though not the best, this solution certainly is free...

it is MSpaint and it comes installed with pretty much any Windows installation.

Under Windows XP
Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> Paint

re-sizing an image is easy in the program:

- from the image pull down menu choose "stretch/skew"
- change the percentage for the resize to what you want (keep the horizontal and vertical the same to maintain your aspect ratio)
- now in the file menu, "Save As" and choose the location and file name (as well as file type, I usually use .jpg)


now, cropping is a little more work with this software (and why I do not usually do it this way, but again, this is a free solution)

- open the file you want
- choose the area you want with the selection tool
- go to the edit menu and select "copy to" at the bottom of the list
- now, choose a location, filename and format (I usually use the 24-bit bitmap)
- now, go to the file menu and open the file you just copied to
- go back to the file menu and do a "save as"
- select the format you really wanted instead of the bitmap one (here I usually use .jpg)

Yes, this is a lot of work and it means lots of steps... but it is free and available on most any Windows machine.

For more advanced editing I use PaintShop Pro for the quick jobs (in the $150 price tag) and then PhotoShop 7.0 for when I am working with my digital camera images.

__________________
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