But, like always, reality stepped in fairly quickly and reminded me that the days between showers are unpleasant, coffee shops are expensive, and working from home has some subtle pitfalls that make it much less of a paradise than one might expect. Since my month (or two) of adjustment, I’ve learned what makes me a happy, successful, home-based cog and what can turn me into a grumpy, malnourished, pain in the ass. Some of it is attitude but a good portion comes from the right tools for the job.

Desktop and Web-Based Software I Use and Love

Certain people and companies deign to describe productivity nirvana through a perfect app. I’ve tried many, many of these incredible apps and have found about a 5% retention and success rate. That means 19 of 20 things I think will help don’t help and only get used a few times. A few, however, have stuck around for whatever reason.

InstantBoss: I would call this a critical addition to the tool belt and it’s why I’m listing it first. InstantBoss is a very simple Windows application that allows you to set working and break time spans so you have something to remind you to shift your eyes and get off your butt. I set 15 minutes of work with 2 minute breaks and make sure I stand up and walk away for that time. The best thing to do is to drink some water and do a quick set or two of a good compound exercise (see below). It might not seem like much but it truly makes the difference between a good day and a bad one for me.

Gmail, Gdocs, Wave: Yes, Wave. The Google Apps suite is something I just couldn’t do without. Honestly, it’s mostly Gmail and Gdocs but Wave is really helping me in a number of ways. I’m not going to go into too much detail since I’m probably preaching to the choir but I’ll say this: if you’ve never tried Gmail before, give it a shot. it really takes email to a new level.

Dropbox: To me, this is another one of those no-brainers. Dropbox is 2 gigabytes of data that you can put on any computer. Install it on two computers and they each share a file folder that stays synced. You can also access your files from their website. And that’s all it does. But, man, it does it well. I’ve never had a problem with their software and it’s never slowed my internet connection down. I love Dropbox, period. I even wrote about it already.

iTunes and Pandora: Between iTunes radio and Pandora, I’m always listening to something high-energy and potentially annoying to my non-existent cube-mates. I used to use Pandora exclusively but when they started to limit listening to 40 hours per month, I had to switch back to iTunes every now and then. Just to be clear, I don’t have a problem with their pricing structure, in fact I was considering paying for the premium version. What happened, though, is that I discovered a whole new host of stations on iTunes (Beat Basement being one of them) that blew away what I was hearing on Pandora. As smart as Pandora is, it’s still algorithm controlled and tends to revert back to the same songs. I still use Pandora every now and again, but iTunes really takes the streaming cake for me.

Keepass: KeePass stores and organizes all of your passwords in one place. it’s very secure and open source so there are developers creating plugins and add-ons. I just use the regular install and it makes my life much easier. I have a whole slew of client logins, passwords, and other information that I can’t just keep on a stack of post-it notes. I put everything into KeePass and just need to log in with one password when I need any of them. Joy. Combine it with Dropbox and your passwords can be synced across multiple computers.

FeedDemon: This is an interesting little RSS feed organizer that I started using a few months back. The one thing that caught my eye is that it plugs into Google Reader so there is a “cloud backup” of sorts. It also means you don’t have to install it everywhere so you can still use Reader on your laptop or phone and everything will stay copacetic. Feeds are easy to read, it has a built-in browser, and it’s fast and bug free (in my experience). Freeware gold.

Desktop Software I Still Use But Hate

So those are the applications that are a pleasure to use and make my life better. There are, however, a few that I use that I would love to just get rid of. Each one holds a special, dark place in my heart.

TweetDeck: My problem with Tweetdeck is not really the software itself (or the “why did we need this platform” Adobe Air it’s built on) but how easy it can fritter away a day. With enough followers (probably a few hundred will do), you have a constant, urgent steam of signals and noise (mostly the latter) that can distract you almost immediately. I use Twitter and I love Twitter but Tweetdeck makes it too easy.

