how to resize before and after staging photos

Janet ~ I can only tell you what I do.  When I download a picture, depending on where I want it placed I will click on the other tab at the top under "Appearance".  Most times I just insert the picture into the blog, then click on it again, and see those little squares at each corner and in the middle sides.  I use these to adjust the size of my picture in my post.  Of course, you have to play with it because you don't want a short, squat picture or one too long and thin.  Hope this helps you a little bit, or someone else pops in with their knowledge. : )

hi, Janet:
I have a couple of suggestions for resizing photos.  First, if you are using Windows XP, go to Microsofts' Power Toys Site and down load the Image Resizer program.  After installing, it adds a resize feature to the Right Click function.  Open your folder the photos are in, Select the photos you want to resize, Right Click and select "Resize Pictures".  You can pick from Small, Medium and Large (or advanced) and it will make a copy of your picture with the same name with the size after it.

Or, have you looked into Photoshop Express online?  It's a online, scaled down version of Adobe Photoshop.  You can create online libraries of photos, etc.

Good luck!

THANK YOU Michael!  I had the Image Resizer on my old laptop, but couldn't find it again to load on my new one!  I'm a happy gal!  Take his advice Janet....it's super-easy.

If you do a search on AR there are some great blogs on this and all other photo stuff.

Regardin Kathy P's response above, only grab and move the resizing boxes on the corners of the photo. The photo will be resized proportionately.

Also, once you download the photo in AR and click on appearance, I usually type in 300, 400 or 500 in the first box (left) in the size. The second number will be reduced proportionally. Experiment with these sizes and see which one you like best.

Looks like you've got plenty of help here!

Janet,

If you're using Windows, just open your current picture and then right-click on it, and a small window will appear with an option to "resize" your photo ... select "Small" and save it on your desktop or in the same file with your photos.

Then when you're composing your post, click on the little tree icon in the menu bar, and another window will pop up;  browse to where your re-sized photo is stored (desktop or in the photo file), and select it.  Once it appears in the next window in your post, it usually needs a bit of tweaking to make it a bit smaller.  Click on the photo itself until the corners are highlighted, and just click the corners to reduce the size of the photo.  It sounds more complicated than it really is!  Give it a try and Good Luck!

Janet- You got some great help! Thanks for asking the question, I learned a few things :)

You need Adobe Photoshop or a program like that to do this. Then follow the tutorial and it's pretty easy.  IF I can do it, anyone can. 

Janet, thanks for the post.  Seems everyone has a slightly different approach.  Good to know!

I re-size in the same manner that Kathy P. stated....but make sure to just use the corners so that the picture stays proportionate.  Also, I often take some of my favorite pictures and compress them for web to use in other marketing pieces such as e-flyers through constant contact.  My compression is within the editing tab on my windows photo gallery program.  Good Luck!

I use Picture Resizer from Windows Power Toys to reduce all my pictures to 640x480. Once I get it to Active Rain I can either grab the picture handles and resize it or, for more accuracy, use the appearance tab to type in a number directly. In the appearance tab only the first number is necessary because it will resize proportionately.

Had the SAME question for both putting pics on AR and on my website for before and after!  Funny!  Thanks!