How can I resize an image using Java?

After loading the image you can try:

BufferedImage createResizedCopy(Image originalImage, 
            int scaledWidth, int scaledHeight, 
            boolean preserveAlpha)
    {
        System.out.println("resizing...");
        int imageType = preserveAlpha ? BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_RGB : BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_ARGB;
        BufferedImage scaledBI = new BufferedImage(scaledWidth, scaledHeight, imageType);
        Graphics2D g = scaledBI.createGraphics();
        if (preserveAlpha) {
            g.setComposite(AlphaComposite.Src);
        }
        g.drawImage(originalImage, 0, 0, scaledWidth, scaledHeight, null); 
        g.dispose();
        return scaledBI;
    }

I have developed a solution with the freely available classes ( AnimatedGifEncoder, GifDecoder, and LWZEncoder) available for handling GIF Animation.
You can download the jgifcode jar and run the GifImageUtil class. Link: http://www.jgifcode.com