Skype: Skype is the opposite of Tweetdeck in that it’s an application I hate which does things that I need to do. I really, really don’t like Skype for a number of reasons. Skype is the only IM client that I’ve ever used that I get real-time spam through which, to me, is quite disconcerting. Skype has the most annoying Fisher-Price interface I’ve ever had the displeasure of using (though the sounds are mostly pleasant), an interface that’s changed at least twice since I’ve started using it and has not improved even incrementally. Skype’s telephone function (dialing, sending tones, etc) does what it wants, sends the tones it sees fit, and only lets you use the num pad when it wants you to. If I could use something other than Skype, I’d do it in a second but taking calls through my computer is essential (audio quality is actually pretty damn good) and everyone seems to be on there so, what can I do?

Adobe Creative Suite 3: Adobe had been on my bad side since they took 2 weeks to tell me via an (automated sounding) email that they wouldn’t help me with my Illustrator problem because they had already moved on to a new version. I’m one of probably 20% of people using their product that actually PAID for it rather than downloading it but apparently I should have already bought CS4. Their knowledge base moved around causing 404 not found pages from Google and their product decides not to work at really inconvenient occasions. Their products do amazing things, I’ll give them that, but when I heard Steve Jobs call them lazy, I found myself smiling and nodding. You can’t be at the top forever.

Hardware That I Use and Love

So, we covered all the applications that make my life better, how about the physical stuff?

Good mic + speakers: I got a new set of Altec speakers and an inexpensive Logitech microphone (both are Amazon referral links) for Christmas and I’m kicking myself for not upgrading long ago. The music I listen to is fairly bass-heavy and typical all-in-one speakers were not doing the job. As for my VOIP set-up, I was using speakers but had a headset around my neck that I just used the microphone on. Classy. With the desktop mic, people can hear me clearly, I have a big, light-up mute button right in front of my for sneezes and profanity, and voices come through clear as day. All this for under $70.

Weights: Exercise, you need exercise. Well, I sure as hell need exercise and if you’ve made it this far, you probably need it too. I have a set of Powerblocks (another referral link) that I got a while ago and they do the job very well. I stick to mostly compound exercises (several muscle groups at once) and, because these don’t get really heavy, go 8 to 12 reps on what ever I do. Check this site out if you need some help coming up with good dumbbell exercises.

Good chair (see above): Who knew that spending 12 hours a day in a chair would require something more than a creaky, armless IKEA chair? I was using a fairly nice one before, actually, but it was over a decade old and started to lean the bottom pad forward so I always felt like I was going to slip off of it onto the floor. I picked-up an Aeron last year and have been very happy with it. It’s one thing to be supported properly but my main concern was ventilation. I was used to an air-conditioned office and now I found myself in a non-insulated office facing west with very fickle breeze. The mesh back and bottom of this chair was a very nice change of pace (read: temperature) which I highly recommend.

iPod + Nike+ (you know the drill): Uh oh, starting to sound like an advertisement all-of-the-sudden. Still, what can I say? Some companies make great product. For the most part, since learning about their use of child labor long ago, I’ve been a Nike boycotter. Not the type to stop people at the store, just the type to vote with my wallet like everyone should. Recently, I tried to find out whether they had absolved themselves and moved on but wasn’t able to see anything concrete. In the absence of evidence, I remain an abstainer… except in the case of the Nike+. when I was able to run (damn knee), this little thing really motivated me and gave me the data I needed to see how I was progressing. It was, and still is, very addicting to see your distance increase, your pace improve, and your goals get tracked. It also seems to call my name in the middle of the day… like “hey, buddy, there’s a new This American Life podcast and it’s sunny outside. What say we take a break and get some air.” That’s a good friend.

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The most annoying part about using tracking codes, however, is creating the URL. You need to append at least two (and up to five) query strings to your URL to use this function in Analytics and making this happen while tracking what codes you’re actually using is frustrating enough to make you rethink this whole thing in the first place. Google provides a cute little tool to help you but it’s still a pain in the ass.

