Photos in email are distorted when opened on a PC

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Level 2

234 points

Photos in email are distorted when opened on a PC

Hi all,

(This isn't really an iPhoto question, but there isn't a "Mail" forum.) I've searched in Apple and Google for an answer.

Lately, when I attach photos to emails, and click "save as icon," they are received on the other end as squished, distorted and tiny little icons (that can't be clicked on). I've tried what everyone recommends (Plain text emails, "Windows-friendly attachments," and "actual size" on the lower right of the draft email), but they still come through completely distorted. I use my Gmail account in Mail (if that makes sense).

Any idea how to make the photos come through -- to PC users -- as attachments that actually work? I think I could probably achieve that by doing this in the web-based Gmail, but I'm resisting that and would like to use Apple Mail.

Thank you.

MBP 15, Mac OS X (10.7), iPod Touch 4G, iPod Nano 5G, Aperture 3.1.1

Posted on Sep 7, 2011 8:19 AM

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Answer 1

Yer_Man

Level 10

165,972 points

Sep 7, 2011 8:49 AM in response to MarkPek

when I attach photos to emails, and click "save as icon,"

This has no bearing whatever on the sent email. It refers strictily to how the message is displayed in the Mail window.

Email some pics to yourself. Do they come through correctly?

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Answer 2

MarkPek Author

Level 2

234 points

Sep 7, 2011 8:54 AM in response to Yer_Man

Yes, they come through correctly to me, but the problem is with users of PCs. The pix don't come through correctly to them. This is supposed to be corrected by the "plain text" and the windows-friendly attachments, but it's not.

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Answer 3

Yer_Man

Level 10

165,972 points

Sep 7, 2011 9:04 AM in response to MarkPek

Neither sending Plain text emails (which makes it easier for some PC users to deal with attachment) nor sending 'Windows Friendly Attachments' (which simply removes the resource forks from older files) have any bearing on the issue, frankly.

Is this all PC users or just some?

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Answer 4

MarkPek Author

Level 2

234 points

Sep 7, 2011 9:07 AM in response to Yer_Man

All, I think.

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Answer 5

Yer_Man

Level 10

165,972 points

Sep 7, 2011 9:17 AM in response to MarkPek

Log in to Gmail via your web browser and send a couple of shots via that instead of Mail. Does the problem recur? If yes, then the issue is with Gmail or the receivers. If not then the issue is with iPhoto or Mail

Regards

TD

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Answer 6

MarkPek Author

Level 2

234 points

Sep 7, 2011 2:05 PM in response to Yer_Man

Thanks for continuing to respond. (1) The problem doesn't occur when I use the web-based Gmail. (2) The problem isn't in iPhoto because I'm not using iPhoto -- never have. The problem is in Mail. That much I know for sure. There are many other threads discussing this issue, but no solutions. It's definitely a Mail issue.

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Answer 7

Yer_Man

Level 10

165,972 points

Sep 7, 2011 2:38 PM in response to MarkPek

Then you need to post here:

https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os/mac_os_x_v10.7_lion?view=discussi ons

Regards

TD

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Answer 8

MarkPek Author

Level 2

234 points

Sep 7, 2011 4:53 PM in response to Yer_Man

I did, yes. Thank you.

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Answer 9

Nov 3, 2011 1:08 AM in response to MarkPek

Hi Mark, did you get any further towards resolving this issue? I have exactly the same problem using Mail in 10.7.2. The recipient on a PC opens the email message and sees distorted attachments.

I have found out the recipient on a PC can download and save the files to disc, then re-open and they will display OK. But in it seems to be in their email programe that the issue occurs. I send photos all the time for my bussiness and most recipients use Windows, so this is a real problem for me. Many of them do not want to bother going through a save and reopen process. They are not into computers they just want to look at the pics as they appear in there email programme. It would be great to find a solution to this. Charlie

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Answer 10

MarkPek Author

Level 2

234 points

Nov 3, 2011 5:55 AM in response to Charliepr1

Frankly, no. I haven't gotten to a good solution on this. My workaround is to use Gmail in its web-based platform. There are no problems there. I'm not sure why this only happens to some of us; I assume that the vast majority of people have no problems with attachments. As I've mentioned, I've considered getting Attachment Tamer, but basically haven't gotten around to it yet. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

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Answer 11

Nov 3, 2011 8:56 AM in response to MarkPek

I have found a solution that works for me. If you get Attachment Tamer from http://lokiware.info it seems to fix the issue. Good luck

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Answer 12

Sep 16, 2012 7:23 PM in response to MarkPek

I have had the same problem and it is frustrating. I neer know who is going to have the problem and it is frustrating to have to keep resending. I recently purchased a new Mac and am now running OSX 10.7.4. and I was irritated that this is still an issue. I really resent that I have to find a third party solution to do this.

Does Apple not have a clue as to what is happening? Yesterday, when I had to have these images out in a hurry, I re-sent as small images rather than large, it worked fine. It would be nice if somebody could explain. When I send email from my Mac, I like to assume that it's gone correctly -- not to hear later on from the recipient that the images are 2 times as wide as they should be.

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Answer 13

Sep 17, 2012 12:55 AM in response to Mirabelle

Apparently Apple say the problem is not with their software but with the others which do not display attachments correctly. As I said before get Attachment Tamer from http://lokiware.info

Charlie

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