Just in case anyone else is as stupid as I am! I've been resizing my JPEGs and saving as a new image. It was only when I checked the resulting size that I realised how stupid I've been!
Now it is crop! Or if the original is from my Sony (not my Nikon), then resize only!

do you mean when you post here, you save a second smaller image on your HD? i do that too, but because i print out my image, and the full-sized version will look better on paper. unless you meant something else, in which case..nevermind.

Well, usually when I post here it is a part of the original shot. If using the nikon, I end up with (when reduced) an 1800:1200 pixel shot, so I have to get rid of some of the width. I had been copying and saving as a new image, the part I want to keep (to post), but the resulting image is enormously reduced in quality. The last copy and save as took the image from about 1mb to 200kb. When I cropped the original image instead, I only reduced by about 400kb. This is to make a 1600:12000 shot for posting.
I always keep the original for printing purposes.

ok, just wondering. the way i've been doing it is a little of both. sometimes i'll crop an image, sometimes i'l leave it intact, but usually in both instances i'll resize it and then store it in a sep folder for the DT images.

I download my pics from my camera to "My Photos", or wherever you camera software puts it. Those remain as is, never to be touched. I back them up via DVD as well as an external hard drive.

I made an additional two folders, elsewhere on my PC simply called Pre Post and Post. I view the original images and select the ones I wish to "work" on and copy and paste them into the Pre Post folder (at this point nothing lost...same size, same pic). I then use Photoshop as well as PhotoFiltre and re-work (crop, resize, manipulate, etc.), the photos in the Pre Post folder. Once satisfied I move them to my Post folder which I know is stuff to be ready for upload to Caedes.net. Once upload to Caedes.net, yes, the overall size is a lot less than the original (which I still have), but for posting on the internet and using as a desktop wallpaper the quality is very good.

If you're going to order prints of said pictures, well what I've done is create another folder called Order. I take my reworked pic and upload it to Caedes then move it to my Order folder as it's better quality than posting here then downloading it back to your hard drive and using that as a print.

It's a lota folders and a lotta movin' around, but, once you give it a go, it ain't bad. Just don't forget to deleat the file once your done as it eats up a lot of room. Again, you'll still have your original, as is and untouched. Remember on your original to back it up, then once done to back it up again.