Google Docs to the rescue! Using similar code as my simple Google Docs CMS, I created a script that parses a spreadsheet full of tracking codes and turn them into usable URLs that you can then copy and paste. It makes it easy to keep track of the campaigns you have while quickly creating error-free URLs. See the Google Docs UTM appender in action.

Download the UTM URL builder
What you’ll need:

1. The file from the big, green link above
2. A Google Docs account (it’s free, you can sign up here)
3. Access to a web server or a local host that can run a PHP program
4. A site using Google Analytics

Step 1 – Create a new Google Docs Spreadsheet

Easy enough… go to docs.google.com and log in. Click the Create New button on the top left and select “Spreadsheet.”

1. When the spreadsheet loads, look for a Share button on the top right. If it prompts you to save the document, type in a nice descriptive name, click OK, and click Share again.
2. In the menu that appears, select “Publish as a web page.”

3. Select “Sheet1″ from the top drop-down, then click Start Publishing.
4. Under “Get a link to the published data,” select “RSS” from the first drop down then click the Cells radio button.
5. In the text box at the bottom, you should have a URL like “http://spreadsheets.google.com/feeds/cells/tFjKofPSUgX5PSPJhEuH7Dw/od6/public/basic?alt=rss.” Highlight the whole thing and copy it, then click Close on the window.

Step 2 – Add your Google Doc link to the script and upload

Now, we need to open the PHP file and give it the link to your Google Doc. Open the index.php file as plain text using Notepad (PC) or TextEdit (Apple). When you open the file, you should be able to read the code clearly (even if you can’t quite understand it). You should see “$feedName=” right near the top of the document. Paste the link you copied in the step before in between the tick marks after the equals sign. When you’re finished, you should have some like this:

$feedName = ‘http://spreadsheets.google.com/feeds/cells/tjMfK6oILkthGlM9Vo_8ACQ/od6/public/basic?alt=rss’

If the link is correct, the script should be ready to display the Google Doc. Unless you have a server instance installed locally, you’ll need to upload this script to a public web server. If you have your own website, just upload this file to any public folder. If you’re confused, email your IT department or your tech-savvy niece.

Once the file is uploaded, you’ll want to test it out to make sure everything is working. Go to the file you uploaded (http://[your domain]/[the path to the folder you used]/link-append-util.php) and you should see “UTM coded URLs” at the top. If you see “Invalid feed!” then the link to the Google Doc was not made. Make sure the URL is correct and in between the tick marks after $feedName=.

Step 3 – Update your spreadsheet with the tracking codes

Once the script is functioning, you’re ready to input your URLs and tracking codes.

The spreadsheet needs to by laid out properly to make sure that the script can read and display the information in the right order. Here are the rules and you can see a sample of a functioning Google Doc here (it’s the one I use to create the example here).

• Cells A1, B1, C1, D1, and E1 will not be read by the script.
• Cells F1, G1, H1, and I1 determine the name of 4 additional custom references that can be added.
• Column A after row 1 is the name of the link. This can be anything.
• Column B needs to be a valid URL without pre-existing query strings (meaning that there can’t already be a “?” in it)
• Column C is your utm_source code
• Column D is your utm_medium code
• Column E is your utm_campaign code
• Columns F through I can be any other reference code you’d like. Again, the name will be taken from the column header. Leave these blank if you don’t want to use them

A few things to keep in mind:

• The source, medium, and campaign codes are required meaning that they are always pulled. If you leave one blank, it messes up the rest so make sure you always have a value in there. If enough people want to eliminate this requirement, I’m happy to offer an alternative, just comment below.
• If you’re not using the custom reference codes, you can leave them blank. If you are using them and each URL will have one, then you’re good to go. But if some URLs need one, others need another, make sure to put an “x” where you don’t need one. For example, if the first URL is using reference2 but not reference1 and the second URL is using reference1 but not reference2, make sure there is an “x” under reference1 for the first URL and under reference2 for the second. Hopefully that makes sense. Again, comment if you’re confused!

