I have a Picture.....

[Scott Perry]

I finally have a picture I would like to show, but it is a 10 meg file. How do I trim it down to size so I can post it?

[rick woodward]

scott. I have some time right now. Email it to me and i will see if I can resize it and post for you. If I get it posted, I'll put your name on it and you can have your say about it. rcarves@hotmail.com If you want to. rick

[Darren Null]

1) Open your image in an image editor
There's a free one here, if you don't have one to hand:
http://www.gimp.org/

2) Resize it. About 400 pixels across normally serves to get a clear picture across without being too big in filesize terms

3) Save it in a web-friendly format:
JPEG (For almost everything, especially photos...there's normally a sliding bar for the amount of compression. It depends on the program but as a general rule of thumb, under about 80% the image begins to suffer- if you need it to be smaller, reduce the image size would be my advice)
GIF (For logos and stuff with a limited number of colours in (if there's only 2 or 3 colours, you can get a smaller filesize for the same image than a JPEG); or if you want to do a mini-animation)
PNG (Lossless- if you need to get ALL of the photo across or if you want to put an object on a transparent background with a semi-transparent drop-shadow...you're not going to be using this a lot)

4) Upload your JPEG to the interweb. If you don't have hosting, this free site will store your photos and allow them to be displayed on bulletin boards like this one:
http://www.imageshack.us/
(Just go there and follow the on-screen instructions. Copy the 'direct' link to the image).

5) When you're creating your post; there's some icons above the bit you type in. Click on the yellow one with what looks like mountains and a stamp on. Paste the direct link to your image there.

Et voila.

[Scott Perry]

Rick, I appreciate your offer but I would like to know how to do this for this one and future stuff. (It is a 10 meg file.....will hotmail let you accept files this large?)

[rick woodward]

well, I reckon i'm more tired than i thought. hotmail says it will take 10 meg, but maybe not. If you have an image editor follow Darrens advice. If not, try to send it if you want. He's a pretty sharp cookie. Hey Darren, hope your laser is still cookin for you. Fantastic you got it going again. rick

[Darren Null]

Thanks. The laser is still working...and I've got a military-grade capacitor standing by in case this one goes *foom!* (same thing but in a metal case so more heat proof).

Hotmail does take 10 Mb, but if you attach a 10Mb image, you'll end up with more than 10Mb...the email format adds somewhere between 10-40% to filesizes of attachments usually.

[Frank Corker]

Download XNView and then save it as another format or reduce the DPI - if the picture is to be posted on the web you will only need it to be 72dpi

http://www.xnview.com

[rick woodward]

Thats great, Darren. Happy for you. And thanks, I learned a bit for today. Didnt know about the 10 to 40 %. Sorry scott. rick

[Darren Null]

The 10-40% is for straight POP/SMTP email...attachments have to be MIME encoded, or something, which adds a bit on. Might not apply if both parties are using webmail like Hotmail.

[Nancy Laird]

Scott, you can go here: http://bluefive.pair.com/free_computer_software.htm
and download PixResizer to resize your photos. It's really easy.

Nancy (82 days)

[Larry Bratton]

Download XNView and then save it as another format or reduce the DPI - if the picture is to be posted on the web you will only need it to be 72dpi

http://www.xnview.com

Frank:
Actually the resolution (dpi) can be 0..a computer screen only cares how about how many pixels the image is. Resolution matters most in printing of images, not viewing them on screen.

[Frank Corker]

Misuses of DPI measurement
Owing in part to its conceptual similarity with other measurements of graphical resolution, the DPI measurement is frequently misused. For instance, it is common for an image scanner's sampling resolution to be specified in terms of DPI, though a more accurate measurement would be samples per inch. The number of pixels per inch in a computer display is sometimes specified in this way as well. Usage of the DPI measurement in these cases is inaccurate and misleading, though the intended meaning is usually clear based on context.

[Scott Perry]

Thanks everyone for their help. After I posted my second response my internet died. I haven't had a chance to fix it.....busy with my day job. Hope to have it working this weekend...(wireless router died). I will get the photo posted as soon as I get it working. Thanks again.

[Scott Perry]

Ok, here it is......comments good or bad or good welcomed..
This is a picture of the "Old North Bridge" in Concord, Mass.

[Mike Null]

Never putt at a mirror.