Most digital cameras capture your pictures at a size large enough for quality printing. But when sending pictures by email, it’s important to reduce the size of your pictures so they transfer faster and are more viewable on the recipients screen. Windows Vista has an automated function that will resize, optimize, and email a group of pictures without altering your originals.

1. Open My Computer and navigate to the folder containing the pictures you wish to email.
2. Select the group of files that you wish to email. Use Shift or Ctrl to select additional files.
3. If the picture files are inside your Pictures folder, you should see an Email button at the top of the Window. Click this. If you do not have the Email button, right click and choose Send To > Mail Recipient. The Attach Files dialog box will appear.
4. Choose a size for your pictures. The small option is suitable for most purposes and will give you the best reduction in file size. If you know your recipient has a fast Internet connection you may want to choose Medium or Large.
5. Click Attach.
6. A status bar appears as Windows resizes the files, then a new message is opened in your default mail program with your pictures attached.
7. Windows inserts the file names into the subject field of the message. You will probably want to change this.
8. Fill in the recipients email address, add a personal message, and you’re ready to send.

1. Most images will be converted to the JPEG format for best compatibility.
2. Some files types (such as PSD) cannot be converted by Windows. You should convert these yourself before emailing them as they can be quite large.
3. Most Email providers have a maximum file size limit per message, usually around 10 MB. Try to limit the total size of all attachment to less than this when sending to recipients with a high speed connection.
4. If your recipient is on a dial-up internet connection, limit your total attachment size to 1-2 MB or less.

Any suggestions, ideas? Feel free to comment on this article!

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Gmail Labs is a testing ground for experimental features that aren’t quite ready for primetime. They may change,break or disappear at any time.

If (when) a Labs feature breaks, and you’re having trouble loading your inbox, there’s an escape hatch. Use http://mail.google.com/mail/?labs=0.

