So I'm having trouble uploading an image because it's 1.5 mb...when I convert it to a different type of image (like a jpeg) it really loses its quality.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

Not anything different from waht you're doing I don't think.

I save out from Vue as png, usually 800K to 1.5M depending on what it is, I take it into CS3 and after making my adjustments re-save it as jpg at max.
For uploading here it's still too big so then I do a "save to web" in CS3 and usually save it as high or very high again depending on what I can get away with!

I don't lose quality doing it this way and I'm not really sure where you're losing it, can you give more detail about how you're going about it??

It's just losing its overall sharpness, and I've tried sharpening it before I save it but that doesn't seem to work.  I don't understand what you mean by save to web, though, can you elaborate?  I'm also using paintshop pro 9, so you know....

Save to web is under the file menu, you get to an editor where you can resize the image by size and %, and you get to see original and resized image in the same window for comparison.

Well I can't speak for PSP because I don't use it but I imagine it has something similar to "save for web", it's a setting in Photoshop that effectively reduces the file size of the image, for instance a 800K jpg can be reduced right down to 100K or so without losing much in the process. At that low though it can be noticeable so I usually drop it just enough to get under the 500K limit here!
I'm pretty sure PSP has something similar because I seem to recall someone mentioning it before!

X-post!! [LOL]

Can you explain save to web a little more to me....I'm not the most computer literate fellow so sometimes I need things spelled out for me....I appreciate you taking the time to help...

Oops, sorry, I hadn't seen you use PSP, I had read photoshop 9, which means PS CS3, same as thefixer, so I got this wrong. I really don't know how to do this in PSP, never used it.

I believe in PSP it's called "jpeg optimizer"
In past versions the way to it has been Export / jpeg optimizer 

For an explanation of how it works see below! This relates to PSP7, it may have changes slightly!
Hope it helps!

Optimising JPEG Web images In PSP7

1. While Paint Shop Pro 7 can save images directly in JPEG format, the default settings in the Save As dialog box leave a little to be desired in terms of options. For better results, select Export, JPEG Optimizer from the File menu.

2. When JPEG Optimizer opens, you'll see this dual-pane display, with your original image on the left and a preview of the compressed image on the right. Choose the compression value using the slider.. 35 works well with small file sizes.

3. Switch to the Format tab. This is where the JPEG encoding method is specified. Standard or baseline format JPEG images are displayed one chunk at a time as data is downloaded. Select Progressive for Web work, and the viewer sees a rough preview.

4. Once you're happy with the compression and format settings, switch to the Download Times tab. This shows the final size of your image before you save it and offers an idea of how long it should take to download at a range of modem speeds.

5. As an easy alternative to fiddling with options in the JPEG Optimizer dialog, you can click the Use Wizard button at any time to switch to the JPEG Wizard, which holds your hand right through the process by asking you a few simple questions.

6. Whether you use the Optimizer or the Wizard, saving the finished JPEG doesn't affect the original image you have loaded in Paint Shop Pro, so don't forget to save it in a lossless format, such as Paint Shop Pro's own PSP.

To be honest, you shouldn't be getting anywhere near 1.5mb for an image for web viewing - don't make the dimensions too large for the image, because there is nothing worse than having to scroll a page to view an image and you certainly can't appreciate it that way. I usually aim for the image being resized to about 1024 pixels on it's longest dimension for web viewing and at that size you should be able to get the image to well below 500kb.

Thanks Fixer, that was just what I needed!

You're welcome!

I usually render in Vue at 1900 px wide as BMP. To upload here, i use (as TheFixer said above) "save to web" with Photoshop CS2 after having resized at 1024 px wide.

Be aware that the size doesn't count that much (hum...), all depends of the format you choose to save in, jpg is one of the smallest in size.

i actually do things a bit different,

i save out of photoshop an upload version, which is a max quality .jpeg, 

then i open up a freebie image editor, bring that image in, and then save to my rendo upload folder, sometimes at 100% quality setting (still .jpeg) sometimes that drops the file size enough, otherwise i just drop the quality setting to 98% and so on, until it is the right size.

i don't tend to lose any image quality that way.

photoshop seems to save out at a bigger file size than nessersary, so the "save for web" option would lower the quality settings more dramatically to get it to a certain file size, whereas if you use a freebie editor after photoshop, you don't need to drop the quality settings as much to get the right file size.

I think there must be huge difference between the different paint programs. They must have their own rules for "save for web" option, relating to quality settings.