If you have the need to down size photos on your Windows Phone 8 devices, Shrinkit is an easy way to go about it.
For example, you've downloaded your high resolution, DSLR images to SkyDrive and need to email a lower resolution copy. You're on the road, hundreds of miles from the nearest computer and all you have is your trusty Windows Phone. Enter Shrinkit.
Shrinkit has a simple user interface and saves resized images as a separate image file so you won't lose the original. Not everyone may find a use for Shrinkit but for some, it could come in handy.
Once you launch Shrinkit, all you need to do is select the image from your Pictures Hub to resize and then you'll be sent to the settings page. Here you can resize your image by sliding the top adjustment bar to shrink your image by percentage or enter the exact pixel dimensions in the fields. If you need an odd sized image you can turn off the aspect ratio. There is also a field to set the goal image file size but I didn't have any luck using that option.
Once you've got the size just right you can save the re-sized image to your Saved Pictures folder, save and share the image, or reset everything and start from scratch.
Shrinkit is a nifty little re-sizing tool for your Windows Phone but there is some room for improvement. While Shrinkit does display the original image resolution and the new resolution it doesn't display the new file size. There you have to guess. If you have a 2500kb image, downsizing it 50% should resize it to 1250kb. But it can be tough to calculate a 42% reduction of a 1.3MB image while on the run. It would be nice if you could see at least an estimated new file size.
Keep in mind, Shrinkit does not crop your image. It merely adjusts the resolution or image size.
Shrinkit is a free app for your Windows Phone 8 device that you can find here in the Windows Phone Store.
Thanks, Amir, for the tip!
Reader comments
Shrinkit for Windows Phone 8, an easy way to down-size your photos
Love little trinket apps like this.
Useful for Whatsapp profile photo.
Cool! I can use this for instagram.
I wanted this for 6tag
What I need is just the opposite... Wish there would be a straightforward way to upload photos to Facebook with full resolution directly from your phone... Right now I have to upload to SkyDrive and then upload to Facebook using my computer.
Is that right? I thought it was a full resolution photo if you go to Camera Roll, choose a picture, choose to share it to Facebook and thus upload it there.
Anyway, this Shrinkit app seems useful. I'll check it out.
Made the file size bigger when I lowered the resolution. Not good
Hello, I created shrinkit. This is a side effect of saving the image at a fixed quality and compression level. Without knowing the original quality of the photo, there can be times when you save an image with minimal resolution change and it ends up being larger because my compression is way lower. This is done so that the image is manipulated as little as possible from the original in terms of quality. If file size is the main concern and not resolution, picking a goal size will resize the image until its within range of your goal file size. Using the goal file size usually produces a final size a bit smaller than you suggested. Its hard to get an exact size without sending the resize job off to a server with more CPU power to resize. I hope you guys enjoy the app.
I have been looking like crazy for a way to shrink images smaller than the frame for instagram. So I can fit a whole wide image in the square but with black "letterbox" borders. Thought this would help but after testing this it doesnt make any difference.
Anyone know a way to do this?
Sounds like your camera is one that takes widescreen-proportioned photes by letterboxing, rather than creating a true widescreen-proportioned photo. The only way to fix is to use an app that can crop the letterboxing off the photo.
No you misunderstood me. I WANT to create a letterbox picture for instagram. I want to zoom my fully wide pics OUT so I create letterbox and fit the whole widescreen pic in the square frame. I often want to add pics to instagram from my library and can't fit the things I want from the photo. So I want to unzoom to fit more of the pic, creating letterboxes. Get it?