Tip #62 - Compressing Photos for Emailing

100 Computer Tips in 100 Days

Tip #62 - Compressing Photos for Emailing

It is not generally recommended that you attach more than two or three pictures to an email because of the limits on the size of attachments. Of course, you can resize the pictures in programs such as iPhoto or Picasa. Another way is to use the “send to” feature of your operating system, both PC and Apple.

To use the “Send to” feature, find a picture or pictures that you would like to attach to an email and click on it. Remember you can use the Ctrl (Command) key to select more than one picture. Now leave your mouse on one of the selected pictures and click the right mouse button (Ctrl click for Apple). From the pop out menu that appears, select Send to, and click on Mail Recipient. A further dialog box will appear from which you can choose the picture size. See the table below from Kodak to determine the appropriate file size.

Kodak suggests these resolution/file sizes:
For a 4" x 6" print, the image resolution should be 640 x 480 pixels minimum.
For a 5" x 7" print, the image resolution should be 1024 x 768 pixels minimum.
For an 8" x 10" print, the image resolution should be 1536 x 1024 pixels minimum.
For a 16" x 20" print, the image resolution should be 1600 x 1200 pixels minimum.
For a 20" x 30" print, the image resolution should be 1600 x 1200 pixels minimum.

Of course, the larger the file size, the fewer files you should attach to the email.