Explain "resolution"as it pertains to photo files. Does small size mean the picture will be smaller or just the file size?

Answer 1

The short answer is: yes. Say you have a photo on your computer. You took it as a 3:4 ratio, RAW file so the size is 30mb. You convert it to JPEG to share with friends. The file size is considerably smaller, but so is the resolution. Rather than a pallet of millions of colors for each pixel, the photo now works with ranges of light and color depending on the adjacent pixels. The smaller the file size, provided the actual photo is the same size, the lower the resolution. If you also shrink the photo size, you're then increasing the data in each pixel. Try to enlarge it, whether from a lower file size or smaller image size, and you come out with a blurry blob of colors.