Whats the best way to resize images before uploading to a CMS

[greenbingo]

It sounds easy, and to those who know how to use photoshop or the like it is - BUT, I build basic product databases where my clients can upload new products and enter details etc. - and often they wouldnt know where to start in these apps.

I know I could resize the images on the fly in one of the available image function libraries but to me it makes sense to do it before the upload - and avoid wasted bandwidth.

So the question really is, whats everyone doing who's in my situation? Do you offer a free utility to these clients? or just leave in in their hands?

[photon]

Hi greenbingo--welcome to WebmasterWorld!

Check out a freeware utility called Irfanview. Very easy to use, and you can perform actions on a batch of graphics.

[pete_m]

Hi greenbingo

I think I'd do the automated image resizing if I were you. Your clients will be happier as it makes their life a lot easier. Plus you know that there won't be any rogue oversized images to mess up the website.

I don't think bandwidth is an issue, unless there are lots of *very* large images to resize. After all, it's a one-off. Once an image has been uploaded it is resized.

[greenbingo]

Thanks Photon and Pete_m for your reples respectively.

Photon, you're dead right, irfanview looks like a killer app - ideal for this situation, but I still feel that some of the screens can appear a little daunting for a few web clients at a relatively basic level.

Pete_m, I agree that if the files aren't too large it can be performed automatically, but a lot of people are ripping them straight off a digital camera, and files can be 1 or 2Mb. Not much on broadband, but 5 on a dialup and its an issue (I live in NZ - still a lot of dial-uppers here)

Are there any favorites?.. anyone like to vote? or is there an alternative?

Cheers!

[encyclo]

Irfanview is very good, but you might want to try Picasa if you're dealing with digital photos - it is very user-friendly and you can do basic cropping.

However, I'm not running it, so you should try it first and make sure it does resizing (their website is a bit unclear about that).

[ogletree]

Ones that I heard of are:

ImageMagick
GD library
NetPBM