November 2018 Newsletter
By Terri St.Arnauld
Why - We usually take our photographs in the largest size possible to capture the most information. This makes it easier to edit a photo. However, when using a photo file for digital purposes (websites, submissions, email attachments, etc.), it's usually better, and sometimes required, to have a small file. This makes it important to know how to resize your photos.
Parameters - For fine printing, you would want a file at 300 pixels per inch (ppi) and at least the HxW of your print, making a total (L-XL) size that could be 10-120 MB. For web uses, though, you only need a file at 72 ppi and a HxW specified/recommended by the end user. We will use the Newsletter for our working example, at 72 ppi, dimensions of the longest side should not exceed 400 pixels and a total file size of 500 KB. [Your file must be less than 700px or it will not upload to the newsletter software in a reasonable amount of time and will not be used.]
Software - There are many free software programs and apps out there, though not all of them will allow resizing your photo to your specifications. I've done a little research on this and am going to recommend Fotor, as well as provide some basic instructions. I've chosen Fotor because it is very easy to use and seems to be available for download on all the basic platforms (desktop - windows, apple; mobile - android, ios; chromebook; ipad).
Download Fotor at https://www.fotor.com and set up your account to use on one or all of your platforms.
Instructions for Resizing Multiple Images Using Fotor [Note: “>” means “next”, “then” or similar.]
Top 5 Free Photo Editing Software for PC/Laptop
By Terri St.Arnauld
Why - We usually take our photographs in the largest size possible to capture the most information. This makes it easier to edit a photo. However, when using a photo file for digital purposes (websites, submissions, email attachments, etc.), it's usually better, and sometimes required, to have a small file. This makes it important to know how to resize your photos.
Parameters - For fine printing, you would want a file at 300 pixels per inch (ppi) and at least the HxW of your print, making a total (L-XL) size that could be 10-120 MB. For web uses, though, you only need a file at 72 ppi and a HxW specified/recommended by the end user. We will use the Newsletter for our working example, at 72 ppi, dimensions of the longest side should not exceed 400 pixels and a total file size of 500 KB. [Your file must be less than 700px or it will not upload to the newsletter software in a reasonable amount of time and will not be used.]
Software - There are many free software programs and apps out there, though not all of them will allow resizing your photo to your specifications. I've done a little research on this and am going to recommend Fotor, as well as provide some basic instructions. I've chosen Fotor because it is very easy to use and seems to be available for download on all the basic platforms (desktop - windows, apple; mobile - android, ios; chromebook; ipad).
Download Fotor at https://www.fotor.com and set up your account to use on one or all of your platforms.
Instructions for Resizing Multiple Images Using Fotor [Note: “>” means “next”, “then” or similar.]
- All photos to resize need to be put into a separate Folder. These can be copies, if you want to keep the originals in different locations. If you are going to edit a photo in any other way (adjust, crop), that should already be done when you put it into this Folder.
- Open Fotor > select Source Folder (the one that you put the images into.)
- Select Destination Folder (I recommend the default, which will be a subfolder created automatically and called Fotor Batch.)
- Select Settings (Follow bulleted instructions below.)
- Select Batch Resize > Resize > W-300; H=Proportional > Keep Proportions.
- If any of your images are not already in JPEG/jpg format, select Format Conversion > Format-jpg > JPEG Quality=Normal.
- Process (It processed 45 images for me in about 5 seconds.) Your resized jpg files will now be in the Fotor Batch folder, under your Source Folder.
Top 5 Free Photo Editing Software for PC/Laptop
- Gimp
- Fotor
- Photoshop Express
- Pixlr
- Paint.net
- VSCO Cam
- Snapseed
- Adobe Lightroom
- Pixlr Express
- Flickr
- Photo Editor by Aviary
- Repix
- Fotor
- Adobe Photoshop Elements
- Adobe Lightroom
- Corel Paintshop Pro
- Gimp
- Serif PhotoPlus
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