Uploading high-resolution photos don't look high-resolution

9 years ago

last modified: 9 years ago

Has anyone else had this problem? I'm trying to upload some photos that look high definition on my computer screen, but when I put them on house they get pixelated and blurry. I have attached a sample image, the dimensions are 4320x2432, and a comparison of how the image looks on houzz on different browsers. The photo was taken on a smart phone, is there a chance this has to do with metadata or something? Or is this a problem with Houzz resizing the image? Could it have something to do with the atypical aspect ratio? (smart phone photos are typically widescreen instead of the usual 3:2)

The problem only really shows up when you are looking at the images nearly full screen, does anyone look at images full screen?

I tried asking this question of Houzz customer service and they've been no help at all. They are usually so helpful.

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PRO

Kitchen Distributors

9 years ago

I have encountered the same problem, but the shots were professional, so it is not just smart phone specific. Reformatting the picture to a slightly smaller size works in some cases for me, but I can't figure out why. I hope this helps!

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Comments (29)

PRO
DSC DesignWorks
9 years ago
We have been having this problem as well.
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PRO
Lite4 Outdoor Lighting
9 years ago
I take all of my own photos and they are tack sharp. I have the same problem. HOUZZ must certainly be reformatting the photos from my 300dpi to probably 200dpi or much less simply based on the way the image looks on the screen. They can reduce the image size without killing the clarity for web use, although I'm not sure why they don't.
PRO
RD photo
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I have been encountering the same problem (being a pro photographer). My photos on Houzz look nothing like when I open them on my computer, say in Lightroom. The same photos uploaded to different websites look perfectly sharp. I have noticed that (in my case) the problem only affects the horizontal photos. The vertical ones are sharp. My web browser (Firefox) is set to the native resolution (Ctrl+0).

DPI has nothing to do with it - it only matters when printing - you can have 72 dpi photo that will be displayed perfectly OK, because each 'd' (dot) will be displayed as one pixel.

Being a photographer I am particularly frustrated - my photos here look like an amateur took them with a smartphone...

Example:
The Stanford home (SJD homes) · More Info

The same photo on my website looks like this: photo

Houzz:

IrfanView:
PRO
RD photo
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
anyone from Houzz following this topic???

anybody investigating the problem?

anyone trying to do anything about it?

it is an important issue for a number of users of this website.

personally, I am seriously considering closing my profile, because at the moment, I cannot properly present here my business and it`s offer...
PRO
Simplicity Design Services
7 years ago
Has anyone had any luck resolving this issue?
PRO
Erika Brown Photography
7 years ago
I worked with Houzz at one point and they fixed one of my projects. However, they wouldn't tell me what they did to fix it, or how to prevent the problem in the future. I'm still having issues getting my photographs to upload sharply.
PRO
User
7 years ago
Any possibility of getting a response from Houzz on this issue?
PRO
Lighthouse Outdoor Lighting of Indianapolis
7 years ago
The only response I ever received back was that my photos were too large and their software had to compress the file (most likely, they actually just reduced the pixel quantity and saturation on them) so that they would work with their templates. They told me the ideal size to upload is a max of 1000 pixels in either the x or y axis of the photo. I have not tested this with new photos yet, but will see if it is true. I have my doubts though.
PRO
The Kitchen Abode Ltd.
7 years ago
It is unlikely that this is a Houzz specific issue. When a pic can't be displayed in it's full resolution algorithms are utilized to resize the pic, this is not always perfect. Would be best to try pics using more standard sizing, say 4" X 6" or 5" X 7". See if they display better.

Graham
User
6 years ago
This is really ridiculous that no one at Houzz has responded to this issue. I just took photos for a client who is expecting to use the photos I took for her. She's paying me alot of money to give her sharp, high quality photographs. Instead I am wasting my time, trial and error trying to upload these shots onto this platform to no avail and they all look like s_ _ _.
User
6 years ago
Well I just discovered that the same images that look terrible on my high res iMac, look fabulous on my iphone. A bit more helpful, but frustrated that they all can't look consistent on all devices.
PRO
Garden & Greenhouse Scandinavia
6 years ago
It was the same for me when I tried to upload a new header image. The recommended size of 1200 x 250 pixels looked very unsharp and blurry on a iMac and also cropped. I tried a few different variants but the one that finaly looked the best was a jpg image almost twice the recommended pixel size 2000 x 500 and with some white on each side to avoid the cropping.
User
6 years ago
Yeah, I was told to not resize, just upload hi res which seems like overkill but they do look alot better. I will try a white border too.
PRO
Habersham
6 years ago
Sure seems like a Houzz specific issue. Even some of our larger images that we would only ever use for print are coming out extremely blurry. If you try to stick to web standards like 72 DPI, it simply won't work. It's hit or miss with their downsizing algorithm. I've been able to get some decent results with 300 DPI jpegs, Tiff files seems to be problematic as well. I'm not entirely sure if their algorithms work like youtube where there is a processing period before full resolution is presented on the site.
User
6 years ago
Very frustrating and why I just don't upload photos on here so I can not prromote my business on this platform. A shame really.
PRO
Gabriela Sladkova Photography
5 years ago
Has anyone heard from a Houzz rep yet or found a solution to this issue? I've tried all of the suggestions and still the images are coming out blurry.
User
5 years ago
It truly is baffling that no one will address this problem of poor quality images on their website. It's not just a problem for a few although I have seen quality, sharp images posted. I just wish I knew what the optimum resolution and dimensions were.
PRO
The Kitchen Abode Ltd.
5 years ago
It's not really a Houzz related problem. How an image is displayed on your computer is determined by the program or browser you are using and the resolution capabilities of your display. This of coarse varies for every individual. No matter the pic size if you keep zooming in(expanding it) it will at some point become blurry/fuzzy. This is because you are exceeding the resolution of the pic, it has no more pixels to display. Keep in mind that those professional pics were taken by very high resolution cameras and the professionally post processed in the likes of Photoshop. You may think that your new smartphone takes high resolution pics but it's nothing compared to a professional photographers camera, especially when it comes to the finer details.

