Bob, thanks for this time saving tip. I've used Irfanview from the very beginning, used it on the first photo I ever took...great little fixer. But, I've always resized just one photo at a time....didn't know about "batching"....gosh, what a time saver. I also use another little online "freebie" for photo editing since I don't have a program like Corel or Photoshop. Its called Photofiltre (from a French firm I believe). I downloaded from their site and it has some pretty good little features. Those are the only editing programs I have and they both do a decent job. I resize with Irfanview, save the pix, and use Photofiltre for sharpening, contrast and any other little fixes I might need to do. It has a number of filters that you can use too. I usually save my pix at 20 to 25 percent compression so as not to lose too much resolution. I almost never save a photo at more than 1600 x 1200 pixels unless I'm going to have that particular pic printed.....then I don't resize until after printing and then usually store them at less than that...usually about 800 x 600. Bob, thanks for the heads up on batching.....this is really going to save a lot of time..... ~Kathy~

Checking the HP website and its forum, it appears that others have had trouble using the software and Vista. There are fixes for that but are lengthy. HP also offers free software, HP Photosmart Essential 3.5, which probably does more than just crop and resize. But as others here have suggested, there is an abundance of other free stuff that will do most anything.

Here's a link to the Test Forum, for anyone who wants to doodle away. Forgot about scrolling long links. Not only does it widen the entire thread, it also forces readers to copy and paste to view it, which a lot of us won't do either, ack! ;-) For anyone not familiar with alternatives, I'll post them, using Pottery Barn as an example. To put a live link in a post, there are two ways to do it: 1) When typing a post, instead of pasting the link right into the Message box (body) of the post, go to the boxes below the message box. Paste the web site's http://www.address.com in the box marked "Optional Link URL:". Then in the "Name of the Link:" box type in the name of the website. I just did that here so when you read my post you will see a link to Pottery Barn below and to the right of my message. It will say "Here is a link that might be useful:". ~OR~ 2) If you want to direct link right in the body of your post (like I did in Test Forum above) you can add html code. This method comes in handy when posting multiple links. Paste the link to your site (in this example Pottery Barn) right in your Message body: http://www.potterybarn.com/ You will need to add html code to the beginning and end of the link. You will also need to add the name of the site you're linking to (in this case 'Pottery Barn'). Add on html code is in bold below. So the string of text looks like this: a href="http://www.potterybarn.com/">Pottery Barn Important or it won't work: You have to wrap the entire string of text with angle brackets. So you must put a front angle bracket right at the beginning of that string of text directly in front of a href. You must put a rear angle bracket > right at the very end of the string of text, behind There are no spaces between the angle brackets and the other text. Think of the angle brackets as giving the entire string a tight hug! There is a single space between a href at the front. All other text in that line is typed with no spaces between it! So when I put that string together, spaced as noted,you should see an active link to Pottery Barn like this: Pottery Barn You can use that same string of commands for any web site. Just be sure the spacing is correct, substitute the name of your site where Pottery Barn is, and hug> that entire line tight with angle brackets! (cheesy I know, but might help you remember). Here is a link that might be useful: Pottery Barn Example from #1 above

It is much harder than one would think. The best thing to do would be to have his parents take some measurements and buy a current pattern that reflects those measurements. I've sewn for 50 years and I wouldn't attempt to grade patterns (changing them from one size to another) For instance, his chest measurement might be two inches bigger than a 4 year old, but certainly his neck *won't be,* and those two things have to be combined. Little kids' bodies change, too. A toddler pattern (can go up to 4T) is shorter, and sized to accommodate a diaper. Children's sized patterns are taller, maybe a touch slimmer, and labeled without the T. They could send you clothing that fits, and you can try to adjust the patterns to match the clothing. Why not just buy a new pattern? a See and sew pattern is $2.99, but even a full priced pattern would more than save the cost of wasted fabric for something that doesn't fit. Patterns are almost always in sale someplace. I would make a pattern from scratch rather than grade one to fit, 90% of the time.