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Saving Pictures from Email II

With scanners built into sub $100 printers and the onslaught of digital cameras, more pictures are being sent via email than ever before. Search through our archives on the most efficient ways to send your digital photos and ways to resize photos that were sent to you too large.

Today’s tip, however, focuses on the recommended method of saving those precious photos from getting lost. One thing I do not recommend doing is saving old email with attachments just so you don’t lose your photos. I don’t recommend this for two reasons; 1) Most emailers don’t back up their email and 2) it takes much longer to look for and view your photos if they are still attached to an email.

Resize an emailed photo for printing

Have you ever been frustrated when trying to view or print a picture that you received via email?

Today’s tip will solve this annoying problem for you quickly and almost effortlessly.

1. When you receive one of these large pictures, save it to your hard drive (and remember where it is).
2. Start Microsoft Word (Word Perfect and newer versions of Works will work as well).
3. Click on Insert –> Picture –> from file from the menus
4. Click in the “Look in” box and navigate to where you saved the photo
5. Double-click on your photo
6. Word automatically resizes the photo to fit in the document.

The efficient way to email your digital photos

I often get emails from family or friends who have recently been on vacation or been involved in some other event and they want to share a handful of photos with everyone in their address book. Some of the email works out great, but other email doesn’t quite make it through the way sender intended.

Emailing photos can be one of the most troublesome things you can do with your email for several reasons.

1. Non-resized photos can take a long time to upload to send through email on a dialup line.
2. Non-resized photos can take a long time to download for everyone you send the email to. Nothing is more aggravating than waiting 20 minutes for a photo to download so you can read your email, only to find out that the photo is of a funny position that the cat fell asleep in.

The efficient way to email your digital photos

by Adam Cochran

I often get emails from family or friends who have recently been on vacation or been involved in some other event and they want to share a handful of photos with everyone in their address book. Some of the email works out great, but other email doesn’t quite make it through the way sender intended.

Emailing photos can be one of the most troublesome things you can do with your email for several reasons.

  1. Non-resized photos can take a long time to upload to send through email on a dialup line.

  2. Non-resized photos can take a long time to download for everyone you send the email to. Nothing is more aggravating than waiting 20 minutes for a photo to download so you can read your email, only to find out that the photo is of a funny position that the cat fell asleep in.

Windows XP User Picture

Windows XP reached its first birthday last month. Yet, as with all other versions of Windows, learning all the tricks takes a lot of time OR just listening to my show and reading the Tip of the Week!

If you use Windows XP and use the default ‘two column’ Start menu, then you see your Windows user name and picture at the top of the menu. The stock pictures that come with Windows XP include a frog, cat eye, butterfly, space ship and more. They are nice enough pictures, but hardly representative of our individual personalities. Follow the steps below to change your user name and the user picture at the top of the Windows XP Start menu:

Organize Files with Windows XP Move function

Organize Files with Windows XP Move function

Use this tip to quickly and easily move your files (documents, music, pictures) from one folder to another on your computer. Once you master this tip, you will be able to organize your digital files with confidence. You can also use the tip to copy digital photos from a memory card or CD to your hard drive.

  1. Open the folder or drive containing the files (pictures, music, documents, etc) you would like to move.

  2. Select the file or files to move. Remember that you can use the Ctrl + Click method to select (highlight) multiple files or Ctrl + A to Select All files in a given folder

Make Windows XP Thumbnails Larger

Windows XP brought many new and useful features to computer users. Digital photographers benefited greatly with the roll out of Windows XP nearly three years ago. One of my favorite features is the ‘thumbnail’ view in my photo folders.

Thumbnails allow you to see mini pictures instead of just file names. Windows Me had this feature albeit not as elegantly implemented as in XP. To view your photos in thumbnail view, do the following:

  1. Open a folder containing your photos

  2. Click View from the menus

Use Your Digital Camera to Take Inventory

Planning for a disaster seems almost pessimistic to some, but in the long run, planning for the worst can save you. I talk about backup of your important digital data all the time, and this week’s tip takes the term backup a little closer to home.

One great, practical use of your digital camera is to take inventory of your personal belongings. Use your camera to photograph your heir loom china, your classic car, your stereo and TV equipment, your video collection, appliances, and furniture. Because you don’t have to worry about film, take pictures of anything and everything of value to you in and around your home.

Unique Digital Photo Holiday Gifts

You’ve take a bazillion digital photos so far this year or have a shoe box of great old photos. This holiday season, put those photos to fun use by creating unique gifts with them.

Using tools you already have, you can create photo t-shirts, aprons, and carry bags. All you need is the perfect photo, an ink jet printer, an iron, and special iron-on paper. Ink jet iron on paper can be found at any office supply or large retail store. All the major ink jet printer makers make their own brand of iron paper, and I suggest matching the paper with your printer.

Use any photo editing or publishing program to come up with a fun design, then print it directly on the iron-on paper. You do have to remember to print the ‘mirror or reverse’ image of the design so that it transfers properly to your project. To find the mirror or reverse option, click to the properties or settings section of your printer before you hit the print button.

Print your Digital Photos with a Developer

Digital camera owners typically take three to four times as many photos than their film counterparts. And why not…there are no developing or film costs. However, the printer industry would love for you to print out all those photos you are taking.

With digital, the potential savings can be huge IF you approach the printing process as I outline below:

  • Backup all your photos to a CD (preferably make at least two backups) as these files are your ‘digital negatives’
  • Not every photo needs to be printed
  • Only print the photos you will frame, scrapbook, hang on the fridge, or send to friends or family
  • Print them at the size appropriate for the occasion
  • Use your home printer to print just the fridge and occasional scrap book photos Yes, do not use your home printer to print the majority of your shots. Instead, carefully pick out the photos you want printed, copy them to a CD, and take them to a local film developer.

Most photo labs today will print your digital memories. Using a photo lab to print your digital pics offers many advantages: * Cheaper (less than 20 cents per photo vs. well over a dollar per photo for prints from your ink jet)