Profiles images with text issue

I've just started making profile pics for friends, adding their names to portraits for their profile pages, however, i find them to be rather fuzzy when they put them up.

I'm not experienced at all with PS (been using it for a month or so) and with file formats. Can someone give me the basics for best quality results when doing this?

My images are always saved to disk (jpeg2K) starting from there...can you suggest the right process and formats for resizing, adding text, and saving for optimum quality? I am running the Wind Light client btw.


thank you in advance

Senna

See the sticky at the top of this forum for thoughts about pixels, file formats, and resolution.

Then, for a start, don't use jpg format. You lose clarity every step of the way. Your in-world camera creates its photos in bmp format. Import them into PS or whatever, do whatever editing you plan, add text, and then save them as tga files (24 bit) for upload to SL.

Always resize down, not up, and save to dimensions that are in powers of 2 (32, 64, 128, 256, 512,...). For something as tiny as a profile pic, you don't need a very big image. Try 64x64 pixels and see what it looks like. That should be fine for both the photo and the text.

BTW, Windlight is no more. It has been folded into the current Release Candidate.

128 x 128 is a little better than 64 x 64 for a profile picture since the picture that is put in the profile is larger than 64 x 64.........that requires SL to up size the image (which will lose clarity in the final product). Also when saving the image for upload make sure you don't compress the file. Not real sure about PS but in GIMP there is an option when saving to compress the image....choose no compression. SL compresses the image when uploaded no matter what you do..............don't add another clarity reducing procedure to the process.