Reducing image

What is the best way to reduce the size of an image and keep it clear.
Just say I have a banner that I created with a program and it is a gif image with text.

What is the best way to reduce the size of the image and make it transparent.
The image looks terrible after I do it.

 

send the picture to me. i will make it a good compression --> quality ratio for you

 

Try paint.net its free and supports gifs, just resize and maintain quality

 

Smushit it`s my favorite online tool. Check here : http://developer.yahoo.com/yslow/smushit/

 

Thank you. Let me try the websites first. I use paintshop pro and it doesn't do that well after I make it in to a transparent image.
I do appreciate it.

 

Try (Photoshop):

1. Open the image using Photoshop.
2. Go to image menu >> image size >> amend (width & height), but choose (Constrain Proportions).

 

For reducing image you can change overall pixel dimensions to go even smaller.
Constrain proporations or keep aspect ratio.
you need only one value height, width & the other value adjust automatically.

 

You should always try to keep the original photoshot image and fix/amend from that.

In my opinion you should always stay away from paint shop pro, it has always given me issues with image quality in the past. Use photoshop, or if you cannot afford the licence fee then use paint.net