A Deep Dive on JPEG Quality and What Export Settings You Should Use

Photographer Jamie Gillies recently went down the deep, dark rabbit hole known as “JPEG quality.” Now that he’s emerged on the other side, he’s sharing the knowledge that h’se gained so that you too can understand how JPEG quality works, and what export settings to use for the best possible results.

Gillies’ 37-minute deep-dive on JPEG quality can be broken down into 5 broad parts (once you get through the 2-minute intro):

  • What is a JPEG
  • A review of the popular compression software JPEGMini
  • Comparing JPEG export quality, and explaining how the “quality slider” works
  • A brief explanation of color space, bit depth, DPI etc.
  • Recommended JPEG export settings

If you want to skip straight to the end and Gillies’ recommended export settings, you’ll find those at 30:30 mark, but we actually suggest you watch this all the way through. He covers important concepts like Lossy vs Lossless compression, Bit Depth, Color Space, and the relationship between the mysterious JPEG “quality slider” and the file size and quality you’ll see on the other end of your export.

There’s a lot here to dive in to, so if you’re interested in some educational content this Wednesday, check out the full video up top. It’s probably more than you ever wanted to know about JPEGs and JPEG quality, but the information may come in handy the next time you’re exporting photos for a client.

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