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Font Size vs View Size — Image Size vs File Size
Hal McCawley wrote to ask if there is a way to increase the font size on incoming Outlook Express and Windows Mail messages. Yes. Click on Tools>Options>Read>Fonts>Font Size and make your choice.
I've also been asked about increasing the size of text found on Web pages. Internet Explorer 7 and 8 make this easy by having "percentage" choices in the lower right corner of all pages. Bear in mind that choosing a larger percentage only changes the "screen view" and not the size of an actual print-out on paper.
However, if you're reading a North County Times webpage article (at www.NCTimes.com) choosing an "Increase Font" option will increase both the view and the print-out size of the text.
If you want a print-out of a particular article, rather than the whole page, mouse-select the target text, right-click the selection, and click Print. In the dialogue box that appears checkmark "Selection" before clicking Print.
For even more control over a print-out, consider copying a Web page article or email message into a word processing program, where you can easily change font sizes, colors, and styles along with any other editing you may want to insert. If your word processor is slow to launch, consider using Notepad for your print-out. Notepad is quick and easy, but limits you to one font and size, which can be chosen by clicking Format>Font.
Making a Digital Image Smaller — Dimensions or File Size?
Other size issues concern images, where I'm often asked how to make a photo's size smaller. Well, this depends on whether one wants the physical dimensions of a picture smaller, such as, 4x6 inches instead of 9x12 inches, or wants the "byte" size smaller so that the picture takes up less disk space.
Well, I recommend Irfanview (free from www.Irfanview.com) to handle both these chores. When installing the application be sure to click "Yes" when asked if you want it to be your default program for opening and editing images. This will ensure that when an image's filename is double-clicked it will be displayed in Irfanview and be ready for physical resizing (which can include cropping) and for "byte" resizing.
If the picture is too large to fit comfortably in the Irfanview window, clicking the toolbar minus sign (-) will reduce it to a manageable size. To crop the picture, use your left mouse button to draw a box around the area you want to preserve. Then click the toolbar scissors, followed by clicking the "Paste" icon. The cropped image will then appear for further editing and/or being saved.
To change a picture's physical dimensions click Image>Resize/Resample and type in the preferred width/height numbers or choose a percentage of the existing size.
To change the byte-size of a JPG, click on File>Save As and give the picture a new name, whereupon the new file size will be approximately 80% of the original. However, this percentage of file compression can be adjusted to suit your particular needs.
Click for more information on using Irfanview.