In light of this new technical section for us geek types, I decided to write up a little tutorial to kick things off. It's nothing amazing, just a basic tutorial on how to resize images. It might seem like an easy task for some, however some people are unaware of how to change image sizes for web optimization (making an image small enough to be downloaded easy).

I will be showing you how to do it on Adobe Photoshop CS, however will add Microsoft Paint and maybe a few others when time permits, for those not lucky enough to have Photoshop CS installed on their computer.

So lets begin:

Adobe Photoshop CS
Photoshop (PS) is definately one of the most common and user-friendly graphical editoring tools available to consumers and businesses. Its features are pretty advanced as well, once you delve into it. I have also taken some screenshots for the visually inclined users among us (lazy ones).

Step 1
Select the desired image you would like to resize by clicking on the File menu at the top left of Photoshop and then clicking Open.

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Highlight the image you would like to use, then select the Open button on this screen.

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For this example, I chose a 1024x768 image - Aston Martin!

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Step 2
To resize the image, click on the Image menu, again at the top of the screen, then select the Image Size option (this can also be done using the shortcut ALT+SHFT+CTRL+I).

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On the next screen you are presented with, you will need to tell the program what kind of dimensions you would like the image to be. I generally select the Height and Width first, and generally make the drop down boxes 'Pixels' instead of any other types of measurement.

The chain looking object next to the drop down boxes is actually directly linked (no pun intended) to the tick box at the bottom of that window that says Constrain Proportions. All this option means when ticked, is that if you change the height or width of the image, it will change the other accordingly, so the shape of the image is kept intact (eg. image size is 60x60 and you change the height to 30, the width will change to 30 as well to keep the square shape).

This is a feature that's user decided, but I generally leave it on, so as not to distort my images.

Once you are happy with the size of the image, click the Ok button to the right hand side.

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Step 3
Now we need to save the image so it's on your computer. To do this, go to the File menu again, and select Save As. You need to do a 'save as' if you wish to save the image to a seperate file instead of the originally sized one. The save function in Adobe Photoshop CS is the same as any other program, however you may want to change the filename of the image.

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And we're done.
Your image should now be resized to the correct sizing and you can do what you want with it.

He's the Aston Martin, resized to half its original size, 512x384.

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p.s - if there's anything I forgot to mention, or could add, feel free to PM me.

Nice work Jago

Ive got image resizer so i can just right click on a picture and resize it or select a group of pics. It can save alot of time.

what is it called? and where do u get it from?

dunno where i got it from, aha i found it

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloa...ppowertoys.mspx

then on right side 5th from the bottom, image resizer

Nice

i dont like the microsoft one, makes it look like ive used a $5 camera

also u can select the crop tool and put in the preset of what size u want in the boxes at the top and then crop and its resized to the size u want the size will stay up there for the croppign untill u either clear them or change it also dont forget to put px after eg 1024 px other wise it will resize 1024 cm

Yep, this is the way I do it!

Also, if you're on a computer with no editing software, do the following:

1. Open 'Microsoft Paint'
2. Hit 'Ctrl + W' [Image -> Stretch/Skew]
3. Change the 'Stretch' percentages (%) to a number which will reduce the size (i.e Jago would have typed 50% to achieve the same size Aston Martin)
4. Click 'OK'

Image will now be resized to a viewable size

I would recommend just getting the powertools image resizer from microsoft. Lets you re-image in batches if you want with a simple right click. Duplicate, resize to any dimensions/etc

i agree with summoner. i use the image resizer power toy and it works fine for me. although i would like to know one thing. my camera takes photos at 3264x2448 default. they are roughly 1.2mb each. then i use image resizer, custom, 3264x2448 and it drops it down to about 500kb. however! the dpi is exactly the same and i cant tell any difference between the original and the 'resized' one




doesnt for me.....

If your looking at the 1.2mb and the 500kb images so they are resized by your picture viewer so they fit onto your monitor then theres not going to be much difference but if you look at the fullsize then you will see a difference.

but..... the dpi is exactly the same.... and yes, me and my dad went through it fully zoomed and couldnt pick anything. (although that was about a year ago... maybe i just overlooked it)

Another vote for power tools resizer as it gives you default sizes for using images on pda , phones and the like , its free , small app and simple to use for the computer challenged

very well said!I want to add another image in image how does it done?

VSO Image Resizer is a simple free program that can do a whole folder of photos in one hit (or just a single photo, or a few, whatever you want).

You can resize them all and replace the originals, or create copies wherever you want.

Simple no-frills program if you can't afford to pay for expensive programs like Photoshop.

Cheers

- Select photos in windows explorer
- Right click - send to - email recipient
- select 'make my images smaller'
- outlook or outlook express will open (if a dialog box comes up about asking to make your default email client or having no account setup, just cancel past it to continue)
- an email will open with resized images as attachments
- save the images from the draft email to where ever you want them
- close the email, do not bother saving it.

easy way without needing to open each file like you need to in paintbrush... and saves you having to download any software