How To Re-size An Image In WordPress

Learning how to re-size an image before uploading into my blog posts is a lesson that I just recently learned.  Like everything involving blogging and WordPress, I have to learn the hard way before I finally learn my lesson.  Needless to say, I have been blogging for a couple of years now, and I still continue to learn new things every day.  Learning to re-size an image in WordPress is the latest lesson that I wish I would have learned a long time ago.

Lessons I learned the hard way

Up until now, I was under the impression that when you re-size an image using the default image uploader that WordPress provides, that this physically re-sized the image.  I was wrong so learn from my mistake.

When using the default image uploader in the WYSIWIG editor, WordPress is only telling the browser to display the smaller version of an image in your blog posts.  In other words, the full-sized image is still being stored on your server, taking up much-needed bandwidth.  As a result, your blog page will take ages to load which will result in lower page views per user and a bounce rate that is through the roof.

Of course, I did not bother to learn how to re-size an image until I was investigating why it was taking 25 seconds to load a single blog post.  Even though my image was being displayed as 300×300 pixels, the browser was actually serving the original file of 900×900 pixels.  That is a ton of wasted space and literally drags your page speed right down to a crawl.  It is a must that you re-size your images before you upload them into your post!

The good news is, re-sizing an image is easy and only takes a few extra steps.  And of course, taking these few extra seconds will dramatically improve the page speed of your WordPress site.

Follow these simple steps…

1. Download your image from whatever source that you use for finding images (I use Google Images).  Give your file a title of whatever Alt Tag you are going to use in your post.

2. Open a browser and head over to http://www.image-resizer.eu/default.asp

There is nothing fancy about this site, but it is user friendly and fast.  And its free!

3. Upload your image file using the screen provided.

4. On the next screen, you’ll see your uploaded image in it’s original form.  You will have the option to re-size your picture using the percentage (%) field by selecting 100%, 90%, 80%, 70%, etc.  I don’t use this option.

I like to use the “Width” and “Height” fields.  Before doing anything, you’ll notice a box directly under these fields titled “Constrain.”  This box should be checked by default, but if it is not, make sure that it is checked.

Now, your personal preference for image sizes may be different from mine, but I always use a width of 300 pixels.  By having the “Constrain” box checked, when you edit the “Width” field, this will automatically edit the “Height” field to keep your image dimensions proportionate.

5. When you are content with the size of the image, click the green “Resize/Process” button.

6. When the image has completed processing, your image will now be re-sized accordingly.  Click the blue “Download Resized” button.7. In Internet Explorer, the “File Download” box will appear.  Click on the “Save” Button.

8. Make sure that you are saving the new re-sized image to the same file where you saved the original.  Rename the file you are saving as the original image file.  By doing this, you will see a window appear asking you if you want to overwrite or replace the original file.  Select “Yes.”  This will eliminate confusion with multiple files when you upload your re-sized image into WordPress.

9. Upload your new re-sized image into your WYSIWIG editor in WordPress.

You are done!  This is all that it takes to re-size an image!  By taking these extra steps before uploading your pics into WordPress, you will dramatically cut down the page loading speed of your blog.  Your visitors will be thankful and reward you with higher page views, resulting in higher conversions.

This concludes my lesson on how to re-size an image in WordPress.  How do you re-size your images?  What sites or services do you use?  Please share your tips and expertise below!

Category: Blogging Tips, WordPress