HOWTO: Resize Pictures for Avatars and Posts

[jays]

*** NOTICE: The CCCGallery is currently the recommended method of adding images to posts. Read more about it here. ***

Whether you want to upload an image of your classic Cougar as your avatar, found a cool avatar elsewhere that's larger than the board allows, or want to include some photos you took with your new 10-megapixel digital SLR, you're going to need to resize those images. How you do so depends on your computer's operating system; e.g., Windows, Mac, etc.

Windows XP
Windows has always suffered from a profound lack of built-in image tools, but you can download the free Microsoft Powertoys for Windows XP, which includes an Image Resizer.

Windows Vista/Windows 7
Vista and Win 7 do have some built-in tools to resize images, including Paint (comes installed) and Windows Live Photo Gallery which you can learn how to use to resize photos here, though IMHO, both of those are overly complex.

Aftermarket Photo-Editing Programs for Windows

• IrfanView is recommended by johnboy. When you install it, it will try to install a couple of Google programs, but you can opt-out during the installation.