OK one for the graphic boys n girls

[An Oasis]

Has there been testing to ascertain the best overall image size for products on the web?

Images sell and they sell big time and I don’t see many threads on this fact, loads on SEO and web design but bugger all on images which are very important, so it about time we thrashed this one to death.

I’m getting very out of touch with what is the optimum in terms of images - obviously we need to take in to account load speed as this affects the overall page size, which in turn (might start to affect your ranking in the SERPs…)

So here’s the specs let’s assume a fluid layout what is you maximum recommendation for image sizes?

What % quality resolution do you use for the web?


Max file size...



I assume that no one uses smoothing or progressive rendering but hey prove me wrong…

Fire away folks lets have an informative chat.

[MASSEY]

Im guessing it doesnt matter as long as you have the alt tag, also the fast hosting so you dont affect loading time google stipulations,

I have never really thought about it.

[An Oasis]

Im guessing it doesnt matter

Ahaaaa. You just lost mega bucks, next!

[philjohns]

Hi oasis,

From my experience photos are just as important as the text that goes with a product - your right.

For the couple of ecommerce sites that I won and/or run I use photos for the products that are 600x400 or 500x400 depending on product shape etc. Export them in Photoshop through SaveToWeb.

Never had a problem with loading times but the images always look good at that size I feel when viewed through Lightbox or similiar (a simple gallery).

Phil

[Dawg]

It all depends on the product, both for size of image, (and whether to use an enlargement whotsit), and for optimization.
Jewellery will need different optimization from woollen goods, plants from steel etc etc.
That said I always run an action on any image before Optimizing for Web in PS which improves virtually all pix. You need to set it up as an action yourself, and the steps are:

1. Select 'Filter' on the menu bar, and choose 'Sharpen' and then 'unsharp mask'
2. Enter these values into the box:
amount 18, radius 40, threshold 0

3. follow step 1 again and enter these values:
amount 150 radius 0.3, threshold 0

4. Select 'Edit' on the menu bar and choose 'Fade unsharp mask'
5. Enter these values:
opacity 100%, mode darken

6. Follow step 1and enter these values:
effect 150 radius 0.3, threshold 0

7. Follow step 4 and enter these values:
edit/fade USM, 50%, mode brighten


I got on this forum some years ago but forget who from. Thanks to Anon out there..

I know it's not size related, bur half your customers will say size doesn't matter. Size will be dependent on value and margin, a £500 item with a 300% margin might deserve a page to itself, whereas smaller items don't.
I'd take the examples of Amazon, Dabs, and heavyweight etraders as a guide.

[Scott-CopyandDesign]

It depends on the product really. If I was selling luxury jewellery then I'd provide a thumbnail with a link to expand the image to 800x800 or even more. If you do that though then the actual quality of the photograph needs to be near-flawless.

[LindsayManning]

Also remember the device it is being viewed on.
PC with 1024x768 and Apple with far higher resolution might still be okay with the same images, but you want your style sheet to cascade and select almost thumbnail versions of images if the site is viewed on an iphone or similar device to save on download times if the user isnt on 3G at the time.