FolderResize: Resize Photos Folder and Repair Orientation

	Windows installer (.msi) for FolderResize
	ZIP file containing FolderResize executables

Folder Resize: Resize Photos with One Click

FolderResize allows you to select a folder of photos or images and resize them into a separate folder according to your desired size.

In addition, FolderResize can rotate pictures to standard orientation based upon the embedded tags in the picture.

You can also remove GPS coordinates and other such tasks.

Overview

FolderResize takes a folder full of images and resizes them into a new folder of images at the size you specify.  It also reorients pictures  based on the EXIF "orientation" tag so that they appear "heads up" (correctly) on all devices.  It can also remove GPS tags so that people can't locate you or your areas simply from photos you post on-line.

Resizing

The basic mode of operation is to select a folder of image (JPG) files and choose a new image width.  The program then creates a new set of images in a sub-folder (usually called "ResizedFolder") of images of the size you specify.  Aspect ratio is always preserved.

You may also select particular images for resizing using the "Select Files" button.

Reorientation

Apple devices typically store pictures based on the physical device's "orientation" (landscape, profile, upside down, etc.) at the time the picture is taken.  They store the known orientation as a "tag" or data item in the photo.

Unfortunately, Windows systems generally ignore the orientation tag, leading to photos appearing sideways or upside-down.  Choosing "Repair Orientation" before resizing will cause the pictures to be stored with the "up" direction as you expect it.

Note that not all cameras store orientation information correctly.  If this happens to you, manually set the orientation correction using the "Orientation:" drop-down list.

Tag Removal, GPS and Otherwise

Each JPG (and other image format) file contains more than just the photo data themselves.  These non-photo "metadata" items are referred to generally as "tags" and are defined by the EXIF specification.  Most of them concern the type of camera and how it was set at the time the picture was taken.

Other tags, however, are not so benign.  The date and time of the picture is always stored, along with the orientation (usually).  Many cameras, especially smartphones and tablets, store GPS information into the image file unless you specifically instruct them not to do so.

Such tagged photos can be used to locate you or your family.  FolderResize can remove GPS tags or all tags based upon your choices.

Quality

The image manipulation libraries I'm using are from Microsoft's ".Net" family of software products.  They allow a "quality" setting that determines how larget the resulting image is.  Remember, there is no clear relationship between the "size" of the image (horizontal and vertical resolution) and the size of the file.  Higher quality levels lead to larger files, but these files can be "zoomed" and Photoshopped without great loss of accuracy.