Should We Resize a Photo Before Sending It to Our Website Provider?

We recommend keeping the original photograph and offering it to your website provider. Agree who will prepare the versions needed for the page. If your provider requests a resized copy, supply that separately and retain the original.

The photograph you send need not be the file visitors receive. A website can use different versions of an image to suit where and how it appears.

Why keep the original?

Reducing a photograph removes detail from that copy. Keeping the original gives you a source for later uses, including a different page layout or a closer crop. A smaller copy may suit the current page perfectly, but enlarging it later cannot restore the detail removed.

The right dimensions depend on the photograph’s placement. A wide image across a page and a small portrait beside a biography need different treatment. If that placement is still undecided, there is little reason to choose a size in advance.

What should we ask our website provider?

Ask: “Can we send the original, and will you prepare the versions needed for the page?” Explain where the photograph belongs and what needs to remain visible. If your provider needs a resized copy, ask for the required dimensions before preparing it.

In Grace, we retain original photographs and prepare images to the exact dimensions specified for the final page.