Should you Resize the photo before emailing?
As with most questions, the answer is “It Depends.” It depends on what the recipient will do with the photo attachment.  If you are sending the photo so that a high quality print can be made it is better not to resize. However, if the recipient is simply going to view the photo on a computer screen, which is probably the case with the majority of photos sent via email, you should resize the photo before sending it. When you compare the file size of an original photo as it came out of the camera to “screen resolution” files you will understand why resizing is the prudent thing to do.

I will use my Canon G5, 5MP camera as an example. When shot at the max resolution (5MP-2592×1944) the jpeg file size is 2.9 MB (million bytes). Resizing the file to the historic standard computer screen resolution of 640×480 reduces the file to 90 KB (thousand bytes) or today’s more common size of 1024×768 yields a file of 230 KB. That is quite a difference. And, with the resolution of newer cameras at 7, 8, 10, or 12 MP the difference is even greater.

Therefore, I suggest you resize photos to at lease 1024×768 if you are going to email them. If you have more than a couple photos you want to send to someone for printing I suggest you upload them to an online photo service and give the recipient access to the files or record them on a CD and mail it.

How To Resize Photos for Email
There are certainly many alternative ways to resize photo ranging from free online services to photo editing software. These alternatives are worth considering when you need to resize photos for other purposes, such as website design, eBay, Facebook, etc. When you are simply going to email a photo(s) I suggest using the email resizing function in Windows XP and Vista. (The Mac probably has something easy as well, but, as I have said before, I am a Windows guy.) If you are like most of my friends they look at me with a blank stare when I tell them to use Windows to resize the photo. Yes, there is a function in the OS that will resize the photo for emailing, it is FREE, and it is easy to use.  What could be better? Here is how you do it.

Go to your My Pictures or Pictures and locate the photo(s) you want to email. Right Click on the photo.

Use Windows to Resize Photos for Emailing

Move the cursor to “Send To” and another window will open. Click on “Mail Recipient” and the “Attach Files
window will open (this is a Vista window, but XP is similar).

Select Resize Resolution

Click on “Attach” and Windows will resize the photo and open Outlook Express Create email form with the photo attached. If you want to attach a number of photos just depress the Ctrl Key to select multiple photos and then Right Click on a photo, select the resolution and when you click Attach all of the selected photos will be resized and attached to the email.

Outlook Express (Windows Mail) with Photo attached

That was easy. Now that you know how to do resize photos for emailing you won’t be cluttering up the Internet with excess bytes and your friends will thank you for not cluttering up their inboxes and hard drives.

There are many other reasons you might want to resize photos and easy ways to accomplish the task which I will discuss in a future post. If your friends and family members are filling up your inbox a tactful way to suggest they change their ways is to send them a link to this blog and post.

Wayne http://www.correctphoto.com