Digital cameras have truly come into their own. Millions of people now take pictures and save them to their computers. From there, photos can easily be sent via email or added to a web page.
However, there's a problem that virtually all digital camera users eventually encounter. When emailed or put on a web page, the images are too big!
The problem comes down to pixels. Pixels are the tiny bits of data that form digital images. The size of your photo is defined by two things:
1. The picture's width and height in pixels.
2. How many pixels per inch (ppi) your software & monitor can display.
Web pages and email programs can only display 72 ppi. However, high resolution
photos have a higher pixel density than that. The only way that your email
software or web browser can display this higher resolution is to make your
image so big that there are only 72 pixels per inch.
This doesn't change your photo in any way. It's merely a display issue.
If you're emailing a picture, and you want the recipient to be able to print a nice copy of it, then just attach it, send it and forget about how big it looks inside the email program's window.
If, on the other hand, any of the following is true, you'll need to reduce the number of pixels:
- The recipient doesn't need a high-quality version of the photo.
- You can't email a message that big.
- The recipient's mailbox isn't big enough for the file.
- You want to put the photo on a web page.
- When you try to print the photo using your photo software, it's still too big.
So, how do you resize your photo?
If you're a Windows user, you'll want to download a free program called IrfanView. Go to this link to download the latest version.
When you've finished installing IrfanView, go to this tutorial. It will take you step-by-step through how to make your image smaller.
Make sure that you don't alter your original photo. Always make a copy and create the new version of your image from that.
Macintosh users already have what they need.
If you use the Panther operating system, use iPhoto. Simply select the photo
you want to send, click on the Email icon at the bottom of the window, and
choose
your
photo
size.
When
you
click the "Compose" button, a new email window will open with the smaller copy
of your image already inserted.
If you use the Tiger operating system, this feature is built directly into
the Mail program that comes bundled with it.
Good luck! Now that you know the secret, pass it on.
;)
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