Step 4 – Reload the script and fire away

Once your codes are loaded, refresh the script and you’ll see them listed nicely in a row. In order for each one:

1. The first thing listed is the name from column A for that link.
2. Next you see “Paste into form field or if in doubt.” This is the not-validated version of the URL . This should work everywhere and is the safest choice. If you’re not sure what the hell I’m talking about, use this one. There is a “test it” link that tries it out.
3. Next is a field with the URL. Just click once to highlight, copy it, and paste it where you need it.
4. After that you’ll see “Paste into code.” Use this for HTML and PHP that is not validated (i.e. within an application file or static page).
5. The validated version of the URL appears in the text field. Click to highlight, etc.

Step 5 – Comment, Share, or Tweet if you like it!

That’s all I ask!

Please leave comments, questions, and suggestions below. I hope this saves you as much time as it save me!

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So I asked the question, if someone was learning Photoshop and wanted to get the most out of their learning time, what should they learn? I left the poll open (hence the lens flare joke) and got a few interesting answers I wanted to share.

I assumed that people would recommend learning the Pen tool and/or advanced path methods but, sure enough, the winner by far was “learn more about what the software is intended for.” Surprise surprise.

If this is interesting, you’ll probably find the whole thread to be useful as well: Most important Photoshop skill to learn and perfect

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Information Overload

What’s the problem?

The problem is too much, too fast. Too much good info, too many tools, too many things to remember. There’s just too much and there’s seemingly no way to hold it all.

Finding an organization system that works for you is a matter of balancing storage versus retrieval. To make retrieval easy, you need to do a lot of sorting when the information is stored. To make storage easy, you might make it harder to find what you want. The key is in the balance.

Forget about retrieval

Didn’t I just say it was a balance?

Between accurate tags (little words you assign to anything you store) and precise searching, getting your information back when you need is easy and only going to get easier. I can’t think of one thing that I’ve lost on the internet. A little Google magic and sites that I thought were lost forever can easily be found.

So, forget about retrieval and concentrate on storage.

Gather, gather, gather

The solution to this madness is effective, coherent information reservoirs. You need a place for your information to go and to stay. Then, when you need it, you just need to search for it. This concept, if you’re not familiar with the term, is bordering on this “cloud computing” thing you’ve probably heard about.

No more is the problem how much information you have coming in. Find large, convenient places that store information, throw your info there as fast as you can, and forget about it until you need it.

Information and Their Reservoirs

I have a lot of info coming in but only a few key places I store it. If I have to log into too many sites to keep track of anything then the whole system breaks down and I end up where I started only much more frustrated.

Here is the info that I store and where I store it.

Books

I really only buy books from one place anymore, Amazon. I pick up one now and then at a store just for the novelty but 95% of my book money goes to the big warehouse in Seattle.

If someone tells me about a book, I go straight to Amazon and stick it on my wishlist. Then I’ll set a priority and be done with it. I do the same thing with music I want to buy. No more hand written lists and no more overspending because I buy it right then and there.

This also helps when I read a blog post about the “Top 15 Books that __(insert hook line here)__.” I read the post, check the books out quickly, add the ones I want, and move on. I end up with a really solid list of books that, eventually, get purchased.

Also, Amazon sells so many things now that you can end up with a lot of your shopping list on here.

Movies

I’m finally completely online with my movies through Netflix. No more stops at the movie store at $5 a pop and no more lists of movies I need to see that I lose. I do the same thing I do with books: hear about it, put it on the Netflix queue. Same, also, with movie lists I read: check them out, if they look interesting, they get put on the queue.

Web Links

This one is tricky and you might have to try a few things before you get it right.

First I’ll say that in-browser bookmarks are dead. In the beginning, they seem so easy to use but, in the end, they make your life harder. There are ways to keep them organized and Firefox even has tags but what happens when you’re on a computer that isn’t your own and you need a link? Enter on-line bookmarks. The two I’ve used are Google Bookmarks and Delicious. I’m moving from Google to Delicious because I like Delicious’s social aspect better. Still, either one works just fine and I don’t see a huge advantage to either one.

