Photography problem -

I am using Photoshop Elements. I have a clear crisp photo, but as soon as I drop the photo onto my box template it gets blurry. What could cause this?

SL by default makes all images uploaded onto it extremely blurry.
The only way out of this is to save the image in a ridiculously high resolution and quality outside of SL, in PNG format (never JPG or GIF). That will bring it to normal or near-normal quality in SL.

I've never had that trouble, and usually upload in JPG or TGA. Try keeping to a 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024 size ratio.

SL only supports images with a size that is an exact power of two (32x32, 256x256, 512x128, etc). If your picture is any other size it will be resized on upload to one of tehse sizes, and that operation will blur it. To avoid this, make your picture an exact power of two size before uploading.

I don't know exactly what comes in PS Elements, but if you have options for managing the interpolation when resizing, you will want to set them properly for best results. Most image editing packages will handle resizing interpolation better than SL's.

For a downward resize use bicubic w/sharpen, if available. If that option is not available, and you have a simple bicubic interpolation option, use that option with an unsharp masking filter set at a low setting (you'll get almost the same result)

If none of the above is available, then make sure that your aspect ratio is not confined when resizing to 512x512, 256x256, etc., otherwise you may get an image with dimensions that are slightly off (512x511, 256x255, etc.). If you need to crop the image to get these dimensions, then you must do so. SL does not play well with image sizes that are not a power of two.

Oh I see, I didn't know that. I thought SL by default blurs everything.
Will it be blurred when I put it into my profile though? Since it will be automatically resized to fit the frame of the profile?

To put it in your profile, create it at 4:3 aspect ratio, then resize it to 512x512 or 256x256. Yes, there will be some blurring but by only uploading at power-of-two sizes you minimize it.

I think it is a issue with Elements or my graphics settings vs something inworld. My photos are crisp and clear when taken. But when I drop them into another layer, which I use for my product packages inworld, I see an immediate degradation in the image. I checked to make sure the resolution was the same on the box template and the images I am dropping onto it and they are. The degradation is worse when I need to reduce the image size than if I leave the image in original format...it would make sense to me if lost quality when increasing image size but seems like quality should be stable with reduction.

I will try the bicubic/sharpen as mentioned above

What do you mean by "drop them into another layer"? Do you mean the images degrade when you import them to Photoshop Elements even before you upload them?

no, I have a layer that is the template for box pics to use in my SL shop (there are no effects or filters applied, so it is a clean backdrop for images). I take product pictures in SL, save to hard drive then arrange on the template so that I can upload into SL to texture boxes with the new product.

The pictures downloaded are pretty clear and crisp; but when I move an image to the template I am losing quality...particularly if I have to reduce the size of the new image to fit the template. I use Photoshop Elements and have a ATI Radeon HD 4800 graphics card if that helps. I have spent hours and days trying to figure out what is causing this. Soooo frustrating and I am betting it is something simple!

In my experience of uploading high quality graphics -- TGA, JPG or PNGs --
there is a delay before the image is fully loaded onto SL servers and
are presumably cached.

There's a post here, you'd have to search, that explained there were
actually 3 stages. Right after uploading if you apply the texture it
will not be sharp, but then later (an hour?) it will display a higher
resolution version.

I discovered this making signs with small print. It drove me crazy
(always blurry right after uploading and applying the texture) until
I learned this and became patient knowing the full rez would appear
in a bit.

-iw

A graphics card would only affect screen captures. If your screen captures are crisp, and to your satisfaction, then you can eliminate that variable from your list.

Since you are not doing any of your post production work (resizing) inside SL, you can eliminate that variable from your list too.

This leaves your image editor as the most likely candidate for your blurring issues. I assume you are using PS elements as the recipient for the screen captures. If so, and you find the images to be crisp when pasted into a new window, then the issue can be narrowed even further to your working layer. Are you viewing your images at full screen resolution? this will affect what you see on screen until you flatten your layers. Viewing an image at 66% of it's actual size will make it look ugly (and different from the same image when flattened) compared to viewing it at actual size.

Try posting some image samples in this forum so we can all make some comparisons. This may shed more light on what the issue may be.

PS.

As an FYI, for the next time this topic comes up, this post really belongs in the Texture Tips section of the forums. Don't double post at this point. That would invite confusion. I'm sure most of the regulars that frequent Texture Tips will eventually see this thread and chime in.

The template is where? In SL, or on your hard drive?