Make a copy. To e-mail a picture, you may need to make some changes in the way a picture is stored and sized. A sensible first step in the process is to make a copy of your picture and save it under a different name. That way, your original photo remains untouched as you modify your copy.

File format. Digital images can be saved in several different file file formats - each best suited for a specific purpose. When saving a scanned or digital picture as an attachment to an e-mail, be sure to save your picture as a JPEG file. This file format, which compresses an image, speeds up the time it takes to transmit a file. Another time-saver is sending a JPEG image at a low or medium setting; high and maximum settings take more time to send.

Picture and pixel size. Large pictures take longer to transmit and download than small pictures. So do pictures with lots of pixels per inch (ppi). If you want a picture to open up rather quickly on a computer monitor, do two things: one, choose a relatively small picture size (5x7 inches); two, select a ppi of 72. If the picture is only going to be used as a screen image, there is no advantage in using a higher ppi - because that's the resolution of a computer monitor. If you intend your picture to be printed at the other end, then you would want to save it at a higher resolution. The only time you would want to use a higher ppi (say, 300 ppi) and a high or maximum JPEG setting is when the person receiving your digital pictures wants to make a high-quality print - or perhaps use it in a newspaper, newsletter or magazine. Ask before you click "send." Trying to open up a photo file can drive someone who is not familiar with receiving e-mail digital images nuts! To avoid this frustration, ask your e-mail pal if it's OK to send a photo file as an attachment to a document. If you do ask first, they may offer some advice on how to send the file in a way that is best for both of you.

Now that your picture is saved and you have asked if it's OK to send a photo via e-mail, follow these steps:

• 1) Connect to your Internet service and open your e-mail program.
• 2) Write your text message.
• 3) Attach the photo file to the e-mail message. Some e-mail programs allow you to put the photo into the message with HTML text formatting like a web page, but don't rely on your recipient being able to see HTML - many people don't like HTML emails because thay are usually Spam. Usually the program will allow recipients to view the image file separate. To attach, click on the icon or menu item that allows attachments. A window will open asking you to attach a photo. Find it under its file name and click on it to attach it to your e-mail.
• 4) Now click send and sit back as the computer prepares and ships your message and photo off. Depending on the speed of your connection to the Internet, this can take a few minutes. The bigger the photo file is, the longer this will take, hence the need to keep photo files small. While you can attach multiple images, keep them to a minimum. The longer the time your computer spends sending the files off (and more files will increase this time) the more possibilities of problems. Plus, multiple attachments can make it hard for the recipient on the other end to deal with the download times that many images can demand. 

If you have a higher speed Internet connection (such as DSL or cable), your connect speeds are faster. This implies that you can send larger photo files. Don't do it unless you are sure the recipient at the other end can accept the file through their Internet connection just as easily!

Can a photo lab help me with e-mailing a photo?
This depends entirely on the lab's connection to the Internet. Some labs offer higher than normal speed Internet connections, which can be a great benefit if you need to send a larger photo to someone quickly. They can take your file and send it away much faster than you could. Any lab with an Internet connection can send your files, as long as you can get the files to them.

Why can't I open an e-mailed photo?

While digital images usually do get across the Internet pretty well, there are several reasons that a photo can't be opened.

• 
  You don't have the right program for opening image files. Some Internet browsers will allow you to open images directly as they download. Otherwise, you'll need at least a simple processing program (you don't need Photoshop for this).
• 
  The file was corrupted during its journey across the Internet. Static on the phone lines, power fluctuations, any number of things can affect the digital file in transit.
• 
  Too large a file. Most new computers will not have this problem, but an older machine might not have enough memory to open a larger file.
• 
  Long download times. This in itself will not affect a file, but the longer the file takes to download, the more likely it is to be corrupted by something happening in your computer, such as a screen saver turning on. Large files and slow modems or Internet connections can also keep download times long.
• 
  Exchange problems between Internet systems. AOL and CompuServe used to be real challenges if you needed to send a photo to other Internet service providers systems. The photo file attachment couldn't be opened. That has been cleared up, but the problem still occasionally surfaces.