• To use Google Bookmarks, sign up for a Gmail account (if you don’t already have one) here and go to google.com/bookmarks.
• To use Delicious, also sign up for an account and get to bookmarking. Both services offer a quick way to set a bookmark and both offer easy ways to view and sort your bookmarks.

The most powerful part about using these services is tags (which can be done in Firefox as well [if you're not using Firefox at this point, download it and try it out. It's user friendly, secure, fast, and just a great product overall]). When you set a bookmark, take 10 seconds to add a couple words to describe it. This not only helps you search later but it helps the bookmark service sort your bookmarks. Now, you can browse a certain category or create to-do lists for certain pages. I have a tag called “process_list” which means I want to read or print or download or sign up for something later.

Take an hour out of your day to set up and get familiar with on-line bookmarks. You’ll definitely thank yourself later.

Contacts

This is an important one that I see people forget about all the time. How many times have you heard “I lost my phone so please leave your number even if I know you” on a friend or colleague’s voicemail?

I save all my contacts in my phone, that’s a given. My phone lets me add a lot of information (a la Outlook) so I put in notes, email addresses, websites, birthdays, everything I can. I’ve even looked up information after meeting someone to make sure I had everything I needed. My phone syncs with Outlook so it makes it easy for me to keep a backup (never backed up your Outlook contacts? here’s how). Still, before I had this phone, I always kept a spreadsheet backup up-to-date. So here’s what I recommend:

• If you have a phone that can sync with your email program, do that (often) and export a spreadsheet
• If not, keep a manual record (it’s worth the trouble) that you update regularly (weekly if you can, it’s not too hard)
• Once you have everything in a spreadsheet, save it as a CSV file (choose Save As from the file menu).
• Import this file into your webmail of choice. If you don’t have one, I always suggest Gmail.
  • Gmail: click on contacts on the left in Gmail, then click Import on the top right
  • Yahoo: http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mail/yahoomail/manage/manage-09.html
  • Hotmail: Click on Contact List on the left, click Manage at the top, then Import
• Now, just make sure to keep your webmail contacts up-to date on a regular basis. Set a reminder or an appointment weekly to input everything new from your phone to your webmail.

Summary

The point I’m trying to make is not just to use the internet more, it’s to find the big deluges of information and figure out a way to store them quickly. Depending on your passion(s) or industry(ies), you could have totally different information to keep track of. Still, there’s probably an easy way to collect that information without having to parse it all. Collect now, worry later.

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Syncback Freeware backup software

Get Syncback Freeware back-up software here (click “DOWNLOAD” next to “Syncback Freeware)

Sometimes, with software this useful, I want to direct people to the paid version so I feel better about using the free one but, alas, I serve my audience.

This program makes backing up all of your data VERY, VERY easy. It also makes keeping an up-to-date USB drive VERY, VERY easy. It also makes web development VERY, VERY easy (well, at least a component of web dev. Here’s what I use Syncback for:

• I still carry around a USB drive (keep reading and I’ll tell you why that’s a little silly) but keeping the information current is a pain in the butt. I used to keep a mental log of all the files I changed and then copy them over to the USB drive so I had an extra copy. I’d forget which folder I had open, start to work on the USB files and just end up irratated. Now, I set up a back-up profile for my USB drive, set aside a contingent of folders that I keep all my current work, school projects, and important files, and just run a one-way synchornization with the USB drive. Old files get over-written, new files get copied, and deleted files get removed. What used to consume potentially an hour or more a week now takes, literally, less than a minute.
• I have an external back-up hard drive that I keep in a separate location from where I live (it does not make a lot of sense to keep your back-ups right next to the computer being backed up… if that place burns down, everything is lost). I used to save documents to a “staging area” so I knew what needed to be backed-up but that made two different places to find files. I also used to burn DVDs but that was a major hassle. Now, once a week I plug the external drive in, run a sync profile for each main storage area, and bask in peace-of-mind.
• For anyone that develops in PHP (creates themes for WordPress or Pligg), Syncback has been a great tool. Since you can’t just open the files on your harddrive and you can’t install WordPress on your machine like a regular application, I use Syncback along with a localhost installed with XAMPP (another great piece of software). When I want to work with PHP files, I copy everything from one folder to a test folder for XAMPP. I can run MySQL database applications about ten times faster locally than on-line which really helps cut down on dev time. Also, I can write to the files in the local directory without worrying about screwing anything up and without the hassle of uploading via FTP.