Offline by the Offline teamMake Gmail go where the Internet doesn’t. Access your inbox through your browser and use Gmail’s familiar features when you’re offline. To get started, enable this lab and then click on the “Offline” link in the upper-right of your inbox.
YouTube previews in mail by Stanley C and Braden KShows a video preview whenever you receive a YouTube link in an email. You can watch the video right inline!
Picasa previews in mail by Dan, Stanley, Mark & UmeshShows photos previews whenever you receive a Picasa link in an email.
Flickr previews in mail by Dan PShows photos previews whenever you receive a Flickr link in an email.
Yelp previews in mail by Dong C, Braden K, and Raylene YShows previews of Yelp listings (rating, location, phone number, etc.) whenever you receive a Yelp link in an email.
Google Voice player in mail by Robert DLets you play voicemails left on your Google Voice account right from the email notification.
Google Docs previews in mail by Steven S, Jim M, Bob B, and Ted CShows previews of documents, spreadsheets and presentations directly in the email when you receive any link to a Google Doc. Also gives an option to open directly in Google Docs.
Message translation by DarrenUses Google Translate to translate messages you receive in other languages.
Back to Beta by DarrenSoothes the soul by putting the familiar beta sticker back on the Gmail logo.
Quick Links by Dan PAdds a box to the left column that gives you 1-click access to any bookmarkable URL in Gmail. You can use it for saving frequent searches, important individual messages, and more.
Superstars by Kai H & Julie WAdds additional star icons. After enabling this feature: (1) Go to the “General” Settings page to choose which superstars you wish to use. (2) Use either the keyboard shortcut (’s’) or click to rotate through your selected superstars. (3) Use the search operator “has:” to find all messages with your superstar (e.g. “has:red-bang”, “has:blue-star”). Learn the name of a superstar by hovering over its image in the “General” Settings page.
Pictures in chat by Dave CSee your friends’ profile pictures when you chat with them.
Fixed width font by Keith CAdds an option to the reply dropdown menu that lets you view a message in fixed width font.
Custom keyboard shortcuts by Alan SLets you customize keyboard shortcut mappings. Adds a new Settings tab from which you can remap keys to various actions.
Mouse gestures by Erik AUse your mouse to navigate with gestures. Hold right-click and move the mouse left to go to a previous conversation, move it right to go to the next conversation, and move up to go back to the inbox view. Works best on Windows.
Signature tweaks by Keith C and Dave CPlaces your signature before the quoted text in a reply, and removes the “–” line that appears before signatures.
Random Signature by Chad PRotates among random quotations for your email signature.
Sender Time Zone by Marcin BShould I reply to this mail or just call the guy? Ooops… it’s 1 am. Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb…
Custom date formats by Emil EAdds options to the general settings page allowing the date and time format to be changed independent of language. For example, you can use a 24-hour clock (14:57) or show dates with the day first (31/12/07).
Muzzle by Chad PConserves screen real estate by hiding your friends’ status messages.
Old Snakey by Dave CKick it old school with Old Snakey! Enable keyboard shortcuts and hit ‘&’ from the main page to play a game of snake.
Email Addict by Michael DLets you take a break from email and chat by blocking the screen for fifteen minutes and making you invisible in chat.
Right-side chat by Emily CMove the chat box to the right side of the inbox.
Hide Unread Counts by Matt MHides the unread counts for inbox, labels, etc.
Advanced IMAP Controls by Jamie NChoose which labels show up in IMAP, turn off message auto-expunging, or trash messages when they’re deleted from IMAP.
Canned Responses by Chad PEmail for the truly lazy. Save and then send your common messages using a button next to the compose form. Also automatically send emails using filters.
Default ‘Reply to all’ by Mark KMake ‘Reply to all’ your default option for responding to emails.
Quote selected text Ryan AQuote the text you have selected when you reply to a message. (Now works with the mouse, too!)
Navbar drag and drop by Anatol PAllows you to reorder the items in your navbar using drag and drop.
Mail Goggles by Jon PGoogle strives to make the world’s information useful. Mail you send late night on the weekends may be useful but you may regret it the next morning. Solve some simple math problems and you’re good to go. Otherwise, get a good night’s sleep and try again in the morning. After enabling this feature, you can adjust the schedule in the “General” settings page.
Forgotten Attachment Detector by Jonathan KPrevents you from accidentally sending messages without the relevant attachments. Prompts you if you mention attaching a file, but forgot to do so.
Vacation Time! by DarickLets you specify starting and ending dates for the vacation autoresponder.
Custom Label Colors by Mark KLets you create your own combination of colors for labels. Instead of choosing one of the standard colors from the label dropdown menu, click on Add custom colors. Pick your combination of colors, hit Apply, and enjoy.
Mark as Read Button by Mark KTired of spending all that effort to click on the more actions menu every time you want to mark messages as read without reading them? Now just enable this lab and that is just a button click away!
Go to label by Bruce Dkeyboard shortcuts and hit ‘g’ then ‘l’ to display a popup for selecting a label to go to. Also works with Quick Links.
Inbox preview by Peter BShow a simple, static preview of the inbox while loading.
Multiple Inboxes by ViviAdd extra lists of emails in your inbox to see even more important email at once. The new lists of threads can be labels, your starred messages, drafts or any search you want, configurable under Settings.
Google Search by Adam and DrewDisplays Google search results inside your mail window, letting you quickly find things and use them when you’re writing an email.
Create a Document by Jeremie LE & David KAllows you to create a Google Document from an email conversation or a new blank document if your keyboard shortcuts are enabled by hitting ‘g’ then ‘w’.
Filter import/export by Luke B, Slava C, and the Data Liberation teamExport your mail filters as a file: back them up, share them, or save them before deleting so you can restore them later. Import one of these files to quickly add or restore filters. These options become available under Settings/Filters when you enable this Lab.
Text Messaging (SMS) in Chat by The SMS TeamAllows you to send and receive text messages (SMS) in Chat. US phones only for now.
Authentication icon for verified senders by E RDisplays a key icon next to authenticated messages from certain senders that spammers attempt to fake. Currently works for mail from PayPal and eBay only.
Send & Archive by Pal TAdds a button to the compose form that lets you send a reply message and archive the email conversation in a single action.
Undo Send by Yuzo FOops, hit “Send” too soon? Stop messages from being sent for a few seconds after hitting the send button.
Location in Signature by Marco BAppends your location to your signature. You must have your signature enabled. Please enable gears for higher accuracy.
Title Tweaks by Fedor KChanges order of elements in the browser title bar from “Gmail – Inbox (20) – jaysonconner@gmail.com” to “Inbox (20) – jaysonconner@gmail.com – Gmail”. This way you are able (most of the time) to see if a new mail has arrived even if Gmail window is minimized.
Don’t forget Bob by Ari L, Naty L & Ron MOnce you pick some email recipients, Gmail suggests more people you might want to include based on the groups of people you email most often.
Got the wrong Bob? By Assaf B.D. & Naty LDoh, have you ever addressed an email too quickly, and included Bob (your boss) instead of Bob (your friend) by accident? If you’re emailing more than two people at once, Gmail will check if you meant to include Bob Smith rather than Bob Jones based on the groups of people you email most often.
Green Robot! by Chad YChat buddies show up as robot icons if they are currently using Android. Helpful to determine if you are chatting with someone on a computer or someone on an Android device.
Search Autocomplete by Ibrahim B, Chris P, and Andrew CProvides search suggestions for contacts and operators as you type in the search box.
Hide read labels. by Damian G & David de KThe visible labels in the navigation bar will be hidden under the ‘more’ menu when they don’t contain any unread conversations.
Inserting images by Kent TAllows you to insert images into a message body. You can upload and insert image files in your computer, or insert images by URLs. This lab will not work if you have offline enabled.
Extra Emoji by Yuzo FCompose messages with a richer set of emoji characters.
Hide Labels from Subjects by Christopher SWorking on a netbook with a small screen? Labels next to mail in your inbox take up valuable space. Hide them, and you’ll be able to see the subjects of your emails themselves.
Google Calendar gadget by Ben K and Garry BAdds a box in the left column which shows your Google Calendar. See upcoming events, locations, and details.
Google Docs gadget by Claudia C and Ted CAdds a box in the left column which displays your Google Docs. Shows recent docs, starred docs, and has fast search.

Any suggestions, ideas? Feel free to comment on this article!

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