Prettysure the width is not the major problem in downlod speed. All the new digital cameras make big file sizes. The easiest tricks I found to resize photos are:
1. Print the photo to PDF using smallest file size setting. Cut and paste into a document. Right click on it, save as picture (JPEG). This may sound long way around but the advantage using Adobe, you can select areas easilly using the snapshop tool.
2. For people without fancy software or travelling. Upload to a Yahoo group as most of them resize your photos. On the group it says "Note: We will automatically create small and medium sized copies of your photos for better viewing and sharing.". Then you can copy or link them and finally delete them