A few resources for you:

• A great Lifehacker.com article (redundant)  about using SyncBack to set up automatic back-ups
• Another SyncBack fan

Dropbox file synchronization

Get Dropbox synchronization software or find out more about it

It’s hard to express in words how amazing I think this software is. It definitely begs a quick description before I start making over-the-top proclamations of how great Dropbox is.

I mentioned before that I use a USB drive (well, I did until I lost it recently). The reason for the drive was that I had 3 computers I used on a regular basis (home desktop, office desktop, laptop) and needed the same data on all three. If I had to work at home, I’d copy the right files to my USB and hope I didn’t forget anything. If I wanted to do write at a coffeeshop, I’d make sure my USB was up to date and take my laptop. Dropboax makes this totally unnecesary.

This is how it works:

1. Make one folder to hold the documents you want to designate as your “Dropbox folder.” Make a set of folders in there to separate the different files you’ll have (work and personal or different clients or however you’d like).
2. Download and install Dropbox (you’ll need to create an account). Choose the containing folder as your sync folder.
3. After you have everything set up, install Dropbox onto all the other computers you want to be synced. All done!

I’ve never had a problem with Dropbox, it’s never deleted files, and I’ve never had a conflict. It runs in the background, doesn’t suck memory, and just makes my life better. It’s a great way to stay productive on different machines but it’s also a triple back-up for the really important files that I’m currently working on. I have copies on three different computers (plus the external back-up).

Dropbox gives you 2 gigs of storage which is quite a bit for what I need. If you’re only working with documents, you won’t get anywhere close to that. Image files and photographs stat to eat up space so you can upgrade to the 50 gig plan for $10/month. I have a lot of different files synced and I’m only at about 50%.

Rememberthemilk icon by moutzouris

Remember the Milk (RTM) online to-do list

Sign up for Remember the Milk

When I first found RTM, I was not too sure about it. Yeah, it worked well, seem intuitive, and had a clean interaction but I just didn’t think I’d ever use it. At the time, I was using my Windows Mobile phone synced to Outlook for tasks and that was working just fine. More than 6 months after signing up, I finally decided to really give it a try and have never looked back.

The best thing about RTM is the level of functionality that it has but does not force upon you. Can create lists of things to do, add locations on Google Maps, add priority, URLs, notes, due dates, everything. It’s a bit overwhelming what you CAN do with the software. But nothing forces you to use any of this. I made a few lists and added a few items and started small, ignoring about 80% of the functionality. Then I started using it from my phone via their mobile web interface which was great. Now, I’m using all kind of stuff with it:

• I sync it with my Google Calendar and use it through Gmail
• The three levels of priority (hint: use the “more actions” drop down at the top of the list) making sorting much more helpful than due dates
• I add little notes all the time so I don’t lose anything
• I added RTM friends and share lists (I share a project list with one colleague and a tasks list with my girlfriend)

And that’s just the half of it! You can sync it with your phone (part of the Pro account for a measly $25 per month), add pins to Google Maps, add time estimates to help planning, and add tags to help search. RTM has made me a lot more productive but, more than that, it’s really helped me get organizaed and not miss all the little things.

