Hello all
If an electronic image/picture is required to be printed then 300 dpi (dots per inch) resolution is
probably best, and printers can usually alter the actual size to suit your needs. But if it is required to
be displayed on a screen, then it needs resizing, a resolution of 72 dpi is probably best - this is to save
people from scrolling left and right, and maybe up and down, to see the whole image. Unfortunately it is
not straightforward to understand or to explain the requirements of resizing.
There are two things that need to be reduced - the resolution, the actual size (whether it is in
inches/metric or in pixels) - and with these will be a corresponding smaller electronic file size which
will make it more suitable to be loaded on a web page (or be sent by email)
Read the complicated stuff if you wish, or scrolldown to the Simple Option if you prefer.
As an example, in very rough terms, a 4" long image which is 300 dpi printed on a 300 dpi printer will
be 4" long, but will be displayed on a 72 dpi screen at about 16"
If you had a program such as PaintShopPro and you were to resize this image, and change the resolution
to 72 you would see that the actual size had become much larger. If you then changed the actual size to,
say 6", (still at the 72 dpi) the image will become smaller, and consequently so will the electronic file
size, making it more suitable to send by email. Just a point here that it is advisable to copy the image
first else you might lose the original image whilst resizing.
There is also the complication that many screens have different resolutions, and often quoted in pixels
(electronic dots if you like), mine is 1280 x 1024, so an image on my screen will be smaller than a similar
sized screen with a resolution of, say, 800 x 600
Enough of the technical, how to resize :
Using an image manipulation program such as PaintShopPro or PhotoShop it is fairly simple, and it can be
dealt with separately to this thread.
The Simple Option :
If you are not happy with acquiring or learning to use one of those programs then there is a simple
Microsoft utility tool (My thanks to Paul Martin for emailing me about this) which is compatible with
Windows XP and Windows 98
Download
this and double-click it to install.
When installed, there is no icon or program to start - you simply select (click on) the image you wish to
resize, right-click and select "Resize Pictures"
The Resize Pictures box will appear on your screen, as below
Select whichever size you wish and try it
A 'rule of thumb' penned by Paul Martin (thanks again) is shown below :
"I [paulm] tried to stipulate an 'unwritten rule' as far as I am aware that all
pictures should be of a maximum size of 640 x 480. In doing this, the screen
resolution on most people's PC's will not be affected and it will also save
people from scrolling left and right as well as up and down to read text as
the text box window will remain entirely on the screen"
Note that there is a tick-box which allows you to resize the originals and don't create copies - but
good practice is to copy your image separately first, for safe keeping, rather than rely on leaving
this tick-box clear.
Good luck
paul4
If an electronic image/picture is required to be printed then 300 dpi (dots per inch) resolution is
probably best, and printers can usually alter the actual size to suit your needs. But if it is required to
be displayed on a screen, then it needs resizing, a resolution of 72 dpi is probably best - this is to save
people from scrolling left and right, and maybe up and down, to see the whole image. Unfortunately it is
not straightforward to understand or to explain the requirements of resizing.
There are two things that need to be reduced - the resolution, the actual size (whether it is in
inches/metric or in pixels) - and with these will be a corresponding smaller electronic file size which
will make it more suitable to be loaded on a web page (or be sent by email)
Read the complicated stuff if you wish, or scrolldown to the Simple Option if you prefer.
As an example, in very rough terms, a 4" long image which is 300 dpi printed on a 300 dpi printer will
be 4" long, but will be displayed on a 72 dpi screen at about 16"
If you had a program such as PaintShopPro and you were to resize this image, and change the resolution
to 72 you would see that the actual size had become much larger. If you then changed the actual size to,
say 6", (still at the 72 dpi) the image will become smaller, and consequently so will the electronic file
size, making it more suitable to send by email. Just a point here that it is advisable to copy the image
first else you might lose the original image whilst resizing.
There is also the complication that many screens have different resolutions, and often quoted in pixels
(electronic dots if you like), mine is 1280 x 1024, so an image on my screen will be smaller than a similar
sized screen with a resolution of, say, 800 x 600
Enough of the technical, how to resize :
Using an image manipulation program such as PaintShopPro or PhotoShop it is fairly simple, and it can be
dealt with separately to this thread.
The Simple Option :
If you are not happy with acquiring or learning to use one of those programs then there is a simple
Microsoft utility tool (My thanks to Paul Martin for emailing me about this) which is compatible with
Windows XP and Windows 98
Download
this and double-click it to install.
When installed, there is no icon or program to start - you simply select (click on) the image you wish to
resize, right-click and select "Resize Pictures"
The Resize Pictures box will appear on your screen, as below
Select whichever size you wish and try it
A 'rule of thumb' penned by Paul Martin (thanks again) is shown below :
"I [paulm] tried to stipulate an 'unwritten rule' as far as I am aware that all
pictures should be of a maximum size of 640 x 480. In doing this, the screen
resolution on most people's PC's will not be affected and it will also save
people from scrolling left and right as well as up and down to read text as
the text box window will remain entirely on the screen"
Note that there is a tick-box which allows you to resize the originals and don't create copies - but
good practice is to copy your image separately first, for safe keeping, rather than rely on leaving
this tick-box clear.
Good luck
paul4
