As the size of our inboxes and the capacity of our email server is limited, it is important not to send messages of a large file size. The following FAQ helps explain the problem and how to avoid contributing to it.
What makes a "large email message?"
The total size of a message is mainly due to the length of the text plus the
file sizes of any attachments or embedded
graphics (like scanned photos, cartoons, etc.) Formatting your text doesn't
eat up enough space to worry about.
What makes an attached document or embedded image large?
Obviously a 100 page Word document is almost always going to be a bigger file
than a 1 page Word document but
additionally, a Word doc that contains images is going to be much larger than
one that's all text.
Images (photos, cartoons) are a little tougher to predict. A 1"x1"
photo at high resolution can be a much larger file than
a 5"x5" low-resolution picture.
Especially important to know is that anything scanned can easily turn into
a huge file. Digital cameras can also output
large file size images.
How do I know the total size of an email message?
You can estimate by adding up the file sizes of all the attachments and embedded
graphics (look next to their file names
in My Computer or Windows Explorer).
Also, there is a column in your inbox and other mail folders that shows how
big each incoming message is. If you're
forwarding a message, check the figure in the size column first. If you're creating
a new message, first save it as a draft
then go to your drafts folder and check the figure in the size column there.
If it's not too big, go ahead and send it out to
your intended recipients. More
about drafts.
How big is too big?
I wouldn't send anything over 50K to any of our Oakton mail groups. I wouldn't
send anything over 200K to an
individual without warning them first.
Are there any tricks for sharing large images and other documents without
creating a large message?
Yes.
What are they?
1) You can "optimize" images before embedding or attaching them. For
our purposes here this means reducing the
resolution and possibly the dimensions. Most photos can be cut to a small fraction
of their original file size with no
discernible visual loss. Macromedia Fireworks makes this process especially
simple. I have instructions for this & more
info on the concept on the IT web pages at http://www.oakton.edu/resource/it/optimize/optimize.html.
2) Link to images instead of actually sending them along with your message.
Everyone who has an email account at
Oakton also has a folder in his H: drive called "public.www." Save
your image files there. Then use the image's URL as
the link (or links for multiple images). Full instructions for this at:
http://www.oakton.edu/resource/it/mailgide/insertimages.htm
(see also the online Messenger email guide at:
http://www.oakton.edu/resource/it/mailgide)
3) Word documents can also be placed in your "public.www" folder
and then linked-to rather than attached. You don't
even have to convert them to HTML.
Example:
John Smith (login/email="jsmith") creates a Word document called
"whatever.doc."
He saves it to his H: drive in his public.www folder.
In the body of his email he types something like "Click on http://servercc.oakton.edu/~jsmith/whatever.doc
for
more information."
When anybody on campus or anybody who has Word off-campus clicks on
"http://servercc.oakton.edu/~jsmith/whatever.doc,"
Word can launch and load the document.
If you have a large Word doc and graphics are the main reason it's large, saving
as HTML will convert the graphics to
.gif files and significantly reduce the size. To do this, simply open the doc
in Word then from the File menu, choose save
as HTML (or save as Web Page). Save it to your public.www folder. More info
on this at:
http://www.oakton.edu/resource/it/word97andwebpages.pdf
Shouldn't I be concerned with the fact that in this day and age of email
attachment-based computer viruses
many people won't risk opening attachments and that if I put too much of my
message into an attachment
rather than taking the time to insert it into the body of the actual email a
large part of my intended audience
will never get my message anyway?
You betcha.