Rambling

Software and websites like the ones above are excellent tools not because they are absolutely essential but because they help automate things that make you successful. Ignore the whole time-saving aspect and think about what these things can help you accomplish and how much better they make you look. A couple examples:

• I’ve been able to produce files that clients of mine though they lost themselves. I’m like their backup for the projects files we’re working on. The answer to the question “do you still have that file I sent you” is always “YES” and that makes them more comfortable and me look like a supah-star.
• I’m not forgetting the little things anymore. If you ask your web designer “can you correct this little thing” and he or she doesn’t do it after you remind them 4 times, it’s a bit irritating. Are you going to leave them? Probably not because you have a good relationship with them. But if they do everything you ask and even a fwe things you forgot about, doens’t that make you want to come back? Doesn’t it make you want to recommend them to other people?
• Having my files backed-up and always available is just a great feeling. I’m covered, I’m fine, a big problem would not be a huge disruption. My photos are safe, my music collection is safe, I always have everything I need wherever I go. This not only makes me look prepared, it makes me FEEL prepared and that’s key.

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These days, with ultra-compact digital cameras coming in around $200 and megapixel counts in the 7′s, 8′s, and 9′s, everyone is taking digital pictures and they’re all HUMONGOUS. Between on-line forums, emails from family members, and massive Powerpoint presentations, I’m drowning in over-sized photos and surrounded by people who, understandably, don’t want to waste their time resizing each and every picture they want to share. At some point, for some reason, these photos have to get smaller and, unfortunately, not everyone knows how to do that. And I’m Josh and I can help (at least the website says so) so I’m going to show you a free program that makes the whole resizing thing easier than you thought possible. If you’re using Photoshop and resizing each image, you’re wasting your time. And if you’re NOT resizing your pictures, you’re wasting everyone else’s.

Why should digital pictures be resized?

The problem with big pictures is their size. Har har har… no really, the size contributes two annoyances:

1. Big pictures are “physically” very large and can’t fit on the screen unless a particular program resizes them. The size can also stretch out web sites and make everything a complete mess
2. Big pictures are virtually large as well and, as such, are comprised of a lot of data. This can fill up email programs, slow down computers, and take forever to download.

With my Canon SD1000 (a small, great, inexpensive ultra-compact digi-cam) set to its highest resolution (meaning the size of the image), it’s taking pictures at 3072 x 2304 pixels. This is 7,077,888 pixels (or dots) of color that has to be stored and transferred. Unless you’re printing these photos on 8×10 paper, a picture of this size will do you no good. You’re also going to need several different emails if you want to send a whole group of them to someone, not to mention the hard drive space it takes to store them (on both machines).

Clearly, it has to be done but how to go about it?

How can digital pictures be resized?

In order to get your pictures in a more manageable size to use, share, and post online, you will need to reduce the amount of data that is contained in the picture file. This can be done by reducing the actual size of the photo while keeping the overall quality. This can be done with an image editing software like Photoshop but there’s no need to break out the big guns for such a minor task.

I just recently starting using the aptly-named software PIXresizer and I couldn’t be happier with how it works. I’ll walk you through some of the basic functions of this free software so you can pass them along to the technology-handicapped people in your life… or just send the link to a friend.

First, download it here (scroll down and look for the “DOWNLOAD [ 3.3 Mb .zip]” link). Open the .ZIP file and run the program Setup to install it on your machine. Make sure to add an icon to your desktop and run the program.

How do I use this PIXresizer program?

PIXresizer is very easy to use so I’ll keep these instructions nice and short. For those who are fluent in image language (sizes in pixels, images types, etc), this list of instructions will probably be useless to you. It’s very easy to poke around and figure out what to do. If you’re not so computer-savvy, I’ll show you how to get the most out of this great little freeware program.

This program runs in two modes: single picture and batch processing. We’ll take these one at a time…

Single photo resizing

When you first open the program, it will default to the “Work on one file” option. This is what you want to use when you just want to re-size one file (see, I told you this thing was easy). Step one is to pick a file to work on by clicking the Load Picture button.

As you might expect, this will open a file explorer window where you can pick the photo you want to alter. Conveniently enough, the window starts in your My Pictures folder. Choose an over-sized photo you want to change and click Open. Your photo will now be loaded in the little window on the right instead of that ridiculous image of the guy in the pink shirt taking your photo in front of the XP background (why).

