Pixlr Step-By-Step Guide: How to Resize Images

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1 Pixlr Step-By-Step Guide: How to Resize Images What is Pixlr? Pixlr is a free online photo editor. It is entirely Web-based and does not require the installation of software on your computer. Pixlr can be used to edit or resize images for the Davidson College website or campus calendar. Optimal Image Sizes Content Management System (CMS) Image Sizes Go no wider than 350 pixels wide on a two-column page. Typically an image size of pixels wide provides enough width to display nicely on a page. For news stories or two-column pages, a 350 pixels wide by 250 pixels high image floated to the right of the page works well. Strive for consistency in image size when adding multiple images to department websites. It looks odd to have similar images posted to a webpage at different sizes. EMS Master Calendar Images Images for events included in the EMS master calendar should be sized at 228 pixels wide by 173 pixels high. You should avoid posting event posters in the calendar as images or post graphics that include text as part of the image. How to Resize an Image Go to pixlr.com and choose the Pixlr Editor To edit an image, click Open Image from Computer. (If you are already working in Pixlr.com, you may go to File > Open Image). 1

2 A file window will open. Locate the image you want to edit on your computer. For this example, we ll use Community Engagement Fellow Amy Lamb 16 who worked with Charlotte-based nonprofit Sow Much Good. First, rename the file. For example, amy-lamb-sow-muchgood.jpg Renaming the file as the first step allows the original to stay as is if needed for later use. Don t leave spaces between words when naming your images. For instance this is incorrect: amy lamb sow much good.jpg Go to File > Save The Save Image pop-up window opens My Computer is highlighted. This tells you where the image is saving (making a mental note of this can save you time when searching for this image later). The default settings for Format and Quality are fine to use. No need to change them. Fill in what you want to name this image. For example, amylamb-sow-much-good.jpg Notice how the name has automatically changed after clicking OK. 2

3 We need to resize this photo for use on the Campus Calendar. The correct size for this is 228 pixels wide by 173 pixels high (Pixlr defaults to pixels at a resolution of 72 dpi for sizing for all images so you don t need to do any adjusting). Constraint to Output Size Crop tool Click on the Crop tool in the Tool Bar. Tool bar Set Constraint to Output Size in the pull-down tab. Now set your width and height to 228 pixels wide by 173 pixels high. This allows your Crop tool to automatically frame the image at 228 pixels by 173 pixels as you click and drag it across the photo. Click and drag across the area of the image that you want to use for your calendar image. It doesn t matter how much or how little you want to capture. The Crop tool will automatically size what you have within the Crop tool frame at 228 pixels wide by 173 pixels high. Or you can simply click and drag the Crop tool again. This time selecting a larger area but the final crop will still be 228 pixels wide by 173 pixels high because this is how we set the output size at the beginning. It discarded the first crop and only shows the newest crop. Notice the small blue squares at each corner of the grid? Place your cursor on one of the squares until you see a diagonal double-arrow. Click and drag. This allows you to enlarge or reduce the amount of the image you want to crop. 3

4 When you are satisfied with the amount of photo you want to include click enter/return on your keyboard to finalize your cropped image or double click within the white lines within the area of the image you want to crop. You will see the image outside of the grid goes away and you re left with your finished image. If it s not exactly what you wanted, simply go to Edit > Undo. To save your newly cropped image, go to File > Save. The same Save Image pop-up window opens. The file name should be the same as when you renamed the file at the beginning of this exercise (amy-lamb-sow-much-good.jpg). Feel free to rename your image or save your image using the existing name entered in the Name field. Faculty and Staff Headshots Professional headshots for faculty and staff listing pages should be sized at 100 pixels wide by 126 pixels high. Right column images, added to the website on individual faculty and staff webpages (located above contact information), should be sized at 220 pixels wide x 145 pixels high. Only a member of the digital communications staff can add photos to right column callouts. Send requests to digitalstaff@davidson.edu and attach the photo at its original resolution and size to the . Headshots that accompany news stories are displayed at a larger size, typically pixels wide depending if the photo has a horizontal or vertical orientation and how tightly you crop the image. All faculty and staff headshots should be professionally photographed so they appear similar in style and background as the other headshots on a faculty and staff website page. All headshots should be taken at a wide angle since the same photo could be used in both a vertical and horizontal orientation depending on the page where it is displayed. 4

5 Headshot for a Faculty or Staff Listing Page With your Crop tool selected from the Tool Bar, reset your Output Size to a width of 100 pixels and height of 126 pixels. Crop tool If you don t like that selection, simply click and drag again just as you did earlier in this tutorial. Sometimes it is difficult to imagine what the headshot will look like with the background still appearing. Double-click within the white grid lines to make the background disappear and you are left with only your selection. Cropping the image tighter allows you to focus more on your subject and in this case avoids including the writing on the subject s t-shirt. The one on the right also grabs your attention more. Wider Crop 5 Tighter Crop

6 Photo for News Story or Two-Column Webpage If you want to use the same student image in a news story covering her work with Sow Much Good, you would need to resize and crop the photo differently. Repeat the same steps as before starting with the Crop tool and resizing your Output Size for a news photo. A good standard new photo size is 350 pixels wide by 250 pixels high. Included below is a screenshot of a new story from on students hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Notice how the photos help tell the story: the hiking, the trees, the trails, the massive backpacks. This is what you are looking for when cropping an image to appear in a news story. 6

7 Best Practices: Avoid Posting Text Within Images (or Text as an Image) The presentation of content that is accessible to all visitors to the Davidson website is important. You should always avoid including text within an image since it s inaccessible to the visually impaired using screen readers. Examples to avoid include event posters or graphics whose primary purpose is to convey text information. Examples to Avoid The text used in the image is inaccessible to the visually impaired using screen readers. The font also clashes with the site-wide styles and fonts used on the Davidson website. Instead of including text within the image a separate caption is used that accompanies the image. An example of a poor quality headshot that includes part of the writing over the photo subject. This should be avoided. Questions or Assistance Always feel free to ask for assistance. Contact a member of the digital communications team at digitalstaff@davidson.edu or