How Do I Reduce the Size of a Photo File?

When it comes to digital image files, bigger isn't always better. High-resolution images can be cumbersome to work with, particularly when sharing with others on social media or as email attachments.

Save an image from Word after reducing its resolution.

credit: Screenshot courtesy of Microsoft.

Microsoft Office apps, like Word and PowerPoint, can quickly reduce an image to a size that is easier to handle. Microsoft Paint, which comes with every Windows computer, can also resize images.

Reducing Images in Word

File details reveal an image's resolution and image size.

credit: Screenshot courtesy of Microsoft.

Locate an image file on your computer that you want to resize. To verify its image size, right click the file in File Explorer and select "Properties." The image size is displayed under the General tab. To see its dimensions, click the "Details" tab. Its width and height are displayed in pixels, while its resolution is displayed in dots per inch, or dpi.

Insert the picture into a Word document.

credit: Screenshot courtesy of Microsoft.

Launch Word and create a new blank document. Click the "Insert" tab and select "Picture." In the navigation window that opens, locate your image and click the "Insert" button.

Click the "Compress Pictures" icon in the Picture Tools Format Ribbon.

credit: Screenshot courtesy of Microsoft.

Select the picture in the Word document and then click the Picture Tools "Format" tab. Click the "Compress Pictures" icon in the Adjust section of the Ribbon.

Select a resolution for the image.

credit: Screenshot courtesy of Microsoft.

Select a new resolution for the picture from the available options. These resolutions are listed in pixels per inch, or ppi, which is essentially the same as dpi. Microsoft recommends different resolutions depending on if you are printing, emailing or displaying the image on a screen, however you're free to select any resolution that suits you: 220, 150 or 96 dpi. By default, the document resolution option is set to 220 ppi.

Note that you can't use Word to increase a picture's resolution. Any resolutions higher than the picture's current resolution are grayed out.

Save the resized image.

credit: Screenshot courtesy of Microsoft.

Right-click the image and select "Save as Picture." Select a location in the navigation window that opens and give the file a unique name. The saved file maintains the new resolution you gave it. Cropping or resizing the image in Word has no effect on an image if you have saved it as a new file.

The reduced dimensions and resolution are displayed in File Properties.

credit: Screenshot courtesy of Microsoft.

Close Word and locate the new file in File Explorer. Right-click the file and select "Properties." The new file size is displayed under the General tab, and the new resolution and dimensions are displayed under the Details tab.

Reducing Images in Paint

Open an image in Paint and click the "Resize and Skew" icon.

credit: Screenshot courtesy of Microsoft.

Open the image you want to reduce in Microsoft Paint. Note that the image dimensions and the size of the file are displayed at the bottom of the window. Click the "Resize and Skew" icon in the Image section of the Ribbon. Alternatively, just press "Ctrl-W."

Reduce the image size.

credit: Screenshot courtesy of Microsoft.

Click the "Pixels" option to select a new size for the image in pixels. To resize the image by a percentage, click the "Percent" option. Enter the horizontal or vertical size you want. When you change either the horizontal or vertical size, the other size changes automatically, provided that the Maintain Aspect Ratio is checked, which is the default.

The new file size and image dimensions are displayed at the bottom.

credit: Screenshot courtesy of Microsoft.

Click the "File" menu and select "Save As" to save the image with a new file name. Note that the dimensions and file size at the bottom of the Paint window have changed to reflect the change you made.