Resizing and Inserting Images
Recently someone sent me one of their images to view. When I opened it, I could only see a small portion of the photo. I literally had to scroll in both directions to see the “big picture” This has happened many times to all of us since the advent of digital photography, so I’m sure you know what I’m writing about. The reason is that the sender simply attached the entire file directly from the camera without resizing it.
This can be easily prevented, of course. Usually the sender is either not aware of how the full size file will be displayed by the recipient and/or he or she doesn’t know how to resize it.
In this case the meta data revealed that the pixel dimensions were 2736 x 3648. Taking a monitor display resolution of 100 ppi (pixels per inch), that means that the image would be displayed at 27.36 inches by 36.48 inches; hence the annoying scrolling in order to see all of the “big picture.”
Most everyone has access to some sort of photo editing software that has a feature for resizing images. Simply find that feature in your photo editor and select a size that will fit on the screen. I usually use 700 pixels for the longest dimension. Monitors display at different resolutions. In the past it was 72 ppi, but that number has increased as monitor resolutions have improved. At a monitor display of 100 ppi, that would give you a photo display of 7 inches wide for a landscape view or 7 inches height for a vertical or portrait aspect. This is a good size to use for sending your friends a copy of your latest and greatest pix.
The next step is a pet peeve of mine. I hate to down load files for several reasons; starting with the risk of my computer becoming infected by a virus. Second, it is a hassle to take the time to find a place to file it in my system. Lastly, I tend to forget about them and later wonder why I ever downloaded them in the in the first place. Should I delete them or hang on to them for some unknown purpose in the future? Thus, they accumulate and add to the clutter in my computer.
Instead, I always send images imbedded directly in the text of my e-mail message. In the case of my service provider (AOL) the Insert Photos feature allows me to browse my filing system to select the image(s) to be sent and then offers the options to send them as full size or optimized. In the latter option, a full size file will be reduced automatically as part of the insertion process.
This offers the viewer the advantage of being able to immediately see your image without the hassle of downloading an attached file. In this day of e-mail overload, this convenience to the recipient will be a much appreciated consideration in showing off your latest masterpiece.
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