For a hint, just download one of the pro photos, save it and the check its pixel count. Load it into a photo editor and then load one of your pics into the editor, set the image size to 100% and then compare the two, your likely going to see a big difference.
User
5 years ago
I'm sorry sir/madam, but I am a professional. I shoot with full frame camera, Canon 5D Mark III. I definitely do not use a cell phone for commercial photography. Lol And I have been editing in Photoshop for many years.

I will take your advice though and download a quality, sharp image and check the size/resolution. It has been my understanding though that if the file is too large that Houzz compresses it and hence the reason it looks blurry.

Appreciate your reply just the same.
PRO
The Kitchen Abode Ltd.
5 years ago
Nice camera! I'm certain Houzz compresses files over a certain size. I just played around a bit and I do not think there is a way to get a pic off of Houzz in it's native resolution. The unknown is whether the pic is being resized before sending to you browser or is it being resized by your browser to fit within the Houzz website template. When I scan through the main photo section it seems as if the resizing is taking place in the browser. I would tend to think that pics are handled two ways. One would be where the uploaded pic is extremely high in resolution, for this they likely do some compression at their end. This pic is then sent to your browser and then the browser adjusts the sizing according to your display and window size.
PRO
Gabriela Sladkova Photography
5 years ago
Here is the official response that I received from Houzz.

As long as photos are at least 1000 pixels wide, they should appear fine on the site. We are constantly working on photo quality to improve our user experience. Photos that are too large (greater than 2500 pixels wide) may appear blurry on Houzz.
PRO
User
5 years ago
Hey everybody - Had the same problem at first with images not looking tack sharp at full screen mode on the Houzz site. I used to like most people used a 72 res image for anything appearing on the web back in the day when the web had slower speeds. Now with faster internet speeds that's not the way to go to achieve perfectly sharp images on the screen. You'll be surprised when I tell you I upload images that are 300 res with fantastic results and they backload on the site just fine with no delays for viewing. With Houzz thats the first trick to incorporate to change things for the better - but the real secret is the file size in inches horizontally and vertically. I always made images for clients at 12" wide and about 8 inches high for horizontals and the same with verticals at 12' high and 8" wide all at 300 res - seemed to work for any and all needs - print - web - whatever with no issues. But when loading those into Houzz for a project and then checking them in full screen mode they weren't sharp, which drove me nuts to say the least - what photographer wants to see his work blurry? Contacted Houzz about the issue and they were clueless on how to fix it. I mostly shot homes for realtors and they didn't need a file any bigger than what I've been making but when I switched over to Architects - Designers and Home Builders they wanted bigger files for possibly making large prints for their offices. I started making files at 18 to 24 inches wide for horizontals and at least 18 inches high for verticals - and guess what - when those were uploaded to Houzz on a project they finally were "TACK" sharp on full screen mode. Finally my work looked like it's supposed to look "professional". So in short I took files that were 12" wide and just resized them to 18" wide and verticals to 18" high all at 300 res and problem solved at long last. Life is good now!!

Thanks Steve Thompson - ThompsonPhotographic.com

P.S. Don't know why this works but I really don't care - it just works - try it!
User
5 years ago
I am going to give this a go, thanks so much for sharing!!
User
5 years ago
Hi Folks/Steve Thompson,

Well your file size seems to have worked but now I am seeing an ugly yellow (and green) color cast. Ugh. As it was, these drapes were a bitch to photograph due to their sheer color and picking up the green trees from behind.
McKinley Avenue · More Info

Can I ask what color settings you used and how you saved your files? They do not look this yellow on my monitor.
McKinley Avenue · More Info
PRO
User
5 years ago
Well after the increase in file size on your image save it to a folder and install that folder in Photoshop Bridge - open Bridge and reopen the file in Photoshop Raw Menu - then use the white balance eye dropper to regain the perfect white balance.

Your images shouldn't really change color cast just because you increase the file size or when you upload them in houzz - some colors in images are really hard to nail with out affecting the other colors in the image. Life isn't fair or perfect sometimes - there's a saying - it is what it is!

Regards Steve
PRO
Culshaw Kitchen Makers
5 years ago
Wow that works - thanks a lot 18" is the magic number
PRO
K Colour Architectural Colour Consultation
last year
Okay, I see that this is an old thread but I'm having the same issue of my high res photos looking terrible on Houzz. I shoot with a Nikon camera and do any tweaking in Photoshop. My images are crisp. It doesn't matter if I resize them before posting to Houzz or leave them at max res, they look terrible when I view them on my iMac. Though they look fine on my phone. Maybe this is what Houzz is going for. It's really annoying.

There's also a weird hit and miss thing going on. Some of my photos look great, sharp as ever, while others look like amateur hour.

I tried the 18" thing and that made no difference at all.
mojavemaria
last year
A lot of houzz pics look blurry until you click on them then they look good

Uploading high-resolution photos don't look high-resolution

Kitchen Distributors

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DSC DesignWorks

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