How to Scan Pictures and Include Them in Email
You can add pictures to emails by a variety of methods. Some email programs provide a library of images and even stationery designs you can select. You can also find, download and insert into emails pictures online--with the copyright holder's permission, of course. However, the most personal way to create an email is to scan and use your own picture.
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Things You'll Need
- Scanner
- Picture
- Email client
- Account with an online image-hosting service
Instructions
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Turn on the scanner and place the picture, typically face down, on the scanning bed. Align the picture with the guide marks around the scanning bed, and then carefully close the scanner lid so you don't disturb the picture's placement.
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Turn on the computer and make sure it recognizes the scanner.
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Scan the picture to the computer. Depending on the brand of scanner you have, you may just need to press the "Scan" button on the device, or you may need to launch the software program that came with the scanner and click the "Scan" button within the program. Either way, once the scanner has made a first scanning pass, a preview image should appear on the computer.
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Adjust the scanning settings in the scanner software, as necessary. Select the "JPG" format option to keep the file size small because you plan to send the picture by email. Consider reducing the scanning resolution to 200 or 300 dpi (dots per inch) to also reduce the file size. Crop the scanned image to fit your needs; cropping the picture before scanning is another way to decrease the file size.
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Complete the scanning. The scanner software may require a second scanning pass to capture the picture to your specifications, or it may make the adjustments to the first scanning pass.
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Save the final scanned image to the computer, and then navigate to and open the image file. Make sure the picture appears as you want it to. If anything is not to your liking, rescan the picture and make the necessary adjustments through the scanner software.
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If the email application you use does not allow you to fully embed images into email messages, upload the picture to the online image-hosting service. Once it's uploaded, you can copy and paste or even drag and drop the picture directly into the email.
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Launch the email application and then open a new message. Input the information for the recipient(s), give the message a subject and then type a message, if necessary.
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Click the "Attach" button or icon in the email client to send the picture as an attachment. This method allows the recipient to download the picture and save it to a computer.
Alternately, embed the picture in the email message. Copy and paste or drag and drop the picture from the image-hosting service's online library. Then, position the picture within the message as you want.
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Click the "Send" button to send the email containing the picture.
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Tips & Warnings
You can use image-editing software, such as Google's Picasa, to add special effects, clean up or further crop the picture you scanned and saved on the computer.
Embedded online pictures are often blocked by recipients' email service, but some email services block email attachments. Before sending a picture in an email, check with the recipients about what security measure might prevent them from receiving your email.
Most email services limit the size of pictures they accept, so keep the scanned picture to 640 x 640 pixels or smaller.
