Whether you're a passionate photographer, web designer or you just have a passion for storing large amounts of images on your hard drive, sometimes you just need some extra space. You can either copy your images to digital storage devices like CDs / DVDs, memory sticks, etc. or you can resize and shrink them, an operation that will allow you to keep your images, but in a lower resolution and occupying just a fraction of the original space.

To satisfy our needs, we have taken MariusSoft's Bulk Image Resizer utility for a test-run. This is a small, easy-to-use and also good-looking application that will help you resize all your images in no time. The program comes as a Demo and will resize only the first ten images per session with a total number of conversions limited to 20 images, after which you need to buy it for 14,99$ in order to keep using it.

The first thing you will notice when you run Bulk Image Resizer will be its smooth interface. Simple and user-friendly, it will not take much for the average Joe to get used to all of its functions. The main window is structured in three parts: the files and folders window, the resize options and advanced options, all with comprehensive buttons that will surely simplify your work.

In order to start resizing, first of all, you have to add the desired files and folders you want to work with. This can be done easily by using the Add Folder and Add File buttons from the lower part of the window, by right-clicking in the main window and selecting the options with the same name or you can simply drag and drop the desired images in the main window of Bulk Image Resizer.

If you want to remove some of the images or just clear the whole batch, you can do just that with the help of the Remove and Clear buttons. As for the output folder, you can easily browse or enter it manually in the designated window. The application supports almost all image formats you can think of. From the most popular ones (JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP) to formats you probably never heard of, such as DNG, DOT, HRZ, TIM, X3F etc.). Speaking of its looks, Bulk Image Resizer comes with eight predefined themes that will allow you to select a different look that suites you best.

After all the introductions have been made, let’s go to the functional part. Bulk Image Resizer provides you with the right tools to resize your images. You can resize by width, height or resize both of them at the same time. The new dimensions can be entered manually or by pressing the arrows corresponding to the right text box. You can enter the desired values in Pixels, Percent, Inch and Millimeters from the Measure drop-down menu.

Also, to keep track of your resized pictures, the application allows you to place a prefix or suffix on their names to easily recognize them. By adjusting the JPEG Quality slider, you can keep the current quality of your pictures or reduce it for a slimmer output. The last thing you need to do now is select the output file type, a category where Bulk Image Resizer comes with a plethora of formats. From BMP, GIF, JPG and PNG to formats that you didn't even hear about, it will definitely satisfy your needs.

If you need more than image resizing, Bulk Image Resizer comes with some advanced options that will give you the possibility to flip and rotate your images automatically. You can flip them horizontally or vertically and rotate clockwise or counter-clockwise by 90, 180, 270 or how many degrees you need to suit your needs. Also, you can append a counter to your resized images and, if you want to keep the original aspect ratio, you should check the Fit Image To Dimensions checkbox.

From the Options window, you can choose to allow the application to search your subfolders for images by selecting a depth level or leaving it to 0 to search every subfolder found. It can also automatically check for program updates on the program startup.

The application does a great job at resizing your pictures and offers you numerous output formats that will surely satisfy all your needs. The conversion is done almost instantly for each picture, but, for this to happen, Bulk Image Resizer needs a lot of resources, for instance 60% CPU and 60 MB of RAM on an Athlon 3200+ with 1 GB RAM in our tests.

The Good

Bulk Image Resizer is a small and easy-to-use application that allows you to easily resize and convert your pictures into almost any format you can think of. Besides all the useful options, it also comes with eight different Themes to change its looks as you like. It does its job with the utmost ease and provides you with a user-friendly interface that makes it accessible for everyone.

The Bad

The price is a little high for this kind of utility that you can find for free these days. Also, it could use a lot more conversion options like various image filters, color depth or other image options (brightness, contrast, Sharpen, etc.).

The Truth

Bulk Image Resizer is the tool that will help you resize and convert your pictures into numerous formats without any effort. It gives you various options for your resized pictures to add prefixes, suffixes, flip and rotate them automatically, all that with a push of a button. So, if you need a quick, reliable and easy-to-use image-resizing utility, Bulk Image Resizer is the tool to use.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action: