Scan photos to e-mail and post online

Take those cherished memories off the wall, and scan and share them online!

Today, more photos are shared through the Internet than anyplace else. And the Web is a great place to share not just your digital pictures, but older snapshots and archived photos as well!

When you scan photos to share online, you can:

• Easily share old family photos, yearbook photos, Polaroids, photo booth photos and other non-digital files.
• Share old snapshot memories or studio prints—such as wedding photos, senior pictures, or family portraits—on social networking sites (like Facebook) or popular photo sites and blogs (like Snapfish or Flickr).

Choosing a lower resolution will make it easier to e-mailing photos. It will also be easier for the recipient to view them.

While it's important to scan at a resolution that maintains image quality, when scanning your photos to e-mail or share online, large files can take up too much space on your computer and make it difficult to e-mail or upload photos to the Web.

A standard computer monitor is only 72 to 96 ppi, so it's best to select a scanning resolution of 75 or 100ppi. This slightly lower resolution also means a smaller file size, which shortens uploading and downloading time, and makes photos easier to share online.

Click Change Settings and then choose your File Type from the drop down menu.

When scanning your photos and selecting a file format, it's best to first determine how you plan on using your scanned photos.

If you plan on e-mailing or posting your photos online, it's best to save your scan as a JPEG file. Because jpegs can be easily compressed, they are quicker and easier to upload, view, and share, making them the optimal file format for sharing your photos online.

Keep in mind that one drawback of the format is that every time you save a JPEG image you compress it a little more—so the image quality degrades slightly over time.

It's easy to select your file type before scanning using HP Solution Center scanning software. Just click Change Settings then choose your desired format from the File Type drop-down menu.

If you press the Scan button and the HP scanning software doesn’t open on your computer, make sure you have installed the software.

Step 4: Enter an e-mail address, subject, and message as though it were a regular e-mail.

Most HP All-in-Ones and scanners, like the HP Scanjet G4050 Photo Scanner, allow you to scan your photos directly to e-mail in a few short steps:

1. Place the original face down on the scanner glass.
2. Press the Scan button on your scanner. The HP scanning software will automatically open on your computer.
3. In the Scanning from… window that appears, select Picture to E-mail. Then click Scan.
4. In the next window, enter a destination e-mail address, subject, and message. Click OK.

That’s it! An e-mail with the attached scanned photo has been sent.

Tip: Before you e-mail or post your scanned photo online, use the preview scan function on your HP Scanjet scanner software to ensure your photo scan is straight, complete, and free of dust or scratches.

Get more photo scanning tips and ideas.