I am trying to attach a picture for my answer on the lawn and garden forum, but it says that my picture is 1.83MB and it can only fit a 293Kb or something. How can I make my picture smaller? Please help.. :(

Try these things to start with:


Ensure your picture is saved as a compressed picture type. In other words - save it as a JPEG (best for photos) not a bitmap. To do this, open the picture in MS Paint. Click File >> Save As. Change the "Save as type" to JPEG, then save the picture.
Try resizing the picture. The smaller the picture, the smaller the file size. There are plenty of image resizers on the internet but try this one (http://download.microsoft.com/download/whistler/Install/2/WXP/EN-US/ImageResizerPowertoySetup.exe) from Microsoft (you'll need Windows XP). Just install that and then from the file browser/windows explorer you can right click on your picture file and choose "Resize picture".

There are a four main factors that affect the size of an image file.

1) Format. Some formats are compressed as LT pointed out. JPG and GIF are popular formats for transmitting across the Net because they are compressed. JPG is the best for photos, Gif is better for artwork.

2) Image size. Images have a height and width. The larger these are the bigger the file. For electronic use, 2"x3" is sufficient.

3) Resolution. The number of dots per inch (dpi) also impacts size. For electronic use between 75 and 150 dpi is sufficient.

4) Color depth. Photos tend to have a color depth in the millions of colors. Reducing that (though no lower than 256 colors) will help reduce file size.

How to set these factors depends on the image software you are using. If you choose File>Save As, there is often an Options button where you can set these. Otherwise, check the Help for the software you are using on Resizing.

Thanks you for your help, I am going to try if I can do it. :)