Keys Ways to Reduce the Photo Size of Your Images Using iPhoto
News flash! It's Vital to Reduce the Photo Size of Your Images for Email
Remember the Robot in the old TV classic "Lost in Space" who would frantically wave his arms and shout "warning! warning!" whenever danger loomed? That's what I think of every time someone sends me an email full of pictures five times the size of my computer screen, clogging my entire inbox and sending those dire "over the limit" message warnings my way. Fortunately, mac users have a quick, easy way to reduce the photo size with iPhoto.
Foolproof Ways to Reduce Photo Size
Beginners to digital photography (or new mac users) often get confused when they open the photo on their desktop and it looks perfectly fine -- which is to say, reasonably sized. Once it's attached to email, however, its true size becomes apparent. How can you tell if you're dealing with an oversized photo? If it takes 10 minutes to attach each picture, or you reach your maximum attachment size after just two or three pictures.
If you don't want to annoy friends and family -- not to mention risk "delete" being their first choice because the photos are impossible to view - it's essential that you reduce the photo size. Aim for between 30 and 100 Kb (very large photographs can be megabytes in size). Fortunately for mac users, it's very easy to do this with our friend iPhoto. No matter your skill or experience level, exporting photos through iPhoto is a fast, foolproof way to reduce the photo size. Here's how...
You can leave edited pics in iPhoto and directly attach them to an email -- but they will attach at their huge original size. What is the quick and easy solution? Export them to another location by choosing "export" from the file menu. A pop-up menu will appear with the option of using or changing the current size.
Click the circle next to "scale images to no longer than...." For a standard 4 X 6 shot, insert the dimension "480" (the other side will immediately adjust to 640). Then select export. Viola! Your photo is a nice, normal size, perfect for emailing.
Don't worry. You don't have to limit yourself to 4 X 6 shots. If you're planning to email or display numerous pictures, you can go with 3 X 5 or even smaller. If, in the alternative, you want a bigger image, increase the proportion.
Regardless, iPhoto is excellent at maintaining the photo's original size, so no matter what values you enter, you shouldn't have a problem with distorted or cropped pictures.
And that's all it takes to reduce the photo size using iPhoto.
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