Before we start, I'm going to assume that you are using Windows XP, sorry if you haven't got it, but Photo's & XP are so much easier unlike earlier versions of Windows which required a vast amount of tinkering to get what is usually a doddle with XP!

Picasa

Another cool tool from Google, Picasa is the bees-knees when it comes to simply organizing Photos on your PC. Picasa works by indexing all the media files, (you can decide which it lists) it scans the system to collect & index where these files are without moving them.

Picasa also has some neat tricks, for displaying, printing, making collections or just burning your photos on a CD along with a tool to show them as a slide show. Best of all is that once trained you just plug in your camera or device & hey-presto it downloads them all for you.

The latest version now allows you to clear the cameras memory amongst other improvements

PIXresizer

PIXresizer is a tool for quickly generating screen-friendly versions of your images with dramatically reduced file sizes.

It is a photo resizing program that enables you to quickly resize one file or a selection of image files for use on the web and in e-mail. The reduced files are saved in a different directory, so your original pictures are not changed.

Works well with single or multiple files, the handy "apply recommended" button allows a quick action in compressing files. Even with broadband I still resize photos I'm going to upload so that the jobs done in seconds.

Hosting Images (Pictures!)

ImageShack and Imagebot  are easy-to-use free image hosting solutions. They can be used to share pictures with friends, as well as to post images on message boards and blogs. It can also be used to direct link images on your personal web site or online auction.

To use either service you have to sign up to get an account, then you can upload your images. Remember that once you have uploaded and then posted a link to these images, you shouldn't move the image elsewhere as the old link may now point to a blank page!

ImageShack allows you to load single files free, but to load multiple files you are supposed to buy credits to help pay for it but if you use an uploading tool such as Imagebot to upload multiple files, then Imageshack seems to think that they are individual files which are free! The downside with ImageShack is that it seems to be a victim of its own success in as much as when America wakes up, the sites speed gets slower and slower!

PhotoBucket is an alternative to imageshack. It nearly always works in a fraction of the time compared to ImageShack and it also has a new feature whereby it can be set up to upload multiple images. See Bulk uploader Here for further details.

On the British Farming Forum we prefer members to post links with a thumbnail as this makes for quicker page loading times, particularly for those in rural areas who may still be using dial-up! The viewer can then make the choice as to whether they want to open up the image in full size. If you want to on the British Farming Forum once you have made a few postings you can use the sites own hosting feature to upload images up to 2200 kb in size.