You'll see as you use it.

[BlackCatStudio98]

Hopefully I will get used to it Richard. Yesterday I tried using it and the image numbers on gimp didn't match the numbers on my computer, so I had to guess and click until I found the image I needed. Then I resized my image which worked, but when I tried to save it as a new image because I didn't want to lose my original image, it said this image already exists. I gave up. It's too bad, I was so happy to find gimp, it was making a huge difference in my color editing, and now I can't even use it. :(