How The Heck Do I...

Use Picasa to reduce the size of an
image file?

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** DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL PICASA BEFORE YOU BEGIN. IT'S A GOOD IDEA TO LET PICASA SCAN YOUR HARD DRIVE AND ORGANIZE YOUR PHOTOS/IMAGES.

Step 1:

Open PICASA.

Click on TOOLS then OPTIONS. When the box pops up, click on the FILE TYPES tab.

Make sure the box next to PNG is checked. (You might as well check all file types.)

Step 2:

Click FILE then ADD FILE TO PICASA.

 Step 3:

In the box that pops up, find C Drive on your computer. Look for the folder you created called COVER FACTORY, then click on the folder inside it called FINISHED EBOOKS.

Inside this you will see the ebook file (which will probably end in the file extension .png) that you created in Cover Factory. If you let your mouse pointer hover over the e-book image, a box will pop up with the DIMENSIONS - it should be 800 X 800 pixels.

Double click on this file and a small picture of it will appear in Picasa (see image at right).

Now, double-click on this small image and it will open up in the main Picasa window as larger image - which you can edit.

Step 4:

Look below this large image in Picasa.

On the information bar below the e-book cover, you will see the SIZE of the image - 800 X 800 pixels.

All you need to do now is to RE-SIZE this image so it's the size you want for your website page.

To do this you will have to export it from Picasa as a FOLDER. (The folder will contain a copy of your picture in a smaller size.)

Just click on the EXPORT button below your picture.

Step 5:

A: Click the BROWSE button to find your way to your FINISHED E-BOOKS folder inside your COVER FACTORY folder.

B: Type the name of the folder you want to export. Tip: Make it something like the name of your e-book, plus '200' to remind you that this is the folder containing your e-book cover reduced to 200 X 200 pixels.

C: In the IMAGE SIZE OPTIONS section, click the 'resize to' option and type in 200. Then click OK.

Step 6:

The new folder will appear in your COVER FACTORY folder. (In my case, it is called beachholidays200)

Double-click this folder to open it, and you will see your re-sized photo inside.

The problem is, this photo has the same name as your original image, even though it is a different size. So... it's a good idea to RE-NAME it, to save confusion when you're uploading it to your website.

You can re-name this photo by doing this:

1. RIGHT-CLICK on the photo file.

2. In the box that pops up, find the option that says "RENAME FILE". Click on this.

3. Your original file name will be highlighted in a box. Just start typing the new name for your file. I suggest you use the same name as the folder - in my case, BeachHolidays200.jpg (IMPORTANT: Make sure you add the extension ".jpg" after your file name - otherwise you'll get an error message.) The inclusion of the "200" in your file name will tell you that this is the image reduced to 200 X 200 pixels.

THAT'S IT! Now you have a nice, sharp, 200 X 200 image that is ideal as a cover design for your new e-book.

And because you have saved it in the 800 X 800 size first, you can reduce it to, say, 300 X 300 or 400 X 400 as well, without any loss of clarity.

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