Design & Publishing . / . WEB . / . PixelSmith . / . Photo-Mail . . . . . . . . . Have you had your web site reviewed yet? ...from the letters department: How NOT to send photos in email As Fred Showker presented in his 60-Second Windows issue #141, the latest media propaganda craze today is focusing on sending photos in your email. Madison Avenue supposes that they will entice you to upgrade to their new software because now you can "easily import from your digital camera, and send photos in email." ___ While it's a fun idea, and many people will love it, the sad truth is that few will realize the impact it will have on bandwidth, not to mention the frustration it may cause the recipient once the photo hits their email client. ___ Fred asked Mr. Pixelsmith to run the photo through his grinder and see if a better solution could be found. And, as usual, the answer is not only a 2,000% better solution, but several good solutions to fill the needs of both the ego boost of the sender, and softening the blow to the recipients. The Photo At right you'll see actual screen captures from the computer "Get Info" dialog, and Photoshop's "Image Size" dialog for (top) the original file as was received, (middle) a good solution is the sender thinks the recipient wants/needs a 'printable' image, and (bottom) the best solution for displaying the image in the email client's window. Adobe ImageReady 3 and Adobe GoLive 5 tell us that the original image will take 61 seconds to download at 28.8. We tested that and found it to be true while not viewing images in the email client. When we turned on "View inline Images" in the email client, the time it took to display the entire image jumped to 157 seconds. Here's what the email looked like after that 157 second wait. (If you care to view it, click to open the image in a second browser window, but beware it will take about 11 seconds to fully load) As Fred pointed out in his 60-Second Windows column, this time will dramatically decrease for users with DSL, cable modem, ISDN or other wide bandwidth services. However, another issue is in effect here... We have to ask ourselves if that's what we want the recipient to see. Now, let's deconstruct the image, and see what just a little tweaking will do for our email recipient... Share and learn. . . We invite you to send in your comments on this article, tips, tricks or your questions about Web Design: http://www.graphic-design.com/contact.html Discuss it. . . If you would like to discuss web design with your peer web designers, then join us in the WebDesign & Review email discussion list. Visit: http://www.graphic-design.com/subscribe.html or simply send an email to: webdesign-on@lists.graphic-design.net Have you had your web site reviewed yet? Design & Publishing . / . WEB . / . Pixelsmith If you've got a tip or trick you'd like to share, or if you'd like Mr. Pixelsmith to answer some of your questions, feel free to contact us!

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