resize images

Reducing the size of images and photographs before uploading to the Internet is crucial as most web sites will only allow very small file sizes to be uploaded.
The reason being that large files take up to much space on the web server, this costs more for the owner of the site and also uses up their bandwidth as large images take a lot longer time to load.

There are many ways to resize your image(s), if you have any type of photo software installed on your computer then the following will guide you through resizing.

Firstly open up your photo software, select file open (or browse) from menu and select your image.

If your image contains lots of background that is not necessary for your final completed uploaded image then you can crop your image to remove any unnecessary portions of the picture. Read photograph software instructions on how to crop picture.
Cropping is just selecting a part of the picture you want to keep and copying that section to clipboard, the cropped part of picture can then be pasted into a new frame. Doing this has already reduced the size of your image.

Next you can change the overall size of the picture to make it smaller.
Your photographic editing software will have a command for changing the size dimensions of an image. Look for a command called "Image Size," "Resize," or "Resample." When you use this command you will be presented with a dialog box for entering the exact size you wish to use.
It is imperative you use constrain proportions or keep aspect ratio - You want this option enabled. It prevents the image from being stretched and distorted. When this option is enabled, you only need to enter one value--height or width--and the other value will adjust automatically.

When you have resized your image you will need to save it to your computer for uploading to internet, never overwrite your original file!
After sizing the image, be sure to do a Save As from file menu so you don't overwrite your original photograph.
You'll want to save your picture as a JPEG or GIF image file as these are the most used format for saving pictures to use on web sites. Type in a new name for your picture to be saved, this will allow you to find the new picture you have just made.

Next most software photo editors will present you with the option to compress the file being saved, when choosing the compression level, keep quality in the medium to high range.

Windows XP users can download an image re-size utility from Microsoft, here is the download link:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx
Click on image resize download option from right hand menu.

If you would like FREE photograph software for your computer, then Google have a download for just that, their free photograph image software can be downloaded here:
http://picasa.google.com/