Emailing higher resolution pictures in Picasa

Don't you wish you could see the faces of these darling children from Guyana?

Do you want to avoid emailing photos that turn out like this?

I know - I exaggerated the problem by making this photo very very low resolution - but you can limit the impact and usability of photos by sending them in small sizes.

Photo size is most often measured by pixels - that is dots per inch. This is also known as resolution. Optimal resolution depends on the end use of the photo. Here is what I like:

For presentations, I like the largest dimension to be at least 1000 pixels.

For printing, full resolution is best.

If you are using Picasa to host and email your photos, here is how to adjust resolution (from the Picasa help website):


Sending multiple photos at once:

1. In Picasa, click Tools > Options (Windows) or Picasa > Preferences (Mac).
2. Select the Email tab.
3. Use the slider to set your desired pixel size when emailing multiple photos. Use the radio buttons to set the desired pixel size for emailing single photos.
4. Click OK.

Sending one photo at a time - the only way to get full resolution:

You can email a photo in its full resolution using Picasa, however you can only send one full resolution photo at a time. Please follow these steps to set your email options to send photos in their original size:

1. Click Tools > Options (Windows) or Picasa > Preferences (Mac).
2. Select the Email tab.
3. Under 'When sending single pictures, resize to:' (Windows) or 'Size for single pictures' (Mac), select the 'Original Size' option.
4. Click OK.

Once this option is selected, any single photo you send using Picasa will be in full resolution. It's not possible to send multiple photos at once in their original sizes.

Working with photos in Word - easyish

It ought to be very simple to drop a photo in a Word document and move it around wherever you want. Right? But it is not. In fact it can be a terribly frustrating task. Here is one little trick that makes the process somewhat simpler.

Insert
When you add a photo to Word through the 'insert' menu or by dragging and dropping, it defaults to an 'inline layout'. That means that the picture is stuck in place on the document just like the text you type. It moves as you press return and/or type text above it but you can't drag it around on the page. You can resize it (remember to only use the corners or hold down 'shift' so you won't change the proportions).

Unstick
Here is what you do to fix the 'stuck photo' problem. You need to open up the 'format pictures' menu. You can do this either by double clicking on the picture or highlighting the picture and going to the 'format' (top of the screen) and 'picture' commands. That opens up a menu that varies according to the version of Word you are using. You need to find the 'layout' window (the little blue doggie) and then select 'tight'. This command magically frees up your photo and allows you to drag it all around.

Watch out!
However, Word still has its quirks and sometimes you think you have everything set and then pictures start sliding around all by themselves. I don't know how to deal with this and that is why I use a Mac!

Get a Mac
Here is the best suggestion I can give - buy a Mac, install iWork, and use Pages. It is a FABULOUS program for page layout. I love its simplicity and style. It is almost worth buying a Mac just to use Pages if you want to work with text and photos and don't want the expense or steep learning curve of Photoshop and InDesign.

If you are using a mac and want some help, I have started a new blog with a mac friend called Granny Macs. It is in process but will be fun as we add more. Take a look!

Unlocking files - Macs only - easy

Sometimes people give me photos that are locked. I suppose they were locked while in their camera in order to protect them. But that means, I can't change or delete the files. It is quite simple to unlock a mac file. Just locate the file in the finder, highlight but don't open, and then press the command+I (for info) keys. This brings up an information window. About halfway down the window you will see the word 'locked'. Click on checked box and it will uncheck and unlock.

Sometimes I end up with locked files in the trash and it won't empty completely. Just double click the Trash, select the files and follow the steps above to unlock.

Shortcut Keys

I have a goal to learn a shortcut key combination every week or so for the next little while. Shortcut keys are keystroke combinations that perform functions that normally take a number of mouse clicks. They are efficient because you don't need to take your hands off the keyboard to perform common actions. Here is a list of the ones I find most useful (mac keystrokes in parentheses):

Copy - control (apple command) C
Paste - control (apple command) V
Cut (copies and removes the selected item) - control (apple command) X
Undo (I use this ALL the time) - control (apple command) Z
Quit a program - control (apple command) Q
Save (do this often to protect your work)- control (apple command) S

You can find many more by searching 'shortcut' in the help menus for various programs. Why don't you make a useful habit by trying one of these shortcuts for the next few days?