GIMP is an open-source program for photo retouching and image composition. It has a funny name (it's an acronym for "GNU Image Manipulation Program"), but it can do many of the more sophisticated things that Photoshop is capable of, in addition to simpler tasks like cropping, resizing, and fixing red-eye in photos. Like Photoshop, there is a bit of a learning curve, but the beauty of the Internet is that there are tutorials and documentation to learn from.
GIMP has been around for a while, and it's pretty slick. I've held off mentioning it here on Wicked Cool because you may not have administrative access to install programs on your computer and may be reluctant to ask someone to install something for you, just so you can try it out (am I the only one who feels like that?). So why bring it up now? The answer is Portable GIMP -- a version that you can install on a USB flash drive and use on any PC, whether you have admin rights or not. If you're a curious type of person, and you have a USB drive, why not give it a shot? (And if you're really, really curious, just look at all the different portable programs you can try this with...)
So now, knowing that you can do this, the next question is why you would want to (aside from the general Project Play philosophy: "Play more, learn more, fear less"). If you can already use Contribute or Dreamweaver to resize photos to display at the right size for your website, why use a separate program like GIMP?
The practical value of resizing your photos before they're added to a webpage is usually a major reduction in the file size of the photos, which will help your pages load faster. Resizing photos in a real photo editor can also mean smoother, less pixelated-looking images than you get by resizing in Contribute/Dreamweaver. (See this side-by-side comparison of the two methods.) If you're trying to use photos to make your website look more professional and inviting, Portable GIMP is one of the tools you might want in your toolbox!
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