Making sure an image file by email can be seen

  • Thread starter Thread starter Don W
  • Start date Start date
D

Don W

Is there anything I can do to increase the chances of the
recipient being able to see the image file I send with my emails?

Sometimes the image of a document which I email from my Eudora
cannot be seen by the recipient.


THE DETAILS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

The recipient of my image file *may* be in a local authority or
hospital or other organisation where they're probably using a PC
with a restricted version of Win2000 or WinXP which is supplied by
a central computer department. I would hazard a guess that
they're using an emailler like Outlook or Outlook Express or
Exchange.

I send GIFs or JPGs because they're common formats and they're
sutable enough for creating an image of a paper document. (TIFF
seems a bit unusual and BMP creates too big a file.)

So why might the recipient not be able to see these images?

Is Microsoft Fax And Picture Viewer something which comes with all
Win2000 and WinXP systems? I can't really send them a basic
viewer because they probably do not have system rights to install
or run it.

Could zooming the image to read the text be a problem for the
inexperienced recipient?

Could the way my Eudora emailler attaches files be awkward. I
have set it to use MIME.

What is the best approach?
 
Don W said:
Is there anything I can do to increase the chances of the
recipient being able to see the image file I send with my emails?
Click to expand...

Are you sure the file is getting to them, and is
not being stopped by their firewall?
 
Don W said:
Is there anything I can do to increase the chances of the
recipient being able to see the image file I send with my emails?

Sometimes the image of a document which I email from my Eudora
cannot be seen by the recipient.


THE DETAILS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

The recipient of my image file *may* be in a local authority or
hospital or other organisation where they're probably using a PC
with a restricted version of Win2000 or WinXP which is supplied by
a central computer department. I would hazard a guess that
they're using an emailler like Outlook or Outlook Express or
Exchange.

I send GIFs or JPGs because they're common formats and they're
sutable enough for creating an image of a paper document. (TIFF
seems a bit unusual and BMP creates too big a file.)

So why might the recipient not be able to see these images?

Is Microsoft Fax And Picture Viewer something which comes with all
Win2000 and WinXP systems? I can't really send them a basic
viewer because they probably do not have system rights to install
or run it.

Could zooming the image to read the text be a problem for the
inexperienced recipient?

Could the way my Eudora emailler attaches files be awkward. I
have set it to use MIME.

What is the best approach?
Click to expand...

Microsoft Outlook Express (the Windows XP version (IE6)) has a setting that
prevents downloads of attachments. If the setting is active there is nothing
that you (the sender) can do, the setting has to be changed at the receivers
end.

Also, if you send Plain Text Messages, you can not imbed pictures in the
email.

If you send HTML mail you can then include the picture in the body of the
message. However there is a danger of including malicious software in HTML
mail.

The only thing that you can do is include in the body of your message a
statement that you have sent the picture. It is then up to the recipient to
retrieve the attachment.

Which may mean that the recipient must change a setting in Outlook Express.

The setting in Outlook Express 6 is found by Tools>Options. Security tab.
Uncheck the box beside "Do not allow Attachments to be saved or opened that
could potentially be a virus"

Microsoft in their great wisdom checked that box by default. :-)
 
Is there anything I can do to increase the chances of the
recipient being able to see the image file I send with my emails?

Sometimes the image of a document which I email from my Eudora
cannot be seen by the recipient.


THE DETAILS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

The recipient of my image file *may* be in a local authority or
hospital or other organisation where they're probably using a PC
with a restricted version of Win2000 or WinXP which is supplied by
a central computer department. I would hazard a guess that
they're using an emailler like Outlook or Outlook Express or
Exchange.

I send GIFs or JPGs because they're common formats and they're
sutable enough for creating an image of a paper document. (TIFF
seems a bit unusual and BMP creates too big a file.)

So why might the recipient not be able to see these images?

Is Microsoft Fax And Picture Viewer something which comes with all
Win2000 and WinXP systems? I can't really send them a basic
viewer because they probably do not have system rights to install
or run it.

Could zooming the image to read the text be a problem for the
inexperienced recipient?

Could the way my Eudora emailler attaches files be awkward. I
have set it to use MIME.

What is the best approach?
Click to expand...


