A digital camera takes high resolution photos that are large in size, typically several megabytes (MB). Photos from my camera are usually 2.5 to 5 MB.
There is nothing wrong with large images except that they can take a long time to upload, even if you have a high speed DSL or cable Internet connection. Resizing your photos in advance is a bit of work but will likely save you some time and frustration in the long run.
There are lots of options to resize your photos.
(1) Software on your computer. You can use any commercial image editing program (Photoshop, Fireworks, Paint Shop Pro, etc.) but you may find that simpler (and free) options will work just fine.
VSO Image Resizer is completely free, is easy to download and install, and couldn't be more straightforward to use. Another option, also free, is
Fotosizer. Macintosh users should try out the ultra-basic free tool called
Resize.
(2) Web based software. These tools are used right in your web browser so you will need a high speed Internet connection. They are convenient (no software to install) but probably are not as quick, especially if you have a lot of photos to manage. There are lots of choices - I find
Resizr and
Picnik to be the most professional looking.
(3) Finally, there are services like ImageShack (
http://imageshack.us). This website is primarily for image hosting, but their upload tool provides several options including resizing. This service is free, and I find it very easy to use. I find myself using it regularly for auction photos rather than firing up the software on my computer - it is simply faster.
