Optimizing Images: Crop, Resize & Save for:
1. Photoshop 6-CS2
2. Paintshop Pro 7-9(10)
3. The Gimp (2)
4. Irfanview
Rule Number One is that a complex image is always more difficult to compress than an image with a single background color. Consequently it is not only advisable to take pictures in front of a neutral background because it’s easier to see and virt, but also because it will decrease your final file size.
Rule number two, JPG compression is variable. There is not only one way of compressing an image using JPG, somewhere in the program you are using you can adjust the quality/compression ratio, try to find this option. It is possible to get every 800x600 pixel image under 70kb and every 640x480 image under 50kb, if you increase the compression enough.
Rule Number three, JPG compression is not JPG compression.
The old compression type would already leave visible artifacts in the image at low compression rates. The new 'progressive' JPG compression can achieve much smaller file sizes without easily apparent loss of quality. Switching off all other save options like ICC color profiles or EXIF will save some space as well.
I personally use
Photoshop, but this is expensive professional software, and not needed for this purpose here. Cheaper but also very good is JASC/COREL
Paintshop Pro.
The GIMP is a freeware program that also has ambitions to reach professional level quality.
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Apart from those 3 more extended pieces of software mentioned, there is also a plethora of image editors. Among them the very popular
Irfanview.
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Forget MS Paint!! *retch*
p.s. On request I can add additional tutorial for alternate popular image editors.