Photo resizing software

[JamieM.]

I want to buy software that will resize a whole folder of pictures at one time. I googled resizing programs and a bunch come up, but I want the best. I tried out a trial version of one and it looked like it distorted the pictures. I can't have that. I don't want to loose all my quality when I resize. Any recommendations?? Anyone? Anyone?

[kiwimobro]

IMHO Photoshop is THE best imaging software, but prolly way more than you need (and want to pay.)

Have a look at irfanview (http://www.irfanview.com/) It's free and seems to do a whole bunch of things well. I'm pretty sure it will batch resize for you.

If you're worried about images being corrupted, just make copies of the originals and resizes the copies. It's always best to back up originals so if you do something to mess the files up when you're changing them you can backtrack easily enough.

[middletree]

Fireworks will do this. You can get it from Adobe.com, and it's about $300, which is half what Photoshop costs.

[The Unknown Gomer]

Have a look at irfanview (http://www.irfanview.com/) It's free and seems to do a whole bunch of things well. I'm pretty sure it will batch resize for you.Another vote for IrfanView. That's all I ever use to resize anything, and it definitely does resize entire directories in one swell foop. :)

[JamieM.]

Thanks guys! I will check those out!!!

[JamieM.]

I have downloaded the software...now how in the world do I use it??? HELP!!! PLEASE!!

[The Unknown Gomer]

Open Irfanview

Click: "File", then "Batch conversion/Rename".

Drag and drop the folder that you want to resize over to the "input files" list area on the left.

Specify an output directory for your resized files using the browse button on the right (about half way down the window)

Or, if you want them in the same directory, just click the "batch conversion - Rename results files" radio button (although I've never used that function so I can't vouch for how well that works).

Click the "Options" button on the lower right corner, and it'll bring up a Quality slider (among other options). If you want to resize to post on the boards, set that slider to 80. The higher you go above 80, the better quality the pics are, but for viewing on screen, they won't look any different at 100 than at 80, and your file size will just make them too big to post.

Click okay, and then make sure "Advanced Options" is checked to make the Advanced Options button available. Click that to get to your resize screen (why they call that an advanced option, I don't know, it seems pretty basic to me).

Check the RESIZE box, "Set New Size", and "Set both sides to" then tell it what size you want them to be. You can be specific and say they should be 640x480, or 800x600, etc. Usually at the 80 quality setting, you can go as big as 800x600 and still fit under the 100k size limit.

OR if you want to resize them by, say, 50% instead, click the "Set new size as percentage" button, then tell it what percent to make the height and width. Click okay to get back to the main window, then click the start button to the right of the input files list.

And off you go. It'll show the list of files being resized as it's happening, and should tell you zero errors when you get done.

Sounds worse than it is, but once you get in there and see the various menu options, it should make sense. :)

[PINKY O]

Open Irfanview

Click: "File", then "Batch conversion/Rename".

Drag and drop the folder that you want to resize over to the "input files" list area on the left.

Specify an output directory for your resized files using the browse button on the right (about half way down the window)

Or, if you want them in the same directory, just click the "batch conversion - Rename results files" radio button (although I've never used that function so I can't vouch for how well that works).

Click the "Options" button on the lower right corner, and it'll bring up a Quality slider (among other options). If you want to resize to post on the boards, set that slider to 80. The higher you go above 80, the better quality the pics are, but for viewing on screen, they won't look any different at 100 than at 80, and your file size will just make them too big to post.

Click okay, and then make sure "Advanced Options" is checked to make the Advanced Options button available. Click that to get to your resize screen (why they call that an advanced option, I don't know, it seems pretty basic to me).

Check the RESIZE box, "Set New Size", and "Set both sides to" then tell it what size you want them to be. You can be specific and say they should be 640x480, or 800x600, etc. Usually at the 80 quality setting, you can go as big as 800x600 and still fit under the 100k size limit.

OR if you want to resize them by, say, 50% instead, click the "Set new size as percentage" button, then tell it what percent to make the height and width. Click okay to get back to the main window, then click the start button to the right of the input files list.

And off you go. It'll show the list of files being resized as it's happening, and should tell you zero errors when you get done.

Sounds worse than it is, but once you get in there and see the various menu options, it should make sense. :)


THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FIGURE THIS PROGRAM OUT FOR MONTHS. I CAN'T WAIT TO TRY YOUR METHOD AFTER WORK!!

[JamieM.]

Thanks, Karen!! I appreciate the help. The advanced button is the one I was missing. I didn't know where to go to set the resized amount. Thank you so much!!!

I can get the pictures posted much quicker now that I can resize in one batch!!!!!! Yay!!!!:)

[The Unknown Gomer]

You're welcome. :)

IrfanView does a LOT of stuff that I don't have a clue about that I've never used, but I've been using it for resizing, cropping, sharpening, and simple color correcting for literally years.

I just like that it's small, takes NO time at all to load, and it's free. Free is always good. :cool:

[Sam!]

If you just want to resize a folder of photos, I use a small little program called "JPEG Resizer" by Igor Kovalevsky (www.vikarplus.com). It's great... just be careful not to overwrite your originals (I usually export to the a different folder, with the same name but with _sm added on, for example). Also you want to make sure you keep the aspect ratio locked. You can reduce by a percentage, or to a specific height or width in pixels,w hich is nice.

[HotWireD]

I vote for IrfanView too (a little late I know).

[godsgurl40]

hey guys...I am gonna try IrfanView....what size is a good size for pics on here?

[The Unknown Gomer]

I usually do 640x480 for concert shots, but will go as big as 800x600 (which usually will fit below the board maximum at that 80% setting) for the screen shots thread. :)

[godsgurl40]

Thanx...I am gonna try to get all these resized...I am working on my videos right now. So far I have 17 downloaded...geez. I wanna try to make a gif of some of the video screenshots. But thanx...I will sure try that. BTW you had some awesome pics....what camera do you have?