How to E-mail Digital Photos

Options Abound: Learn the Advantages and Disadvantages of Each

By Charlotte K. Lowrie

If you're like many people, one of the reasons you bought a digital camera was to be able to quickly send your digital snapshots to family and friends. And like most people, you may have learned that sending photos in e-mail messages may or may not be as easy as attaching the image file to an e-mail message.

Typically, there are two problems. First, if you e-mail an image taken at normal resolution settings, the file size often exceeds the maximum that your e-mail service allows you to send. Second, if you do manage to send the file, the picture is too large to see on the recipient's computer monitor.

For example, a 4-megapixel camera that is set to the highest resolution creates an image that measures 2272 x 1704 pixels. Since an average computer monitor displays 800 x 600 pixels or 1024 x 768 pixels, it's easy to see that the 4-megapixel image is larger than the screen can display. Even at higher screen resolutions of 1280 x 1024, for example, the picture, viewed at full size is still larger than the screen can display.

In addition to screen size, an e-mail image should be a lower resolution than an image you print on a photo printer. An e-mail image can be compressed as a JPEG to reduce file size, while images you print should not be saved using lossy compression formats.

For example, monitors display either 72 or 96 pixels per inch (ppi). By contrast, a picture that you print should be set to 200 to 300 pixels per inch (ppi). Note that PPI and Dot Per Inch (DPI) are different measurements. PPI measures image resolution, and DPI measures printer resolution. While a monitor can display many colors, photo printers can print far fewer colors.

As a result, printers must print many more dots per inch than pixels per inch to achieve color accuracy. While the differences between the two measurements can be confusing, remember that lower resolution settings and medium JPEG compression settings are preferable for photos you e-mail because they reduce the file size of the image without noticeably affecting the onscreen quality of the photo.

To see the entire picture on a computer monitor, the image must be resized so that it fits within or is smaller than the dimensions of the monitor. In addition, the image file size cannot exceed the maximum that the e-mail service allows. To get a properly sized, lower resolution (smaller file size) image, you have several choices. You can use your camera's "small" picture option, use an online service such as the MSN 8 Photos in E-mail or Photos Plus, an image-editing program such as Microsoft Digital Image Pro. Regardless of the option you choose, you'll create a picture that's both a viewable display size and small enough file size for e-mail messages, and you'll avoid filling up the recipient's inbox with 1MB or 2MB image attachments.

So which option should you choose? The answer depends in part on the options your camera offers, and in part on whether you prefer to edit images before you share them with family and friends. Here is a brief rundown of each option.

Have the camera create an e-mail-ready picture

Many digital cameras offer the option of creating a small version of a picture that is sized specifically for sending in e-mail or for posting to a Web site. On most cameras, you can choose from among several different "small picture" sizes ranging from 640 x 480 pixels to 96 x 72 pixels. Small pictures are saved with a high rate of compression, typically at a 1:16 ratio to reduce the file size for use in e-mail messages or on a Web site. It's a good idea to read the manual that came with your camera to learn more about using this option.

To help you find the "small" pictures when images are downloaded to your computer, most cameras use a designation in the file name. For example, the Nikon Coolpix 4300 designates small picture files by adding a "SS" prefix on the file name. To send the small picture in e-mail, you create an e-mail message and insert one or more small picture files as attachments.

If you're using Microsoft Outlook:

Create a new e-mail message.
Click Insert, click File, and then click Browse.
Navigate to the folder that contains the small picture you want to attach and click the file name you want.
Click Insert.
The file is attached to the e-mail message.
Type the recipient's e-mail address, the subject, the text of the message.
Click Send.

The advantages of the small picture option include convenience and time savings. If your camera takes pictures that don't need image editing on the computer, then using your camera's small-picture option is a convenient and quick way to create images for e-mail messages.

The disadvantage of having the camera create a small picture is that small pictures consume space on the memory card, and, if the card is near capacity, the camera will not be able to create the small picture. You can edit the small picture on the computer just as you would any image file. However, if you edit both the small picture and the original large picture, then the time-saving advantage vanishes. In this case, it makes more sense to save space on the memory card and create a smaller e-mail version after you edit the large picture using your image-editing program.

Use an online service to create an e-mail picture

Subscribers to MSN 8 can include one or more pictures in the body of an e-mail message and can choose from a variety of background styles and colors, add photo captions, emoticons, and WordArt shapes to create colorful and entertaining e-mail photo messages. Because photos are displayed in the body of the message, recipients do not have to open attached image files individually.

Use an image-editing program to create an e-mail-ready picture

Many image-editing programs offer the option of creating an e-mail-ready or Web-ready version of pictures as well. Programs such as Microsoft Digital Image Pro automatically start your e-mail program and open an e-mail message window with the image file attached.

You can also choose the size you want for the e-mail copy of the picture. In Microsoft Digital Image Pro, you can choose from eight sizes ranging from a large view (640 pixels on the longest dimension) to a thumbnail Web size (96 pixels on the longest dimension), or you can specify a custom size. For each option, the Digital Image Pro displays the final file size as well as the upload and download times.

How to create an e-mail picture in Digital Image Pro The steps given here apply to Microsoft Digital Image Pro version 9. If you use another image-editing program, look on the File menu for a command to attach pictures to e-mail or to save for the Web.

To send a picture in an e-mail message:

Open the picture you want to send in e-mail.
On the File menu, click Send in E-mail.
Press CTRL, and then, in the right pane, select the pictures you want. (Note: You can also change your e-mail program by clicking Change e-mail program, selecting the program you want, and then clicking OK.)
Select a picture size, or select the width and height of the picture.
Click Send.
In your e-mail program, type your message and send it.

Choosing to send e-mail-ready pictures from an image-editing program has the advantage of fitting logically within the image-editing workflow. In addition, the pictures you send have been enhanced so they look their best. The disadvantage of this option is that you miss out on the instant gratification of sharing a picture straight from the camera. Think of it, however, as an opportunity to practice patience.