Fun ActivitiesPhotography

Excerpted from Digital Photography For Dummies, 5th Edition*

With a few clicks of your mouse, you can send an image to anyone who has an email account. Although attaching a digital photo to an email message is really simple, the process sometimes breaks down due to differences in email programs and how files are handled on the Mac versus the PC. Also, newcomers to the world of electronic mail often get confused about how to view and send images – which isn't surprising, given that email software often makes the process less than intuitive.

One way to help make sure that your image arrives intact is to prepare it properly before sending. First, size your image as desired and then save your resized image in the JPEG format.

The following steps explain how to attach an image file to an email message in Microsoft Outlook Express. (If you're using some other email program, the process is probably very similar, but check your program's Help system for specific instructions.)

1. Connect to the Internet and fire up Outlook Express.


2. Choose File --> New --> Mail Message.
   You're presented with a blank mail window.


3. Enter the recipient's name, email address, subject information, and message text as you normally do.


4. Choose Insert --> File Attachment or click the Attach File button on the toolbar.
   
   
5. Most programs provide such a toolbar button – look for a button that has a paper clip icon on it. The paper clip has become the standard icon to represent the attachment feature.



You then see a dialog box that looks much like the one you normally use to locate and open a file. Track down the image file that you want to attach, select it, and click Attach. You're then returned to the message composition window.



6. 5. Choose File --> Send Message or click the Send button (labeled in Figure 1) to launch that image into cyberspace.

If everything goes right, your email recipient should receive the image in no time. In Outlook Express, the image either appears as an inline graphic – that is, it is displayed right in the email window – or as a text link that the user clicks to display the image.

If the image doesn't arrive as expected or can't be viewed, the first thing to do is call the tech support line for the recipient's email program or service. Find out whether you need to follow any special procedures when sending images and verify that the recipient's software is set up correctly. If everything seems okay on that end, contact your own email provider or software tech support. Chances are, some email setting needs to be tweaked, and the tech support personnel should be able to help you resolve the problem quickly.

Copyright © 2008 & Trademark by Wiley Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Please read our Privacy Policy.