This nifty little PowerToy allows you to resize a picture or group of
pictures, without changing the originals. It works in a manner similar to
the Send Pictures via Email functionality that's built into Windows XP, but
with easier control over the sizing options and, of course, a nice batching
functionality for resizing multiple images at the same time.
To use this PowerToy, select any image, or group of images, right-click, and
select Resize Pictures. The Resize Pictures dialog will appear (Figure),
giving you options to resize the images at 640x480 (Small), 800x600
(Medium), 1024x768 (Large) or 240x320 (Handheld PC-sized, for Windows
CE-based Pocket PC and other handheld devices). When you resize the images,
new versions are created with subtly different filenames, by default. So,
for example, if you resize an image called Mark at the Beach to
handheld-sized, it will be renamed Mark at the Beach (WinCE). Resized to
Medium, this image would be called Mark at the Beach (Medium).
There is also an Advanced button you can use to enable more options
(Figure). This includes a choice to make images smaller during conversion,
but not larger (often a good idea), and one that will replace the original
rather than make a copy.
This is one PowerToy I can whole-heartedly recommend, and I suspect I'll be
getting a lot of use out of it.
Paul Thurrott
