Reducing the size of digital pics

[antic81]

Afternoon chaps,

A quick question for anyone in the know...I have been sent some pictures that I want to forward on, however on closer inspection I have noticed that they are horribly large files, each around 3 MB's, I have had no luck in trying to reduce the size, however I am not all that knowledgable in this area, I was wondering if one of you kind folks would be nice enough to give me a quick idots guide on how to do this?

Many thanks,

Ant

[Background Noise]

What OS and email program? Outlook has this function built in, hotmail might do also(?) - there are many free resizing tools available to download too.

Also check the FAQs above and the 'things you should know about posting' link.

[BRL]

If you just want to simply re-size them then download Irfanview for free. (www.irfanview.com).

Then open your picture with it and click on "Image" then in the menu that drops down click on "Resize/Resample".

In the next box that comes up simply sort out what size you want the picture to be and save it. Dead easy!

Is this what you mean?

[antic81]

Thanks for the help chaps!

Yes that is what I meant, I noticed the problem when comparing them to some of my other pictures and noticed the huge size difference, for example these are indicating a size of 3264x2448 and around 3.2 MB's, other pics I have from my camera come out at 600x480 and around 100 KBs.
I am using windows XP, tried using both Hotmail and AOL to send them, but both said they were too large.

So I should download a utility in order to get them to a more manageable size?
No way of changing this through their properties?

Thanks again.

Ant

[timmcat]

For XP.... use Microsoft Powertoys Image Resizer (http://download.microsoft.com/download/whistler/Install/2/WXP/EN-US/ImageResizerPowertoySetup.exe)

For Vista, VSO Image Resizer.
(http://www.vso-software.fr/products/image_resizer/)
Both are simple and work a treat.

[antic81]

Hi Timmcat

Thanks for that, the link for the XP version does not seem to work for me...

[BRL]

Did you try Irfanview?

You could have had them all done by now!!!! :)

[Pontius Navigator]

As you use XP you already have the software.

Open Paint - Start:Accessories:Paint

Open in Paint. The image will be larger than the screen.

Now go to Image:Stretch/Skew. Under horizontal change the value from 100 on vertical and horizontal to 75. This will reduce the image size by 50%. You can then save with the new size and replace the original or better save with a new name and keep the original.

If you want it smaller again repeat the step - 80 80 will reduce by about 36% and so on.

If you download Picassa from Google this will also give you some rudimentary editing and also enable to you resize on the fly when you send the images. In this case the size will be in the range 30-60k but the original will remain untouched. Picassa is free.

PN

[antic81]

Sorry BRL!

I somehow managed to miss your link!

On the site now!

Thanks again!

Ant

[green granite]

Infranview is excellent as a freebee, also for more advanced image manipulation Gimp is about the best of all, you can even download a "photoshop" style front end for it called Gimpshop.

[antic81]

I went ahead with Irfanview and it did the job perfectly!
Thanks BRL!!

Thanks for all the help folks!:)

Ant

[bnt]

A coupla points:
- Personally, I would do any changes of this sort to a copy only, never an original, because they are irreversible! In digital media of any sort, it is trivially easy to lose quality that you can never get back. I always archive originals as they are, keeping multiple copies.
- if you have Microsoft Office on a PC, it comes with the Office Picture Manager that is pretty good for basic image management stuff, including colour corrections, cropping and resizing.
- It's also possible to make a JPEG file take up less space, without resizing it, by changing the JPEG compression/quality setting. Office Picture Manager can do it in the Export function, and I think IrfanView can too. Typically, JPEG quality from source is around 97%, which is good, but overkill for use on a website or other non-critical application.

Example: I just took a JPEG straight from my camera, at 2.2MB, and played around with the "Save a copy" function in GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/). Saved at 100% it took 3MB, but when I lowered the quality to 90%, it took 1.2MB on disk. At 80% it took 700kB, and 500kB at 70% - without resizing it from the original 3000x2000. It was hard to see any difference between the original and 70% when the pictures were viewed side-by-side at 100% zoom - though I bet more experienced "pixel peepers" than me would. :8

[antic81]

Thanks bnt,

I did just that, I moved a copy of them across to a new folder and messed around with the copies only.

Although I enjoy the ease of the digital pics, you do lose something...I am not talking about quality here, I mean that old feeling of going to get the pics developed and seeing them for the first time, these days there are no surprises anymore...suddenly getting all nostalgic here!

Mind you, you get to email things to family and friends across the world over almost instantly.

Ant

[Bushfiva]

If you use the "send to..." option to email an image to someone, XP will offer to resize it for you.

[bnt]

Although I enjoy the ease of the digital pics, you do lose something...I am not talking about quality here, I mean that old feeling of going to get the pics developed and seeing them for the first time, these days there are no surprises anymore...suddenly getting all nostalgic here!
I know what you mean, and a lot of people feel the same way, if the growing popularity of the Holga camera is any guide - have a read of this (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art-and-architecture/features/the-cult-of-holga-the-sixties-camera-makes-a-comeback-797582.html). It's part of a growing Lomography (http://www.lomography.com/) trend, for old-style basic cameras.

D&P of anything but standard film is a problem here in Ireland, and I would set up my own B&W darkroom if I had the space for it. As it is, my original digital files are surrogates for negatives, and you don't scribble on negatives. :cool:

[matt_hooks]

Just sent my trusty A1 off for a nice service and clean. Nothing quite like the feel of a good heavy SLR in your hand. Some of the modern digi SLR's are pretty good, and I'd dearly love one (though I'll need to save up for a bit for the one I REALLY want) but for good old fashioned playing and arty stuff I'll reach for the film every time!

Take films along to the local processor and get them developed neg only, then scan them in or get them to scan them in. I still have the negs, and I have the digital files too. :D

[HuntandFish]

Google do a very nice free program called Picasa . Its hidden under the More then Even More tabs on the home page . It is great for finding and organising photos on your PCs . It also has very easy to use if a little basic edit facilities . I also use it to resize photos for Ebay etc .
I always shoot at highest quality which gives me approx 130 shots on a 1Gig card . I used to use a Leica R3 a lot but I noe prefer digital and I get better results easier BUT DSLRs are different to film SLRS and some homeworks pays .

[antic81]

My old man always used to take his old Leica to the airshows and got some cracking pics on slide, was always exciting to have a look a few days later to see how many good ones he got, reminds me, he always used to shake his head after taking the shot saying, "no, no that won't come out well" and then on getting the slides back we discovered that it came out perfectly!
A real science to taking pictures with that old thing, would have to take light readings and set up for the shot in advance, no automation there!
Only thing was the place in South Africa where we would get some prints made never got them near as good as the studios over here in the UK.
Oh the memories!:{