Step 2 (marked as such in PIXresizer) is to choose a new size for your photo.

PIXresizer gives you a few quick options to make your life easier.

• 25% gets us to 648 x 486 pixels. This is not a “standard” size but it’s great for uploading to the web (Flickr, Facebook,etc). If you are sending over email, photos don’t need to be this small.
• If you’re sending over email, a perfect size is about 800 x 600 (the 33% option gets you close to this). Pictures of this size are not too big, easy to see on any monitor, and retain a good amount of the detail that was in the picture originally.
• If you want to just save some space on your computer and you’re not going to be printing these in a large format, you’re safe with storing them at around 1200×900. This size is small enough not to be unwieldy but still big enough to retain most of the detail of the original.
• The custom size can be used for any of the options I gave above or to make the photo a specific size (if requested by a person, program, or website).

To get an idea of what these sizes actually mean for you check out the examples below:

400 x 300

600 x 450

800 x 600

1200 x 900

Original size

This will give you a good idea of what it will look like on other screens. Keep in mind that some web browsers will resize your photo automatically. To see them in their native size, right-click on the displayed image and select either Save Image As… or Save Picture As… and pick a place on your computer. Now open the picture on your hard drive to get a better idea of what it will look like for others.

The other size option that is given is labeled Maintain Aspect Ratio. Every image has a particular ratio – the length divided by the width (or vice versa). As you make images smaller or larger, you usually want to keep this ratio the same so the image does not distort. Unchecking this box will allow you to put in two separate measurements for length and width, allowing the image to skew.

Resized to 200 pixels while maintaining aspect ratio:

Resized to 200 x 150 pixels without maintaining aspect ratio:

Step 3 in this process has you choose a file type. If you’re not sure what to pick, either keep the default file format by selecting Same as original or choose JPEG (you can’t go wrong with JPEG for basic web and sharing uses).

The last option, Step 4, allows you to save the image as black & white (Output greyscale) and keep the EXIF data (additional non-visual data). These should be unchecked if you’re just resizing the picture.

Click the Save Picture button and you’re complete!

Multiple photo resizing

One of the best things about PIXresizer is its ability to resize several different photos at once. This mitigates the chore of sharing, uploading, and storing photos.

First, switch the view by clicking on the Work with multiple files tab at the top of the window.

This view has a few different options but only two that we’ll cover. The first, aptly named Step 1, deals with where the files are and where they are going.

The organization here is a bit confusing at first but after this brilliant explanation, it will be clear.

The top button, Source, asks what folder on your computer holds the batch of pictures you wish to resize. Checking the Subfolders box above tells PIXresizer to include all the folders that are located within the folder you choose.

Click the Source button and find the appropriate folder. If that folder has all the pictures you want to resize and there are other folders present within that folder, keep the Subfolder box unchecked. If, however, you are resizing a whole directory structure of pictures, check this box and let PIXresizer loose.

Now that you’ve told the program where to find the pictures, now you need to tell it where the new pictures should go. Click the Destination button and a window appears asking you where you would like to save the resized images. Pick a folder or click the New Folder button to, well, add a new folder.

If you are including subfolders from your source location and want to keep the same folders in the new location, click the Copy Directory Structure checkbox.
Now, pick the new size for all the pictures. Don’t worry about the checkboxes here; they’re not of too much use (in fact, I haven’t been able to figure out what their purpose is).

Simply adjust the slider to the size you want the largest dimension (so that portrait and landscape oriented photos adjust the same) from 96 pixels to 1200 pixels. The batch mode is not able to handle anything larger than 1200 pixels but, for most people, this is completely fine.

Lastly, choose the save pictures options (Enlarge if needed will enlarge any images in the directory structure that are smaller than your chosen size) and click Save Pictures.

That’s all you need to make your digital life (and those of others) just a little bit better! Please share this link with anyone you think could use it and, for those “net-challenged” folks, download the PDF, print it, and hand it to them.

Download this guide as a PDF

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