Resizing Images With Gimp

Resizing photos for you journal is easy. But first you need an image editor. Seeing as not everyone has photoshop I will give the instructions using GIMP - a free opensource image editor found here .

The gimp is great. It is just like photoshop, looks very similar but costs nothing - not to mention it runs on every opertaing system. Mac and Linux users can follow the instructions at install GIMP or perhaps some mac or linux users of the site can post more detailed links and instructions in this journal entry. It will eventually be moved to the help files.

Here are the instructions to get the most current version (2.2) installed on windows.

1. Download GTK -
2. Download GIMP -
3. decompress (unzip) both files and run both installers. Make sure to install GTK first.
4. launch gimp and accept the license, keep clicking continue till the dialogues go away.

Here are the steps to resize an image using GIMP which will work with any operating system.

1. Once GIMP is running choose file-> open from the gimp menu and browse your computer to find your image.

2. At the bottom of the window where your picture opens find the drop down menu with percentages, click and make sure it is at 100% so that you can see your image at its true size.



3. Next to resize your image, select "scale image" from the "image" menu.



4. In the pop up window you can now set the height and width of your image. The journal cannot have images above 400px wide so you might as well set the width to 400. The height should automatically adjust. If not make sure to click the little chain betwen then. Then click the "scale" button



5. Last you have to save the file. Choose "save a copy" from the file menu. from there give the file a name make sure it has the". jpg" extension you started with and hit save.



6. Now a little box pops up asking you about the quality you want. the higher quality the bigger the file and the longer it takes for people to load on the web. Generally you want as small a file as possible without it looking shitty. If you click the "Show preview in image window" box you can see how the image looks at the current quality level and ajust it to be as small as possible without looking bad. Generally under 30k is good.



7. hit OK, after you do this you will have have a new resized image saved to your computer. now upload that image to your journal and you should have no problems.

Additional Notes: The GIMP is a full image editing program with hundred of tools and features. feel free to experiement with it. An easy tool to use is the paintbrush.. It looks just like a paintbrush and lets you paint on your image before you save it. Once I get the help system goign I will add lots of other tutorials like this with video.

If anyone needs help with this feel free to contact e:paul.