How do I scale down an image to a smaller size in GIMP without an unnecessary loss of resolution? I know that I am losing too much image resolution because when I downscale the same image using HTML code and display it in a web browser I am getting a noticeably sharper resolution. By noticeably sharper I mean that details that were completely absent in the downscaled image in GIMP are displayed the way they should be in the web browser, and the difference in resolution is easily visible without zooming in on the image.
Original image
Downscaled imageI have already tried the answers to the following two questions, but none of the answers gave me the same image resolution that I am getting with my HTML code.
How to keep the resolution of an image when scaling it in GIMP
Scaling image in GIMP without losing definition of characters
I am not looking for recommendations for web applications or services. I want to find a way to downscale images locally in my computer without an unnecessary loss of resolution.
Answer
Scaling bitmaps is never without loss. Both upscaling, and downscaling will produce interpolation artifacts. This can be done much better with vector graphics. So if we can trace the bitmap we will get better results.
Scaling artifacts become even more obvious when done on an indexed image. We can not calculate interpolated colors on downscaling an indexed image.
To still be able to scale an indexed image we should therefore change the image mode to RGB before we scale it. Details on downscaling will then be much better preserved:
If we need an indexed image mode we can change it back after scaling.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : karel , Answer Author : Takkat