Windows 7: compressing (zip) files dosnt do much

lothaer · 18 Aug 2010

for some reason when i try to compress some files to send over the internet the .zip file isnt much smaller than the files on their own.

the files on their own are 25MB

the compressed file is only 24.8MB

a saving if 200kb is not really worth it.

is there anyway I can make it a lot smaller?

johndh · 18 Aug 2010

What are the file types?

I often see compressed (zipped) jpeg files that are more or less the same size as the un-zipped file. Reason = Its because they are already compressed.

Orbital Shark · 18 Aug 2010

Hi lothear, welcome to the forums

There are many files that are already in a compressed format, for example JPG or MPEG/AVI or MP3 files.

You'll find This link quite interesting.

Hope it helps

OS

lothaer · 18 Aug 2010

yeah they are .jpg files i was hoping to get them under 10MB.

Orbital Shark: thanks for the link how do i get to those options when using the default windows compression tool? or should i go get winzip again?

Orbital Shark · 18 Aug 2010

JPG files are already highly compressed mate, you'll need to create seperate archives (10mb each) if you wish to email them

Dwarf · 18 Aug 2010

You cannot successfully compress files if they are already compressed, as is the case with .jpg files. The saving on such files, if any, will be negligible. In some cases, the result of the compression will be a file that is larger than the original due to the necessary overheads incurred (the information on how to decompress the file needs to be included).

johndh · 18 Aug 2010

Quote: Originally Posted by lothaer

yeah they are .jpg files i was hoping to get them under 10MB.

Orbital Shark: thanks for the link how do i get to those options when using the default windows compression tool? or should i go get winzip again?

Options for jpeg compression is usually found in you image editor. Are you using one? Tell us a bit more about your work flow, what apps, camera etc you are using.

Windows 7: compressing (zip) files dosnt do much

compressing (zip) files dosnt do much problems?