How do I make zip files?

[latrucha]

Ok, so I don't really know what they're called but I do know they're not that hard if you now how.

I've just bought a new digital camera that is so infinitessimally better than my old one that I can no longer send snaps of the kids by email to family very easily (which they like). I know you can put them in a 'zip' file and send them, but how do I do this?

I promised DH who is working in another country ATM snaps of the kids tonight and I am failing... Help!

[fruitshootsandheaves]

create a folder with the photo's in then right click and click compress..that does it for me but I'm on a mac it might be slightly different on a PC

[latrucha]

ooo. That's easy. Off to try.

[fruitshootsandheaves]

here I found this

To create a .zip file, first select all of the files you want to add. Then, right-click the files, select "Send To" and "Compressed (zipped) Folder".

[latrucha]

It's trying to load the file....

[latrucha]

Hmm. Still seems like it is too big. I'll try a smaller one.

[NetworkGuy]

An alternative is to register for free use of YouSendIt.com (just use e-mail address and a unique password not used for other sites) and then you can upload (several) files (each) of up to 50 MB, and it sends a link to the intended recipient(s). There are some limits on the number of downloads (100) and number of days (7), unless you sign up and pay fees.

By sending a web link rather than the ZIP file, the recipient has the option of downloading at a time convenient to them (rather than have a mailbox chock-a-block with photos - in some cases downloading could be costly on a mobile or if they are abroad). Also, the mailbox might be filled, or there may be a limit on sending or receiving big files - depends on who runs the e-mail service).

There's also some free software called ZipGenius which can handle lots of different types of compressed files (in case someone else sends you photos in some other file format, like .RAR).

[latrucha]

Thanks for that. I didn't have any luck with the compressed files. His email accountt said they were too big. I'll try the link.

[PlentyOfPubgardens]

I use 7-zip which is another good free compression programme.

If they are still coming out too big, try opening them in paint (or any other graphics programme) and resizing them individually ...

in paint - image - resize/skew - then enter, say, 50 in both the % boxes, then save as ... and give them a different name. (50% will reduce the file size by 3/4)

[mranchovy]

Photo files are already compressed, there is no file compression software that will compress them any more. You need to use image editing software to make them smaller and/or reduce the quality to make the files smaller.

Microsoft paint isn't really the right tool for this job either; your new camera probably came with some software (either on a disk or to download) which is designed for exactly this purpose.

[latrucha]

Thanks both of you. I'll have a root through the box tomorrow and failing that I'll try the link NetworkGuy suggested.

[NetworkGuy]

What size are the images that you've taken (average per image and total in the folder), please?

I've used a freebie called PhotoFiltre which could allow you to save .jpg files with lower quality (and thus smaller file sizes) but there may be some utility which can do this to a batch of files

(obviously, you'd only want to do so to a copy of the photos you've taken, so you can keep the high quality ones for future printing, perhaps).

Also, there may be some online 'photo gallery' services which would allow you to upload the originals and then they could be displayed by anyone you allowed access.

There's a freebie PHP package which I have seen on web hosting accounts and that may make sense in the longer run, as you could let relations know you've added a new set of photos (and name a gallery with something suitable, eg '

[PlentyOfPubgardens]

Paint will do fine just to reduce the pixel dimensions if you want to send them quickly without installing stuff.

[latrucha]

I've looked at the software that came with the camera and I can't see anything relating to this.

An example of the size of pne of the folders is 22.1MB.
An example of a picture is 5.831KB.
Is that what you needed NetworkGuy?

I haven't tried doing the link yet.

I've thought about photo hosting sites but the ones I know are in English and half our family isn't. I'll look into it further if I have to.

[PlentyOfPubgardens]

5KB is tiny for an image - do you mean MB? If not, it must be a thumbnail.

Try the Paint thing.

[nannynick]

Sounds like the image is around 5MB. Use photo editing software to decrease the image size (height and width) and DPI - if it's just for viewing onscreen DPI of 72 is fine. For printing DPI of 300 will be ok.

[NetworkGuy]

Certainly sounds like these images are more likely to be 5 MB apiece. Many mail systems have a limit of 10 or 100 MB per message (to limit the chance of filling up hard drives, to limit the number of times a lot of data is sent and then fails part-way because recipient mail server enforces lower limits) and because he costs for someone on a mobile phone (eg on holiday) can run to pounds per MB, so a single photo might block them from getting important e-mail until they have paid a small fortune because a photo was sent at an inconvenient time....

Not sure what version of Windows you use, but if you have the Windows Explorer (File Manager) open and 'hover' your mouse over an image, you might get details like:

Dimensions 800 x 600
Type JPEG image
Size 314 KB

With a high def image from a multi-megapixel camera, I'd expect the dimensions to run to (for example) 2000 x 1600 or larger, and the image size to be at least 2 MB

[mranchovy]

Have a look at Picasa.

[latrucha]

Yes, sorry KB doesn't make any sense. Doh. Just looking at Picasa now.

[latrucha]

Making progress with Picassa....