Half the fun of taking photos is sharing them. E-mail, desktop wallpaper, and Web pages are great ways to show off your pictures. We'll
give you some easy ways to adjust the size of your pictures before sending or posting them so viewers can fully appreciate the photos on
their screens.
Why pixels are important
Who hasn't had to wait forever for a photo to load in an e-mail because it was so big? The common reason for this is that
the photo's resolution is way higher than it needs to be. So what's resolution? It's all about pixels. Pixels are little
squares of data that make up an image. The more pixels there are, the higher the resolution of the photo.
That's great when you're printing your photos, because many photo printers are capable of producing very detailed photos,
but a computer screen has it's limits. If you optimize for computer screen resolution, your file size will be much smaller
and result in much faster load times for the recipient of your e-mail. Read on to learn how.
When sharing photos electronically, keep in mind that viewers will have varying screen resolutions, so you should resize your photos
accordingly. For example, if you take a photo with a 6 MP setting on your camera and then send it to a friend without resizing it
first, the recipient won't be able to view the entire photo without scrolling (not to mention the file size will be huge and take
a long time to download).
Use your photo-editing software to size photos at 640 x 425 pixels. Give the new, lower-resolution image a slightly different name
before saving it to avoid overwriting the original.
It's a good idea to keep the higher-resolution version for other uses (prints, for example).
HP Photosmart Essential is free,
downloadable software that makes it easy to organize, edit, print, share, and enjoy your photos. It also gives you a fast way to resize your images
for sharing with friends and family via e-mail.
Here's how: Step 1: Double-click any photo from your library. Step 2: Select Edit Photo > Resize from the menu choices on the left of the screen. Step 3: Choose E-mail 640 x 425 from the available choices. (These dimensions are ideal for emailing. You can create a custom size if you like,
but file size may increase.) Step 4: Click the Save a copy box, and then the Save button. Step 5: Browse to the saved copy when attaching it in your e-mail program.
Resizing your photos in Windows Vista is almost as easy as opening them. Just follow these steps: Step 1: Open your photo in Windows Photo Gallery. To do this simply right-click the image file and select Preview.
Or, click the Start menu and select Windows Photo Gallery.
Step 2: Select the E-mail tab at the top of the page.
Step 3: Choose which size image you want. Step 4: Select Attach, and Windows Vista will automatically attach your photos to an email in your computer's default e-mail application.
Learn more about what you can do with HP Photosmart Essential
software, from restoring pictures to removing red-eye and other edits.
Take a free online class
in digital photography! Explore the many features of your digital camera, find tips for cropping and editing your
images, and discover new ideas for sharing your photos in creative ways.
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