Top Photo-Editing Tips

6. Would You Like Text With That Photo?

You can add a caption to identify the people in the picture, the location, or the date of the event using almost any image editor. Find the Text tool in your program's tool palette. In most programs, the icon is often the letter A or T. Enter the text you want, and set the font and text size to your liking. Look for a fat font, because skinny ones are often hard to read in a digital picture.

Some paint programs, like Paint Shop Pro, require you to click on the photo in the spot where you want the text to appear before you can type your caption. Other programs, like Adobe PhotoShop Elements, let you type directly on the picture. Either way, don't forget about the Undo tool if the text doesn't turn out exactly the way you like.

7. Make Your Pics E-Mail-Friendly

When your photo is finally ready to send, be considerate to your recipient by resizing it for e-mail. If you attach a bunch of huge 3-megapixel images to an e-mail message, you can bog down your recipient's in-box with a huge file. The message will take a long time to send and receive as well.

Open your image editor and resize each picture first. In Paint Shop Pro, choose Image, Resize and shrink the photo down to about 640 by 480 pixels. If you have an older digital camera that takes pictures at this size to begin with, don't worry about resizing--they're ready to send. (Windows XP will automatically resize photos when you send them from the pop-up menu. The original pic remains intact and unreduced.)

8. Create Easy File Names

After you download your digital pics, you'll probably end up with file names consisting of zeros and other random digits or letters. When sending your photos as attachments, be sure to rename the files so that they make some sense. "SteveWithCake.jpg" is instantly recognizable, while "00000203l.jpg" looks like something that belongs in some obscure folder deep inside your computer's system files.

Speaking of attachments, how your friends and family receive your photos at the other end is another matter. Preferences vary. Some people prefer an attachment rather than a direct paste of your photo in the body of the e-mail message; images pasted into the e-mail can be too hard to tinker with at the other end. Consider this before you paste the photo into the e-mail. (Even better: Ask people what they prefer.)

Remember that even if you do send your photos as attachments, images often get pasted into the e-mail automatically at the other end if your recipient's e-mail program is configured for HTML mail.

9. Do a Rehearsal: E-Mail Yourself

If you want to make sure your friends will speak to you again after they receive your first set of digital pics, why not e-mail the batch to yourself? It never hurts to do a run-through, until you get the hang of it. You'll get to see first-hand what your photos look like at the other end.

If your e-mail program hangs while you're trying to open your message, then you know that something is up. Just go back and see if some resizing will solve the problem.

10. Make a Slideshow

The great thing about digital photos is how much freedom you have to create the perfect package for your friends and family. You can send single images, a group of photos, or even a complete slideshow, with music and text.

If you want to make a multimedia slideshow out of your photos, give a program like PhotonShow a spin. The basic version, at $29, is inexpensive, but it lets you combine your digital images with a wide assortment of clever backgrounds and slide-show themes.

You can add voice narration and MP3 music to your show; the program also lets you tweak images with red-eye removal, color adjustment, rotation, and sharpening tools. When you're done, you can load the completed slideshow onto a Web site where others can view it, or copy the show onto a CD-R disc and mail it to friends and family.

If you have a ton of photos--and you're reluctant to clog up your recipients' e-mail in-boxes--consider trying one of the many Web services that let you post your photos online for all to see. Ofoto, Shutterfly, and Picturetrail, for example, offer basic photo-sharing services for free.