JANUARY 2007 - SENDING PHOTOS BY EMAIL

Sending photos by email is a relatively easy process once you learn the steps. It can be broken down into 2 segments: preparing the photo and sending the photo.
We will look at the best way to attach and insert Photos into Out Look Express, Yahoo, AOL, WOW and Comcast email. These services are referred to as email clients. Each ISP (Internet Service Provider) has its own email client as a part of the service. In addition, many companies provide free email client service to anyone, if you establish a free email account. In addition, all Windows computers come with Out Look Express, as part of the Internet Explorer, or Out Look, as part of the MS Office suite, which are email clients. This may sound confusing, but if you have a ISP and use their service you only have to learn how to use one. This web site is more detailed on sending Photos, http://www.geekgirls.com/windows_email_photos.htm .

PREPARING THE PHOTO

Often, the problem with emailing a photo is that it is too large for easy viewing. The size of the computer files generated by digital cameras can be unmanageable for email. Sometimes, email services reject large files outright or if they do make it through, the recipient struggles to view them.

When sharing photos, use the JPG format. JPG is almost universally supported and is usually the format that is produced by most digital cameras. It's a compressed format, which means the same photo in JPG format is smaller than in other formats.

Most photo-related email problems are eliminated by resizing a copy of your photo to a lower resolution. How low you should go depends on what will be done with the photo, as the greater the compression, the lower the image quality. Here are some guidelines for resizing:

Photos viewed on computer only: 640 pixels x 480 pixels
Photos printed at 4x6: 800 pixels x 600 pixels
Photos printed at 5x7: 1024 pixels x 768 pixels

Many graphics programs let you resize images. If you don't have one already, there's an excellent freeware program called IrfanView which does the trick beautifully, in conjunction with the IrfanView Plug-ins (make sure you install both, IrfanView first followed by the Plug-ins).

OTHER METHODS TO MAKE PHOTOS SMALLER

If you don't have any image editing software for your PC, there other methods for resizing images. One is to use MS Paint that is free on all Windows PCs.
This information is online at the following website: http://blogs.ebay.com/shipscript/entry/Web-size-your-Photos-using-MS-Paint/_W0QQcommentsyncidZ0QQidZ10120015

THE MS PAINT METHOD
1. Go to your "My Pictures" album on your computer.
Right-click on a photo and farther down the menu, select "Open With" and choose "Paint".

2. Within Paint, select "Stretch/Skew" from the "Image" menu.

That will open a dialog window, where you will change both vertical and horizontal stretch % values. They must both be the same number. A smaller value will make a smaller image. Try about 20% or 25% to see how it looks. If it doesn't look right, then click the UNDO option, and repeat step two using a different value.

3. When the image looks about the right size on your screen, save the image to a NEW name
(if you use the same name you will lose the full-size version of the photo), and be sure the "jpeg" option is selected in the dropdown list on the save screen. Save it to your desktop, or wherever you will REMEMBER where it is.

4. The new smaller photo can then be attached to your email.

SENDING PHOTOS BY YAHOO MAIL

Some programs allow photos to be put in the body of an email message. Basic Yahoo mail allows graphics to be pasted in the body of an email, but photos can be sent as attachments only. To attach a photo:

1. Click on "Compose" to open a new email. Write your email as usual, then to attach a photo, click on the "ATTACH FILES" button just below the subject line.
2. A new screen will open that will allow you to find your photo on your computer. Click on "BROWSE" button on the "FILE 1" line. Using the "Choose File" box that opens, locate your photo and click on it. Then click on the "OPEN" button on the bottom of the box. The "Choose File" box will close and the file name and location will be inserted in the "FILE 1" line on the Attach File screen. If you wish to attach more than one photo, continue the same process for each file line. When finished, click on the "ATTACH FILES" button on the top or bottom of the screen.
3. A message screen will come up confirming the attachment has been successful. Click on the "CONTINUE TO MESSAGE" button.
4. You will now be back on your message screen. Finish and send your email normally.

SENDING PHOTOS BY COMCAST MAIL

Comcast allows photos to be put in the body of an email message or to be sent as an attachment. When a photo is put in the body of a message, it is automatically downsized by Comcast, so if you want the recipient to have the photo full-size, send it as an attachment. In your Webmail box, click on "Compose" to open a new email and write your email as usual.

TO PUT A PHOTO IN THE BODY OF THE EMAIL:
1. Click on the "ADD PHOTO" button just above the body of the email. A new Add Photo screen will open.
2. Click on the first "Browse" button and locate your photo on your computer, click on it, then click on the "OPEN" button.
3. After you have chosen all your photos this way, click on the "ADD" button on the bottom right of the Add Photo screen.
4. When the process has finished, this screen will close and you will be back in your email. Send normally.

TO ATTACH A PHOTO:
1. Click on the "ATTACH FILES" button at the top of the email. A new Attach Files screen will open.
2. Click on the first "Browse" button and locate your photo on your computer, click on it, then click on the "OPEN" button.
3. After you have chosen all your photos this way, click on the "ATTACH" button on the bottom right of the Attach Files screen.
4. When the process has finished, this screen will close and you will be back in your email. Send normally.

Out Look Express:
Out Look Express is an email client program that is included in all versions of Windows. If your computer came with Micro-Soft Office Suite you have a more complete version call Out Look, that is more complex and has additional features. We will only deal with Out Look Express, since it is the simplest and easiest to use. When you open Out Look Express for the first time you must set it up with an email address and password. Usually these are the same as the name and password you use to log-in to your ISP. Once that is done, you can choose to make Out Look Express to be your "Default" email client. I don't recommend this. but the choice is yours.
The program then opens and a "Menu Bar" listing the options for mail. They include "Create Mail, Reply, Reply All, Forward, Print, Delete, Send/Receive, Address, and Find". Create Mail is the same as Compose used by other email programs. The other items are the same in most programs but, they may be part of another menu item. Once you choose "Create Mail" a new screen opens and you click on the "To:" to open your address book and choose the person to receive the mail. Add the Subject and go to the body of the message. "Insert" is an option in the new menu bar. It will allow you to " File Attachment, Text From a File, Picture, and Horizontal Line". If you want to attach a Photo choose "File Attachment" and a pop-up screen opens letting you find the photo on your computer. When you find it choose open and you will be returned to the message. Note that a file has been added to a new line under the address list called "Attach", and the name of the photo and its location have been added. That is all you need to do to send a photo as am attachment.
If you want to put a photo into your message choose "picture" from the "Insert" options and a similar pop-up will appear to let you find the photo. Once you select it you will be asked to place it at the "Baseline". This will insert it at the cursor. Photos for use in this way should be smaller then attached photos. They should be 640 by 480 pixels generally. They won't be suitable for normal printing but, will look good on the screen and be easy to view. They are also quicker to send, and won't take "forever" to download for dial up connections. See instructions of using Photo editing software. Remember to save the re-sized image with a different name.
In Outlook Express, there is also an icon icon the on the tool bar for inserting picture. It is on the far right side on the bar as a colored square.
WOW Photos:
WOW's E-mail client does not allow pasting or inserting photos into emails, they must be attached. After opening the Web Mail option and choosing Compose. Choose the address and topic. When you click in the body of the message you can choose the "Attach Option" to attach a photo. A menu will open allowing you to find the photo on your hard drive and select it.