Trying to Reduce Size on Digital Camera Pics

[On the Road]

I have a 5 megapixel digital camera and am starting to realize the problem that creates with large files. To email or post pics on the web I need to resize and in some cases crop or reduce the picture quality.

I can't seem to find the right tools on my PC. I have the basic Windows viewer, Paintbrush, and the HP software that came with the camera. Is there something I'm overlooking, or something free that I can use? I don't really need a lot of manipulation, although that would be nice. Just some basic editing.

[charlie]

1. Irfanview is good for that sort of thing

You can resize/resample, crop, apply effects, etc. You can also set batch jobs for all of the preceding if you want to process a folder full of images in one go. It's also extensible through plugins (there's an EXIF plugin you might be interested in). It's freeware and doesn't splatter DLLs all over your PC, nor does it stomp on the registry.

http://www.irfanview.com

[Ouabache]

9. IRFANVIEW is the bomb

easy download, free, tight, compact. It will do this and more for your photos.

I would never be without Irfanview on any pc I use.

[welshTerrier2]

2. lots of options ...

i've been using an old version of Adobe photoshop ... when you save a photo, it lets you drop down to a smaller file size ... it's very easy to use for this feature ... but Photoshop is expensive and it might be overkill and then some ...

if you're talking free software, check out this article that discusses the top 7 products:

http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/imageediting/tp/freephotoedw.htm

i haven't used any of them but it sounds like you're looking for some pretty basic stuff ... they'll all probably do what you need ...

[charlie]

3. One note

I have all them, save VicMan's Photo Editor installed on my PC. They're not as full-featured as Photoshop, but they're not basic image manipulators either. All include tool suites (brushes, lassos, pens, etc) and layers (with the exceptions of Vicman's and Photofiltre). If what's needed is just some quick and dirty resizing, cropping, or filter application, Irfanview would be the better way to go. However, if some fancier manipulation is desired, I'd recommend Photofiltre. It was made specifically for photos, is comparably small, and the UI is simple and intuitive.

[On the Road]

5. I Might Follow Your Lead

and try several of them out. What's your experience with GIMP and SerifPhotoPlus? The article makes it sound like those are the two most full-featured packages.

[charlie]

6. Gimp is the most comprehensive

of the bunch, closest to Photoshop in features. However, it has a UI that's way different than the Windows norm and confuses the heck out of a lot of people. You'll spend a bit of time just figuring out where everything is, but if you get past that, you'll be playing with a powerful program. Here's a peek at the Gimp:

REMOVE

(Copy the URL after REMOVE to your address bar. I don't want to hotlink to this guy's pic)

Photoplus is kind of neat and its UI is modeled after Photoshop's. It's pretty good, kind of a Fisher Price version of PS, provides a small subset of the major features, enough to do decent webwork without having to deal with the minutiae of PS's deeper controls. However, it does have a few rough edges, an inattention to detail in the programming that can sometimes frustrate, like crops being cut a pixel or two outside of the area you lassoed (this may be fixed, my copy is over a year old).

Also, in order to download Photoplus, you'll need to register and provide an email address. Give them a throwaway address, unless you don't mind product pitches from a "Natasha Allchin" landing in your box a few times a week.

One more thing. Photoplus used to include an applet to check for updates. I don't like any sort of "phone home" junk, so if they're still doing that and they haven't changed their method -- look in the Program folder for a binary called WebCheck.exe. Rename it Webcheck.old. Open a blank page in a text editor and save it to the same folder as WebCheck.exe.

Screenshot of Photoplus:

REMOVE

...and Photofiltre:

REMOVE

[bemildred]

8. I use Gimp, really like it, the UI is very hacked up, though, as you say.

Xv does a decent job of resizing and format change.
But it requires Xwindows (most any Un*x variant).
http://www.trilon.com/xv/xv.html

[On the Road]

4. Hmm... Those are Interesting

Thanks for the link. Maybe I can use some more of the more advanced features, too, with the more advanced options like GIMP or SerifPhotoPlus.

[samdogmom]

7. Windows XP has a free powertoy image resizer

You can get it here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx