Wired Women: Oh, yes you can — figure out how to share your digital holiday photos
July 3, 2009 by Libby Niemi
Filed under Wired Women
Need a new solution for sharing photos? After being repeatedly scolded, my mom finally stopped sending me three megabyte photos via e-mail.
If you don’t know why that’s a problem (tip: three megabytes is a huge file that can clog up e-mail accounts), read on. Here are a few (less annoying) options for sharing your photos:
1. Resize the photo. Alter the resolution or image size before e-mailing it. Also, don’t e-mail more than three photos per e-mail.
Geek-lossary
Resolution: The amount of pixels (or dots) that make up the image. If you want to print the photo as a 12-by-15-inch glossy, you generally want high resolution, which is 300 dpi (dots per inch) for a high-quality image. You can reduce the image to 70 dpi, which still looks fine, but might not look good printed.
Image size: The actual size of the image, generally measured in pixels or inches. For example, a 4-by-3-inch photo is 300 by 225 pixels. For most photo sharing needs, the 4-by-3 size should be sufficient. You can find an image size calculator at www.auctionrepair.com/pixels.html.
2. Send a link to a virtual gallery if you can’t (or don’t want to) alter the size, or if you have a large gallery. Here are some things to consider when selecting your online gallery.
Do users have to create accounts before viewing the images? This may hinder your friends from viewing your images.
Can users save images from the gallery? Your friends might want to save the pictures for themselves, or order a print.
Niemi is a Web consultant for Prairie Mountain Publishing. Check out her blog at www.libbylines.pmpblogs.com.