1. What is the actual file size of the image in question?

2. Try sending the image as an attachment to the email,
rather than within the body of the email.

3. What are the image pixel dimensions? What are the
resolution tags set to? If the image is contained within
the body of the email, these will probably matter.


rafe b
www.terrapinphoto.com
 
Microsoft Outlook Express (the Windows XP version (IE6)) has a
setting that prevents downloads of attachments. If the setting
is active there is nothing that you (the sender) can do, the
setting has to be changed at the receivers end.

Also, if you send Plain Text Messages, you can not imbed
pictures in the email.

If you send HTML mail you can then include the picture in the
body of the message. However there is a danger of including
malicious software in HTML mail.

The only thing that you can do is include in the body of your
message a statement that you have sent the picture. It is then
up to the recipient to retrieve the attachment.

Which may mean that the recipient must change a setting in
Outlook Express.

The setting in Outlook Express 6 is found by Tools>Options.
Security tab. Uncheck the box beside "Do not allow Attachments
to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus"

Microsoft in their great wisdom checked that box by default. :-)
Click to expand...



Do you think I could somehow send the file in a way which would allow
the recipient to see it in his browser? He is likely, for better or
for worse, to be using Internet Explorer and that helps to
standardise the viewer. I could in a worsst case post the document
to some webspace and send a link though I don't like that much as
they do not get a permanent copy of the scanned document.

The problem is that I beleieve Internet Explorer does not allow the
user to zoom an image.

I find it nearly impossible to resize/resample images to get them to
the right size. In fact I would have to make an assumption about
screen resolution aalthough I suspect 1024 x 768 is probably safe
enough.

It seems to be quite messy to get an image of a document to someone!
 
1. What is the actual file size of the image in question?
Click to expand...

The file size would be something very approximately 75K to 200K.
2. Try sending the image as an attachment to the email,
rather than within the body of the email.
Click to expand...

I am not very fasmiliar with this. I thought that MIME was itself
a form of attachment which was a standard such that the
recipient's emailer would be able to recognise it.

Eudora lets me select these options.
---------------------------
Encoding method:
MIME [ON]
Binhex
Uuencode
Put attachment in body of message. [OFF]
--------------------------

I have not checked "Put attachment in body of message" whatever
that actually does.
3. What are the image pixel dimensions? What are the
resolution tags set to? If the image is contained within
the body of the email, these will probably matter.
Click to expand...

Here is the info:
GIF-LZW.
Original size = 2550 x 3510.
Current size = 2550 x 3510.
Original colors = 2
Disk size = 85,429 bytes.

I don't think I can change the size of the viwed image of a GIF
can I? I guess I could have scanned it as a jpeg and then done
some resizing or resampling.
 
Are you sure the file is getting to them, and is
not being stopped by their firewall?
Click to expand...

Today one recipient said she got something but it was all fuzzy and
hard to read. She was trying to read it in her email program so I
guess the firewall was not blocking it.
 
Don said:
Do you think I could somehow send the file in a way which would allow
the recipient to see it in his browser? He is likely, for better or
for worse, to be using Internet Explorer and that helps to
standardise the viewer. I could in a worsst case post the document
to some webspace and send a link though I don't like that much as
they do not get a permanent copy of the scanned document.

The problem is that I beleieve Internet Explorer does not allow the
user to zoom an image.

I find it nearly impossible to resize/resample images to get them to
the right size. In fact I would have to make an assumption about
screen resolution aalthough I suspect 1024 x 768 is probably safe
enough.

It seems to be quite messy to get an image of a document to someone!
Click to expand...

Hi Don...

If you're sending them as an attachment another possibility is
that their firewall is quarantining them. Zone Alarm (which is
now being given away by many cable and phone companies) defaults
to email protection being on.

Next time you send one that goes missing, feel free to send it
again to the recipient and cc it to me (if it's not personal).
I'll be happy to let you know if it arrives intact.

Take care.

Ken
 
Do you think I could somehow send the file in a way which would allow
the recipient to see it in his browser? He is likely, for better or
for worse, to be using Internet Explorer and that helps to
standardise the viewer. I could in a worsst case post the document
to some webspace and send a link though I don't like that much as
they do not get a permanent copy of the scanned document.

The problem is that I beleieve Internet Explorer does not allow the
user to zoom an image.

