158. Share Images Using Email Before You Begin  155 About Emailing
156 Set Up Photoshop Elements for Emailing 157 Manage Contacts
See Also  33 About Finding Items in the Catalog
69 Print an Image Using an Online Service 160 Share Images Using an Online Service 161 Send Images to a Mobile Phone
If you have an Internet connection and use Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, or Adobe E-mail Service, you can send anything you create in Photoshop Elements to anyone who has an email address. Even if you don't use a compatible email client, you can still use the Organizer to prepare your items for sending using email. After you've shown Photoshop Elements and your email client how to find and recognize each other (see 156 Set Up Photoshop Elements for Emailing), you can select what you want to send from the Organizer catalog or open an image in the Editor, decide who to send it to, add a message, and give the order to Send. And you can do all this without shutting down or minimizing the Editor or the Organizer window and switching to your email program. You do all the work in Photoshop Elements, and the application then hands off the message to your email client to process and send. In addition to individual pictures, you can send creations such as slide shows, photo albums, postcards, and calendars. You also can include sound and video files with your photos, but not with creations. In addition, only one creation can be included in an email message, and you can't send it with any other item type. TIPS  | You might want to send a group of related images, such as the photos from a recent family outing. Use the Find feature to display them in the catalog (see 33 About Finding Items in the Catalog). When only these items are displayed, press Ctrl+A to select them all. If the catalog is sorted by batch or folder, click the gray bar above a group to select every item in the group. You can send an image from within the Editor by saving it first and then choosing File, Attach to Email. The Attach to E-mail dialog box appears. |
1. | Select Items to Send
In the Organizer catalog, select one or more items to send. To select contiguous items, click the first item, then press and hold the Shift key while you click the last item in the group. To select non-contiguous items, click the first item, then hold the Ctrl key while you click each additional item. Remember that you can send a mix of images, audio files, and video files, but you can only send an individual creation by itself. Blue borders around the thumb-nails indicate the selected items.
| 2. | Click Share
When the items you want to send are selected, click the Share button on the Options bar. From the menu that opens, select Email. The Attach Selected Items to Email dialog box opens. The items you selected to send are displayed on the left.
 Because some e-mail systems place limits on the file sizes they will handle, try to send small files whenever possible so that you do not exceed that limit.
TIPS | To send a creation immediately after making it, click the Email button in the last step of the wizard. You do not have to designate recipients at this stage. If you haven't added people to the Contact Book yet, just skip step 3. You'll have a chance later to add them using the address book of your email client in step 6. If you forgot an item you wanted to send, click the Add button at the bottom left. In the dialog box that appears, you can sort through the entire catalog listing, or narrow the display by selecting a tag or collection. Select the items to add to those already selected for sending and click OK. |
| 3. | Select Recipients
In the Select Recipients section of the dialog box, check one or more of the names in your Contact Book to identify those you want to receive the message.
If a recipient's name doesn't appear on this list, click the Add Recipient button to add the name to your Contact Bookand to the list you see in the Attach Selected Items to Email dialog box. See 157 Manage Contacts for details of how to add a contact. If you want to update a recipient's listing, click the Edit Contacts button and change that person's name or email address.
| 4. | Choose a Format
If you're sending images, audio files, or video files, open the Format list and choose a format for the email message you are going to send. If your recipients all have HTML mail service that allows them to receive photos embedded in their messages, select Photo Mail (HTML). Open the Stationery list and select a back-ground for the email message, or click the Stationery and Layouts button and select a design you can customize. Choose a stationery on the first page of the wizard that appears, click Next Step, and set options to customize the stationary (such as photo size and layout). Click Enter message here to type a personal message. Click Done to return to the Attach Selected Items to E-mail dialog box. If you have previously added captions to your selected items through the Organizer, you can enable the Include Caption check box to include that caption below its item in the message. A typical caption explains or identifies the item, such as Cousin Mary at Yawning Gap.
NOTE  | Aware that viruses are often planted in graphic files, some email systems strip the illustrations from HTML mail and send them as attachments instead. This ensures that the graphics are not automatically opened along with the message. Should you receive such a message, make sure that it's from someone you trust before you open the attachments. |
To combine the selected pictures and video items into an automated slide show that can be played on the recipient's computer, select Simple Slideshow (PDF). The pictures and video files are packaged as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file; recipients can open the file in Acrobat or the Adobe Reader and scan through them one by one. Type a File Name for the file. Adjust the quality of the resulting slide show by selecting a Size.
Among the creations you can make through the Organizer is a custom slide show that can include sound and other forms of multimedia. You can create such a slide show separately and attach it to a message, but you cannot do so using the email wizard.
If any recipients have text-only email service, select the Individual Attachments option. Enable the Convert Photos to JPEGs option to have the Organizer compress the attachments using JPEG compression and the Size you choose. If you don't choose this option, the items are attached uncompressed. The items are prepared and attached to the resulting email message, rather than embedded in it. If you're sending video or audio files, they are normally sent as attachments.
If you are sending a creation, it will be converted to PDF format before sending. You will have to enter a File Name for the resulting file and set a Size and Quality option.
| 5. | Add a Message
If you want to include a message to the people who are receiving the selected items, type it in the Message text box. This entry will become the text block of the email message.
| 6. | Complete the Email Message
Click OK. Items are prepared for sending, the message is created, and it opens in your email program. The format of the email message form should be very familiar to you; you are now in your email client's native format.
At this point, you can do anything the email program allows, including adding or subtracting recipients and editing the message text. Because your email client's address book is undoubtedly more complete than your Photoshop Elements Contact Book, you can add names from your address book to the To or CC line in the email message form.
| 7. | Add Attachments
If any items you selected were not embedded in the email message or attached for you, you can attach them yourself. Follow the steps for adding attachments using your particular email client. For example, both of the Outlook programs have an Attach button. Click it to select the files to attach.
NOTE | Photoshop Elements generates its own subject line. You might want to take this opportunity to replace it with something more personal. |
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