(First distributed in February, 2006, Title III Tabloid)

Digital pictures, in general, create very large files. Sharing those pictures via e-mail, then, requires that those files be down sized, particularly if you want your picture to fit on a computer screen! This month's tip shows you how to "optimize" those pictures for e-mail. Windows XP has the capability to do this in a very easy process.

Overview of Process:

Basically, you select the picture(s) you wish to e-mail from My Computer and choose the E-mail the selected items command. After you indicate what sizing changes you want to make, XP creates smaller versions of those 7 megapixel files!

Step by step instructions:

Here are the step by step instructions for optimizing a photo for e-mail:

1. From My Computer, locate and select the picture to be optimized
2. Select the "E-mail the selected files" command in the Files and Folders task pane (this displays the Send Pictures via E-Mail dialog box)
3. Select the Show more options link (which then becomes the show fewer options link) and choose the size of the picture (small works great for e-mail)
4. Click OK

The result of this process is that an e-mail message window is displayed with the optimized file(s) already attached. You then address and add whatever subject and message you want. In my example, the file I started with was 114KB (pretty big for sending in the e-mail). The optimized file that Windows XP attached to the blank e-mail message was 27.2KB, a much better size for the e-mail system.