How Facebook spoils your images
Facebook is huge! Users upload about 350 million images daily. This is very much. Therefore, the downloaded images are compressed to reduce the size. As a result, the quality of the image may suffer significantly. And after your image is transmitted through the entire Internet, it will be downloaded, then repeatedly downloaded to different services, it can become quite awful.
Even the text becomes much less attractive: noise and blur appear, the font becomes angular. What can we say about photographs, the quality of which plays a decisive role in shaping the impression of the viewer.
Naturally, the situation is only aggravated when the whole cycle “Download – edit – upload to Facebook » repeated many times. And this all the time is happening on the Internet:
- Vasya tweets something funny, takes a screenshot and uploads it to Facebook.
- Tanya signed on to Vasya on Facebook, and Twitter does not favor. It takes a screenshot of the Wash post and loads it into its Tumblr, adding a comment.
- Dima takes a screenshot of this post on Tumblr and sends Katya via Facebook Messenger.
- Katya, in turn, downloads this picture and uploads it to her Facebook feed.
As a result, after multiple compression, the picture will look disgusting.
Of course, Facebook is not the only site that compresses images. Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr and almost any other site where you usually upload photos applies a certain level of compression. However, the compression of Facebook is especially ruthless! In addition, the image compressed to the level of Facebook, and then processed, for example, by the Instagram filters, becomes larger. When you later upload to Facebook, the process of compression will repeat and add artifacts.
When you upload a photo for the first time, it may still look good. But it costs several people to move it from one site to another, and it will quickly become garbage. The more time passes, the worse it will look.
What can be done about this
Unfortunately, you can not disable compression on Facebook. But you can minimize the negative effect through your own Facebook tools, pre-preparation before uploading a photo or by crawling Facebook servers.
Use the power of Facebook
To reduce the negative impact of compression, use the following tips:
- Upload photos at a minimum of 2,048 pixels wide. According to the Facebook guide, 2 048px is the ideal width of high resolution images. Your images will still be compressed. But if they are initially loaded with a higher resolution, the effects of compression will not be so noticeable. This advice is more suitable for photos.
- Create albums in high quality. When uploading a photo to Facebook, check “High Quality”. It allows you to store images of a larger size with less compression.
- Trim the photo for the cover to 851 × 315 pixels. This size is recommended in Facebook.
If you are willing to spend a little more time downloading a photo on Facebook, you can do something else.
Share the best version of the photo
Not every image you share is your own. Sometimes you just want to share something fun or useful. If you are going to share the image found on the Internet, do yourself and others a favor – share the best option you can. Here are a few ways to do this:
- Share a direct link. If you find the image in another place, share a link to the image itself, and do not download a copy from your computer. It’s not only faster and easier, but probably more beautiful. In most cases, Facebook will insert the image in full size. Almost any picture on the Internet, you can quickly get a link by right-clicking and selecting “Copy Link”.
- Fill the photo first to the hosting. If you want to share a photo without compression, use alternative hosting (Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket, Fotki). When you share a link to a photo from another hosting, Facebook will insert the version in a higher quality.
- Ask Google. If the picture you want to share is already of poor quality, try to find the best version of the image. Google Image Search allows you to search for images as a direct link, or by downloading from a computer.
- Use the Share button. If you find the “Share” button next to the picture, use it to avoid re-compressing the image.
Either way, when dealing with Facebook, you’ll be confronted with image compression. However, if you still decide to share a picture, usually there is an opportunity to find a better version of it.
Get rid of bad habits when working with images
Not all technically available tools are worth using. For example, shooting vertical video is a mauve ton. In order not to have to share in Facebook with ugly, compressed images, you should get rid of some habits when working with photos:
- Avoid re-uploading images to Facebook. If the image already exists on Facebook, try not to download it, so you can download it again. When many people do this time after time, it becomes like playing a broken phone for images. Either find the original, or use the Share button.
- Do not share screenshots with your smartphone. A screenshot made by your smartphone will look guaranteed poorly when uploading to Facebook.
- Avoid screenshots with a small resolution. Even a screenshot made with the help of a computer is not the best option. However, if you still decide to do it, at least try to get the highest quality that you can. In the case of text, increase the original slightly. In the case of video, switch to the highest quality in the settings. Remember: the more, the better.
Using these simple tips, you may help make the Internet a little more beautiful.
