Prepare Photos for Display on the Web

Using Microsoft Picture It! Photo 7.0

To scan a new photo in:
FILE > GET PICTURE FROM > Choose name of scanner (i.e., UMax, HP, Epson, Canon, etc.)
Crop (and straighten) the photo:
Make sure the COMMON TASKS bar is open (if it's not, go to VIEW and click COMMON TASKS to open it). On the COMMON TASKS bar, click CROP OR ROTATE. If your photo is crooked, straighten it by next clicking ROTATE; if there's a lot of extra space around it, click CROP CANVAS.
Make color and contrast adjustments:
On the COMMON TASKS bar, click TOUCHUP. Next choose LEVELS AUTO FIX and then CONTRAST AUTO FIX. Drag the sliders to adjust.
Resize the photo:
FORMAT > RESIZE IMAGE.

Circled, center right of window: Click the drop-down arrow to choose pixels as the unit of measurement. As a general rule, for Web viewing, try to keep the width no more than 580 pixels, and the height no more than 420 pixels.
Circled, lower portion of window: Resolution should be 72 pixels/inch for Web viewing.
As long as the box in front of MAINTAIN PROPORTIONS is checked, your photo's height and width will change proportionately.
Sharpen the resized photo:
On the COMMON TASKS bar, click TOUCHUP > SHARPEN OR BLUR. Use the slider to make your picture a little more focused.
Save the photo in .jpg format:
FILE > SAVE AS. Choose .jpg from the very bottom field in the SAVE AS window (SAVE AS TYPE). After you've saved, check the file size in MY COMPUTER. If it's larger than 30KB or so, resave the image by repeating the above steps. This time however, right before you click the SAVE button, you'll have to click the OPTIONS button just to the left of it. Drag the COMPRESSION slider to the right somewhat. (The more a .jpg file is compressed the smaller its file size is; however the quality of the photo starts to degrade as well. The ideal here is to get the photo as small as possible without noticeably affecting its quality.)