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Tips for Preparing Photos

12:20 PM Jan 14, 2008

Tired of laying awake at night wondering what the deal is with preparing photos for the web or email? Here are some quick tips on how to get the most from your online images. File Size: Keep your file size small (25KB to 100 KB (kilobytes) and about 300 to 500 pixels in dimension for the web and smaller for email. It’s important to keep images small for dial up, mobile phone users, to prevent flagging large images as spam, and to retain look of email for users who block images.

Image Quality: Email and web pages display 72 ppi (pixels per inch), which determines the image resolution or quality. Crop your Image: This should be the actual size you want to use. Don't force a large image into a small space. Never Upload from Camera: Digital cameras do not take pictures that are web ready. You'll need to crop and resize such images. How to Resize your Image: Open your photo in a photo-editing program such as Photoshop or Graphic Converter (Mac). There are also a ton of free photo-editing programs. - To change pixel dimensions: Look for "Image Size," "Resize," or "Resample." - To maintain the current ratio of pixel width to pixel height, you’ll want to constrain the proportions. This will also ensure the photo isn’t distorted. - When saving, use a 'Save for Web' option and save as a JPEG (don’t save over the original file). - The compression level should be medium to high. Design for Blocked Images: Some of your supporters who receive your emails WILL have their image blocking turned off. Design your email with this in mind. How does it look when the image doesn’t come through? Use a caption to describe the photo (also called “alt text” or alternative text”.

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