help--huge file sizes

[mobius]

Everything I make whether it's music, video, pictures,  and it doesn't seem to matter what programs I use; Photoshop, adobe audition, windows movie maker, video pad editor, virtual dub and more... When making GIFs using Flash or Macromedia. I always create a file that hundreds of Megabytes. While it SHOULD only be a few megabytes. I've tested this in the past, I know I must be doing something wrong. The only thing I remember consistently getting a decent file-sized image out of is paint. Even then sometimes, when I make things in paint the file size it too big. I've tried tweaking the settings, sometimes it helps a little, sometimes not at all.
I realize I'll need to be more specific if I can get any help but I don't even know where to begin. Anyone else ever have these issues?
If you know of a way to help in just one area, feel free to help.

[Ramon]

As you already said, it really depends on the file types and settings you use. Different file types may use different compression methods.

In audio for instance, WAV files are uncompressed and retain all information, hence its file size is usually quite large. MP3 uses compression and therefore limits the amount of information that is saved per second (while the compression is not really audible by ear except if it's compressed a lot).
BMP files are generally large from my childhood experience, while JPG uses compression that is fairly visible when zoomed in. GIF file sizes can vary though. The length of the animation plays a role as does the size of the palette used. I'm no expert here though.

When you want to save a file, search for advanced saving options or settings and look for key words that sound like they'd compress the file. Of course there is a tradeoff with quality, so hitting the sweet spot may be a little trial and error.

[Simon]

You want huge uncompressed files while working. To publish, export to a compressed format, yet keep the large files for later changes.

-- Simon

[mobius]

thanks for the tips; I'll keep these things in mind.