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TIPS FOR SENDING PICTURES THRU EMAIL

Sizing Images For Web Pages or For Sending Thru E-Mail

 If you want to put an image on your web page, or just send one to a friend or hopefully, to the bragging post -- lets say you have it on disk already, or you've figured out your scanner and are ready to roll.  The problem, frankly, is size.  Whether you plan to display said image on-site or attach it to an e-mail, it's considered good netiquette to make the process as quick and as easy as possible for the viewer.  It's YOUR responsibility to get that image as small as possible without going too far and destroying the details; by "small," we mean in terms of bytes, not necessarily height/width, although the latter dimensions can often also use a bit of trimming, too.  There are a number of ways to accomplish this...

At The Scanner

Change the resolution to 72 dpi.  'Nuff said.  Yes, this is 

usually the lowest resolution, so you might think that it's the 

worst...but in actuality, it's the lowest setting that looks the same 

as the original, so it's perfectly safe to use.  Scanning at a higher 

setting is only recommended if you plan to trim the image to a 

more reasonable size in a graphics program afterward.

Use the Prescan function.  Every good scanning utility has it 

-- click Prescan and then manipulate the selection "window" 

(usually represented by a flickering outline hovering over the 

prescanned image onscreen) to narrow the scanning selection 

down to only the part you actually want.  THEN click "Scan."

Got Photoshop?

Actually, almost any graphics program will do, as most of the 

following tips are pretty universal.  However, Photoshop is generally 

your best bet for clean, accurate results.

Reduce the photo's size.  First, make sure that the image is 

in RGB color mode or Grayscale (depending in the type of image) 

-- NOT Indexed Color.  (More about that in a moment.)  Then find 

your program's sizing utility and bring it down, preferably to a size 

which will fit easily and completely on even a small monitor.  

(Remember: as with webpages, Scrolling Is Bad.)  You may then 

need to use a Sharpen tool to bring it back up to crispness.

Crop off the parts you don't really need.  Is all that sky 

above that big buck really essential to the photo?  Do you really 

need any white space around that button image?  Unless you're a 

compulsive completist or the background is really, really important, 

figure out what's important about the image and crop the pic 

down to focus on it.

Indexed Color is your friend.  To be brief, this option figures 

out which colors are actually IN the picture and eliminates all of the 

other myriad unused shades which might be lurking on the pic's 

palette.  Nine times out of ten, saving in Indexed Mode will not 

harm your image and will dramatically reduce its download size 

without affecting its appearance in the least.  However, remember 

to always switch temporarily back to RGB mode if you wish to resize 

the image.  Trust us.

Before you save, check your file format! SAVING YOUR PIC AS A .BMP IS 

LITERALLY A BIG “NO-NO” unless you intend to use the image 

as a Windows background.  Your best bet is either .gif or .jpg.  .Gifs 

are usually slightly larger but they preserve every single pixel 

this is absolutely essential if you plan to work with a picture later) and, 

combined with Indexed Color, are websafe.  This means that the 

colors won't go funky in most browsers.  .Jpgs do have a tendency 

to get loopy on some viewers because they lump similar colors 

together to save space, but they're definitely small tidy files and 

are easy to store, send, and view.

NOTE: If you are working with a scanner which does not give you 

either .gif or .jpg as an option, save as a .BMP or a .tif and then 

open the image in a graphic program to resave (Save As) in the 

proper format.  You might have to switch the image to Index Color 

first to enable "gif" as a Save option.

Now, you're ready to send!

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