> convert -resize widthxheight should do it No, it neither removes the black bit at the top nor improves image quality (if anything, resizing operations always lower image quality).
You want the -crop widthxheight+llx+lly operation to cut out the black top. File size can be affected by heaps of things, obviously the number of pixels, but also image quality setting, colour depth, and the image quality itself. jpeg is lossy and you can apply a quality setting, any detail below this quality is discarded. png is always lossless, and the only setting there is is how hard it tries to compress better. png isn't terribly good for compressing photographic images, esp for noisy images its compression rate can be lousy and significantly worse than jpeg. This really sucks about png! Try reducing the number of colours with convert -colors. Play with the jpeg quality setting: -quality (0-100, in %) Keep in mind that imagemagick is one of the most buggy tools available, and its man pages are only good since version 5. I'm still using a specific version 3, as that's the last one I've seen where all the functions I typically use actually work (and I don't use many functions). Other then netpbm it is however the only batch-suitable tool available. Volker -- Volker Kuhlmann is possibly list0570 with the domain in header http://volker.dnsalias.net/ Please do not CC list postings to me.