I find it nearly impossible to resize/resample images to get them to
the right size. In fact I would have to make an assumption about
screen resolution aalthough I suspect 1024 x 768 is probably safe
enough.

It seems to be quite messy to get an image of a document to someone!
Click to expand...

Heve you considered Acrobat.
I often use it for sending documents.
The reader is almost always available.
It has an easy zoom function.
 
Pete Fraser said:
Heve you considered Acrobat.
I often use it for sending documents.
The reader is almost always available.
It has an easy zoom function.
Click to expand...

More accurately, pdf format. It seems like a reasonable idea (almost
all the scanned documents I see these days are .pdf files).

-Miles
 
Here is the info:
GIF-LZW.
Original size = 2550 x 3510.
Current size = 2550 x 3510.
Original colors = 2
Disk size = 85,429 bytes.

I don't think I can change the size of the viwed image of a GIF
can I? I guess I could have scanned it as a jpeg and then done
some resizing or resampling.
Click to expand...

WOW! That is a huge image to try and email. Most email servers will
have a restriction of 10MB, but even if this is not what you are running
into, I'd never recommend emailing something this large. SMTP servers
are not meant for this type of traffic. A small programming fact, when
you send an email it is ALL text. So an image has to be converted to
text.... during that conversion your image balloons to 113905 bytes!

Your best option would be for you to upload your image to a server
(preferably in a zip file) on your side of things and send a link to the
user. Which would allow them to download the file to their local hard
drive and view it from there.

Hope that helps.

ck
 
Is there anything I can do to increase the chances of the
recipient being able to see the image file I send with my emails?

Sometimes the image of a document which I email from my Eudora
cannot be seen by the recipient.
Click to expand...

could be security settings, AIUI there are/were exploits where a speciall
crafter .gif or .jpg could cause execution of arbitrary code.

Bye.
Jasen
 
["Followup-To:" header set to comp.periphs.scanners.]
WOW! That is a huge image to try and email.
Click to expand...

84K isn't exactly huge these days. This image must have a lot of large
areas of a single color to compress that well, though.
I'd never recommend emailing something this large. SMTP servers are
not meant for this type of traffic.
Click to expand...

If this thing were 84M, you'd have a case. At 84K, there's very little
point in worrying about it. Even if the end-user were on dialup, it
wouldn't take long for them to get the image.
So an image has to be converted to text.... during that conversion
your image balloons to 113905 bytes!
Click to expand...

Yes, encoding something in base64 makes it larger. It's not worth
worrying about here though. (Practically every other protocol is 8-bit
clean, stupid BITNET machines in the old days.... We need a newer,
better implementation of SMTP, but that'd probably cause a Flag Day and
so be unworkable.)
Your best option would be for you to upload your image to a server
(preferably in a zip file)
Click to expand...

That's pointless; GIF-LZW is already fairly well compressed. Zipping it
would just add another step to the final user's being able to look at
it, and the final user sounded ... not very computer literate, if I'm
reading Don W's messages right.
and send a link to the user, which would allow them to download the
file
Click to expand...

This may actually work reasonably well. It'd at least get around the
problems with LookOut Excess and any possible problems with the
end-user's too-vicious mail filtering. The problem then becomes "Does
Don W have access to a webserver? Does Don W know how to SCP/FTP files
from his personal machine to his space on that web server?"

Don W, most ISPs give their users 5-10M of space on the ISP's web
servers. You'll have to look at your ISP's FAQ for detailed info on
which server you SCP/FTP things to, and the base URL other users will
use to see the things you've uploaded. For Comcast, this is
http://home.comcast.net/~your_username/ , YISPMV. HTH anyway,
 
minor comment:
for scanned images png may be a better option than either gif or jpeg (which
is both unlikely to compress well for this sort of image, and risk making
the image unusably fuzzy or blurry). png is also pretty much standard
anymore...

WOW! That is a huge image to try and email. Most email servers will have
a restriction of 10MB, but even if this is not what you are running into,
I'd never recommend emailing something this large. SMTP servers are not
meant for this type of traffic. A small programming fact, when you send
an email it is ALL text. So an image has to be converted to text....
during that conversion your image balloons to 113905 bytes!
Click to expand...
not really anymore. 85kB is really fairly small anymore when it comes to
attachments, and most email servers I have seen recently have somewhat
larger limits (100MB to 1GB in many cases...).
Your best option would be for you to upload your image to a server
(preferably in a zip file) on your side of things and send a link to the
user. Which would allow them to download the file to their local hard
drive and view it from there.
Click to expand...
well, at least that is likely to be fairly reliable.

