Better JPG with Capture One 6

In Capture One 6 you can get higher image quality even at smaller files size compared to Capture One 5 when processing to JPG.

Even though Capture One 6 and 5 has the same quality range (0-100), the underlying algorithms has been changed and optimized.

In version 5 only quality levels from around 85-100 would lead to reasonable image quality.

In version 6 you can use the full quality range from 0 to 100 and find the quality/file size ratio that fits you needs.

For Web quality usage the ideal quality levels are between 0 and 40
For Print quality usage the ideal quality levels are between 80 and 100

The above illustrates the file size for the image above when processed to JPG using the different quality levels.  The uncompressed TIF file is 31.5Mb. Note that the compression depends very much on the content of the file and the above should be used only as a guideline.

When viewing the file at a zoom level of 100% it can be difficult to see the difference in quality. In the illustration above the top left image is quality level 0 and bottom right image is quality level 100

Let’s take a closer look at a zoom rate of 300%. Then the different quality/size trade-offs become quite obvious.

Top left is quality level 0 and bottom right is quality level 100

Now at 400% zoom.

Top left is quality level 0 and bottom right is quality level 100.

As a very good compromise between quality and file size I use quality level 85.  Take a close look at the original TIF vs. the JPG compressed at quality 85.

Zoom level 300%. Left image is the uncompressed RAW file. Right image is the JPG file at a Quality level 85. It is really hard to see the difference and remember the JPG file here is almost 20 times smaller than the TIF file.

Experiment with the different quality settings and find your ideal compromises.

Happy New Year!