Is precise image editing possible in Contribute?

Question

I designed a site for a client and gave them a guide with
precise instructions for the sizes of images in different layouts.
The problem is, Contribute doesn't seem to allow for *precise*
image editing. For instance, I have a layout which uses graphics at
106x106 pixels. The client has photos from a digital camera that
they need to crop/resize to go into this layout. I can resize the
shorter dimension to 106 by entering a number in the toolbar.
Theoretically, I should then be able to simply crop the image to
106 in the other dimension. But as far as I can tell, there is no
way to crop something numerically, and the width/height fields do
not change dynamically as I move the crop window. So the only way
to do it is visually, by trial and error. Which means I shave off
enough that it's close, and then try to count the pixels as I move
the crop window, and hope I haven't moved it two pixels in one
move, or its UNDO and try again.
A related issue: is there any way for the Contribute user to
change the dpi of an image? They often shoot photos at a higher dpi
for using in print, and it would be nice if they could reduce these
photos to 72dpi in Contribute. The whole point of my recommending
Contribute was so they could update their own webpages just using
this program. If they have to call me to modify images, or purchase
a separate piece of software just to crop/resize images adequately,
then that really defeats the purpose of their using
Contribute.

Answer 1

Thanks for posting this. I'd not discovered the right-click
menu that allows for cropping, rotating, etc. This seems a very
useful feature.
Having found it I thought I'd see if I can find a way to do
what you're looking for, but unfortunately I can't find any way to
set the crop width and height either. I suspect that without an
external application, such as Fireworks (pay) or Gimp (free),
you'll not be able to crop the image to a specific size other than
through the trial and error approach you're using.
Also, I could find no way to reduce the DPI of an image, but
to be honest this doesn't surprise me, as this is more of an
advanced feature and Macromedia sell a product capable of this. You
did mention that you recommended Contribute so your client could
update their own web pages, and while graphics are included within
a web page, they are separate files and for the most part will
require a separate application to update them.
My suggestion would be to get a separate application for the
image, but you're not limited to purchasing one. One pretty good,
and FREE, editor is Pixel Editor (
http://www.iconempire.com/pixel-editor/index.htm)
which should be fine for reducing DPI and cropping, as well as a
host of other features. You could also try GIMP for Windows (
http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net
- an open-source product), which is also free and very well
respected in the open-source community. However, both these will
require your client learning a new product, so I concede to your
initial point of kind of defeating the point of using Contribute,
except that you'd be hard pressed to find a similar product to
Contribute for web page design that include the feature you're
needing.
Hope this helps, even a little.