IE also has a limited zoom feature (small, and full size).
in winxp there is an image viewer built into windows that supports zooming
(requiring them to save the image somewhere).

....
 
Don W wrote:
Do you think I could somehow send the file in a way which would allow
the recipient to see it in his browser? He is likely, for better or
for worse, to be using Internet Explorer and that helps to
standardise the viewer. I could in a worsst case post the document
to some webspace and send a link though I don't like that much as
they do not get a permanent copy of the scanned document.

The problem is that I beleieve Internet Explorer does not allow the
user to zoom an image.
Click to expand...

Even if the user can't zoom the image, he can still right click on it
and select 'Save image As', which will save it in it's original size.

hth
PerL
 
Don W said:
Do you think I could somehow send the file in a way which would allow
the recipient to see it in his browser? He is likely, for better or
for worse, to be using Internet Explorer and that helps to
standardise the viewer. I could in a worsst case post the document
to some webspace and send a link though I don't like that much as
they do not get a permanent copy of the scanned document.

The problem is that I beleieve Internet Explorer does not allow the
user to zoom an image.

I find it nearly impossible to resize/resample images to get them to
the right size. In fact I would have to make an assumption about
screen resolution aalthough I suspect 1024 x 768 is probably safe
enough.

It seems to be quite messy to get an image of a document to someone!
Click to expand...

It is not hard to do at all. You can attach just about any kind of file to
email. Although some types should not be sent without putting in a Zip
wrapper.

It really depends on how computer savvy the recipient is.

As some have pointed out, some servers have a upper limit on the size that
an email and attachment can be. 2 Megabytes is not too large for most
servers.

A 8 1/2 X 11 (letter size) document scanned at around 100-200 dpi should be
saved as a medium to high quality Jpeg. 75 to 90 quality works well for most
documents.

I scanned a 8 x 10.5 inch color magazine cover at 200 dpi and saved with 75
quality made a 635 KB jpg file. Now I guarantee that image would be readable
on anybody's computer screen (It may be so big they would have to scroll).
100 dpi is enough for reading on the computer screen.

Outlook Express should show a paper clip icon when a email has an
attachment.
The recipient should know that something was attached when they see the
paper clip icon.

As a viewer the free irfanview is quite universal.
They can download the viewer and the plugins and install on their computer.
(Windows only)
http://www.irfanview.com

Irfanview allows zoom in and out on any image.
Irfanview can resize and save most image formats.
 
CSM1 said:
A 8 1/2 X 11 (letter size) document scanned at around 100-200 dpi should be
saved as a medium to high quality Jpeg. 75 to 90 quality works well for most
documents.
Click to expand...

In my experience, jpeg compression is _worse_ than e.g. png when used on
documents, line-drawings, that kind of thing (lots of lines and
high-contrast ediges).

-Miles
 
Don said:
Even if the user can't zoom the image, he can still right click
on it and select 'Save image As', which will save it in it's
original size.
Click to expand...


You would think it was easy to do that but the people I send to
can't understand what I am saying when I offer to talk them
through it. I just wonder what they are seeing in from of them.

Personally, I think that a capability to use PCs as limited as
this borders on PC-illiteracy. But I have to say that I have
encountered it alltoo often.

However even if the image file were saved to the hard drive by
some highly technical right-clicking by one of my recipients -
then I imagine the IS department has probably got Windows so
tightly screwed down that there is no longer a standalone viewer
of any sort. ("Why would you want to use one of those in the
office?" sort of thinking.)
 
In my experience, jpeg compression is _worse_ than e.g. png when
used on documents, line-drawings, that kind of thing (lots of
lines and high-contrast ediges).
Click to expand...

There was a discussion about this in these groups about a year ago.
http://tinyurl.com/fg47z

ISTR that jpeg was found not to be quite as hopeless as might have
been predicted for documents from an inherently lossy format.

I like jpegs because you can rotate and edit them. GIFs seem much
harder to work with.

I don't know about PNG. Can they be edited and rotated and zoomed as
flexibly as jpegs?
 
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