Comments on: Batch image compression on Windows Server?

Question: Batch image compression on Windows Server?

bloodniece — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 08:02:59 -0800

Can anyone recommend a small/lightweight image compression program that can run on Windows Server 2003? Thanks

We are archiving large amounts of jpeg and tiff files but want to leave behind lower resolution reference images. Is there a program that you can say, right click over a folder and compress the entire contents of said folder?

By: Shepherd

Shepherd — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 08:23:26 -0800

Irfanview can't batch-process a folder from the Explorer view, but IIRC it's pretty easy to select all the files IN a folder for its internal batch-process dialogue. You add other commands to the batch process (where to put the processed files, what to name them, etc.) as well. It's an extraordinarily handy program for this sort of thing.

I'm no Windows Server 2003 expert, but it's a very lightweight program that has run on every other version of Windows I've ever tried it on (98, 2000, various flavours of XP).

By: demiurge

demiurge — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 08:36:08 -0800

I recommend Irfanview as well. If you want to make your system more automated, I suggest using some shell scripts and ImageMagick. In my experience, pretty much any software that works on XP works fine on Server 2003.

By: crunch buttsteak

crunch buttsteak — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 09:04:20 -0800

Thirding Irfanview, been using it for years. It might be a little click-intensive though, to set up and start a batch-conversion. I make do, and I compress/resize/rename/reformat a lot of images.

By: rhizome

rhizome — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 09:25:40 -0800

I would use ffmpeg in a script to create the thumbnails. You might also think about doing just a single contact-sheet for each category, directory, or organizational unit. I believe Irfan can do contact sheets, but there are lots of other options there as well.

By: bloodniece

bloodniece — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 09:36:54 -0800

If think I like Irfanview the best. It runs quite well over RDP and little processor cost. Well, the server is a dual quad core :)

Thanks for all the advise. I have work to do now that I have the right tool.

By: bloodniece

bloodniece — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 09:38:15 -0800

advice* oops

By: XMLicious

XMLicious — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 09:43:26 -0800

Compressing the contents of a folder like you're asking about is built in to Windows.

Compressing Files or Folders on NTFS Volume
To compress a file or folder:
Click Start, and then click My Computer.
Double-click the NTFS Volume that contains the folder or folders you want to compress.
Right-click the file or folder you want to compress, and then click Properties.
On the General tab, click Advanced.
Click to select the Compress contents to save disk space check box, and then click OK.
In the Properties dialog box, click OK.
In Confirm Attribute Changes, click the option you want.

By: XMLicious

XMLicious — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 09:44:47 -0800

(though it depends on whether you're trying to save hard drive space or bandwidth.)

By: SirStan

SirStan — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 10:11:48 -0800

ImageMagick is what you seek.

By: motdiem2

motdiem2 — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:14:17 -0800

nthing imagemagick, it's fast and gets the job done

By: polyglot

polyglot — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:39:45 -0800

definitely imagemagick.