So at the stage you should have created your skin image and be ready to save it.
Don't just click save and expect to be able to upload it to bebo. Because the chances of that happening are probably quite small. So follow this step carefully before uploading your images. It will save you alot of time later!
I will show you how to do this in two programs. Photoshop and Fireworks
This is how to lower the image size to make it just under the size on the specifications.
Lets say you have made your main_bg image and are now ready to save it.
Go to File and click Save for Web & Devices.
Make sure you have the 2 Up Tab selected. This will compare the original file to the new one.
On the right of the page you will see all the settings which you can optimize for a smaller file size.
Select either JPEG or Gif, depending on your image.
JPEG is easy to lower the file size so i will use that as an example.
Underneath the image on the right you will see the file size.
eg.
JPEG
56.5K (<<<< file size) 17 sec @ 28.8Kbps
You will need to get this number below the specified size. I can see from here that main_bg can be a max of 40KB.
Currently it is 56.6KB so i need to slightly reduce the quality (which will reduce the file size)
On the menu on the right, where it says Quality, click the arrow next to the number, then drag the cursor to left a bit at a time until the file size under the image is reduced under the max file size. Now my file size has lowered. Just to make sure bebo accept it, i have set it just under 40KB at 38.77KB as shown below.
JPEG
38.77K (<<<< New file size) 15 sec @ 28.8Kbps
Click Save at the top. You can confirm you have the right file size by going into the folder where the image is saved and right clicking on the image file. My new image says:
Bebo look at the Size and not Size on disk so as long as the Size is less than the max, it will be accepted.
Using Fireworks CS3
Reducing the file size works in a similar way to Photoshop.
Lets say you have made your main_bg image and are now ready to save it.
Go to File and click Save As.
Then click Options.
Select either JPEG or Gif, depending on your image.
JPEG is easy to lower the file size so i will use that as an example.
Similar to photoshop, you will see something like
JPEG
Quality 80 (0)
56.5K 13 sec @ 56.8Kbps
You will need to get the file size (56.5K) below the specified size. I can see from here that main_bg can be a max of 40KB.
Currently it is 56.6KB so i need to slightly reduce the quality (which will reduce the file size)
Where it says Quality, click the arrow
next to the number, then drag the cursor to down a bit at a time until
the file size is reduced under the max file size.
Just to make sure bebo accept it, i have set
it just under 40KB at 38.77KB as shown below.
JPEG
Quality 78 (0)
38.77K 7 sec @ 56.8Kbps
Click OK then Save.
You can confirm you have the right file
size by going into the folder where the image is saved and right
clicking on the image file. My new image says:
