How to resize/compress pictures on your phone, tablet or computer

[Sam]

Compressing pics on your Android phone or tablet:

I'm currently using two apps (one on each device) and they are both great.

1. Reduce Image Size - Image Compressor
2. Photo Compress

Both apps are incredibly fast and easy to use.

Resize pictures on the Windows computer:

TBH, I'm not the best person for a Windows guide but many years ago in the Dark Ages of computers running W98 or XP, I used to use a program called IrfanView. It was one of the first things to install along with Opera and Nero. Yes we're talking about the past century. I was quite happy to see this tiny app still be alive and working on W7, W8 and W10.

Simply download the IrfanView from their website, it's completely free. Choose the 32-bit version even if you're certain that your computer is 64-bit. There's much more features running better under the 32-bit version.


Here's a great guide how to compress a single image.

And once you know what you're doing, there's also this guide to batch reduce the size of the whole folders.

Resize pictures in Linux:

Putting this here just to in case we have some Linux users. I'm usually using Gimp. Gimp is (like Photoshop) a massive tool that allows you to manipulate the pics in various ways and can be installed on Windows machine too (if you're interested or don't want to spend Money on PS).

1. Once opened, click on Filters > Batch Process
2. Add files you want to process
3. Set resizing settings
4. Choose where resized pictures will be saved
5. Select and configure image format
Once set, hit the Start button and wait for the pics to be resized.

That's pretty much it.

Resize your photos online:

There one more option you have and that's online sites. I've tried a few of promising websites and here is a couple of the best ones:

1. Resize Photos
2. iLoveIMG

Both websites work fast and are easy to use, the only thing holding you back is your bandwidth. You have to upload and later download the pics and it could take a while if your broadband is too slow or you're uploading bunch of pics. Having the tools in your device is always a better idea.




Let us know what you use to compress/resize your pics, please. Is it fast? Easy to use? We all want to know

[meggie]

I have just carried out this process yesterday for an application for an Indian visa. The passport photograph size, unlike ours has to be equal dimensions [square] 50.8mm x 50.8mm. Also defined parameters for kb and pixels for both personal photo and passport information page. I took the necessary pictures sent them from my phone to my laptop, opened them from dropbox, right  clicked on them and opened them in "Paint" from here i was able to do all that was required.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Thanks Sam, really helpful. I had a look at the tutorial for resizing a single image and then as I already use Imgur to host my pics I had a look in there and found I could use similar in that to resize my pics for the gallery. 

I'll be downloading one of the apps to my Android tomorrow and see how that goes as well.