I think I should have explained that there are two different things - i.e. file size and picture dimensions. A picture that has file size of 1,831,690 bytes (which is quite a big file) probably also has large dimensions & should be quite a good picture. However, if it's file size is taken down to 60 bytes, it will certainly look terrible. What you should be aiming at is taking the file size down to about 60kb - i.e. 60 kilobytes, which is not 60, but 60,000 bytes. 2. It a picture still looks bad at 60kb, or is too big for you screen, you probably needed to first reduce the picture dimensions - which are not the same thing as the file size. Pictures from digital cameras are often quite big - e.g my camera gives pictures with dimensions of 2048 x 1536 pixels - far too big to fit on my computer screen. A good size for Hortiplex & for most computer screens is a picture 800 x 600.. Irfanview (mentioned by Carol) is a very good program for doing this. When you try it all again, I suggest you first use Irfanview to change the picture dimensions to 800 x 600 & save it at Irfanview's 'best' quality. This will probably still be stored as a file way above 60kb, but it should be considerably less than 1,831,690 bytes. Then use JPEG Optimizer to compress the file containing this 800 x 600 picture down to 60kb. Herb

i downloaded irfanview and all plugins. i resized a jpeg and it did it but it uses paintbrush or paint and saves the resized image as a bmp extention not a jpeg. when i tried to upload the resized file it was refused because the file is not valid.... ie not jpeg. :( :( so now i am wondering if i should uninstall this product as it is not doing what i want. IMPORTANT question - when i installed irfanview a window appeared asking about associations. i did not know what to do as all associations were NOT checked and i figured it made sense to use these associations so it knows how to open files with different extentions. so i clicked on select all. the next window then asked, and this is the issue, "You want to change current associations and to associate one or many file types with IrfanView! Are you REALLY sure?" that is an exact quote i did not add ! or caps. so i worried about the current wording and when it capitalized really, well i said no. it accepted that. so i assume i ended up with the same thing as if i did not check select all and left all boxes unchecked. should i have gone with select all and replied yes? i was afraid this might cause conflicts with other programs and their functions. not sure what to do. any suggestions? remember win 98 se did all this in mozilla browser. thanks, tom

Yes, you just have to hunt for it. I've linked to a couple where you can use your own photo. (Were it me I'd select a checkerboard floor pattern, whether linoleum or tile, and use that to see how you like it.) I've used this kind of software eons ago, the best thing you can do is start with a good photo of your kitchen. Straight on view (not from a side angle). No tilt to your pic, plenty of natural light, bright and crisp. Otherwise you'll get a funky end result. Oh, and check with major flooring manufacturers (Shaw, Mannington, etc.). Pretty sure the one I used is a freebie Mannington lets you download to your PC. You might not be using virtual paint, but I'd bet you can get a pretty close idea of what works & doesn't by using their floor colors and pattens in your room. Meanwhile: http://www.diylife.com/2007/12/04/flooring-selection-a-snap-with-virtual-design-tools/ Oh, here you go, this person posted an entire list: http://www.city-data.com/forum/home-interior-design-decorating/557883-virtual-interior-design-tools.html The other option is use a photo edit program, and Copy/Paste other floors you like into your room. Start with your own good photo. Then via Google images search for a floor ("black and white checkerboard floor"). Once you find an image of the floor style you're going for save it to your PC. Have both your own pic & sample pic open in your photo editor. (You might have to resize one or the other, both photos should be the same size so the floor pattern isn't too tiny or too huge in your photo.) Then in your room photo, use the Select tool and outline your floor area. Jump over to the sample floor picture that you like and select a comparable size area. Then Copy the sample flooring section, go to your photo and 'choose Paste into selection'. Your editor might have a different command, but you want to paste to selection (your outlined floor) otherwise it will paste over the entire photo or go haywire somehow. ;) Every photo edit is similar but different, so the commands are there, it's just a matter of finding them. Hope that makes sense!

No matter what the original size, you can always change the size it displays in the forum, by modifying the html code you've copied like this: if the code is: add this: You can play around with it, changing the "500px" to any size you want; the largest that folks can comfortably see in their browser is around 800px. (This changes the width AND height proportionally, no need to fiddle with the height at all.)