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How do I create and email my Christmas Letter?

I have already snail mailed my cards and Christmas letter for this year, must there must be a better way to do it. I just can not figure out how to send a document with photos and text to my friends and relatives via e-mail.


Using Pages and a Template, I can write a 2 page document with 11 or 12 photos, and text describing what we have done over the last 12 months. Attaching this document in an email, creates a document too large to send. Saving it as a pdf, creates an even larger document. I realize it is the photos which create the size, but what is the easiest way to shrink them. Also, there are a number of backdrops in the templates, none of which are particularly "Christmassy". Is there somewhere I can find a Christmas template and use it for my letter?

Posted on Dec 16, 2012 5:19 PM

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19 replies

Dec 16, 2012 5:42 PM in response to B. James Lees

You will need to search for "Christmassy" backgrounds or images online. I always start with a blank page and create or insert my own images.


As far as dropping pics into your Pages document: As you drop a picture, you will note that it has little "handles" around it - see this picture:


User uploaded file

My picture in that screenshot is about 1/10th of its original size - I just dragged the handle in the corner towards the inside to make it smaller and then dragged it into the spot I wanted it to be.


As for the file size: after you export as a pdf, open it in Preview and use Save As (by hitting Option key while in File Menu) as a .jpg - it will be compressed. If that is still too large, you can downsize it in any image editor, but then your typing will be too small. Another idea: type your letter once and copy it - make the letter the email and simply attach a few photos.

Dec 18, 2012 12:03 PM in response to fruhulda

Thank you for your time and reply, but I'm still having trouble resolving my problem.

One of my photos .jpg file, weighs in at 14.8 MB. If I open the photo in Preview as suggested, and then save it as a .jpg, the file size is identical at 14.8MB. I have to be careful here too, as creating a pdf often reduces the quality of the image.

FYI, my newsletter would consist of 2 pages, page 1 has a lot of text and 7 photos; page 2 has text and 4 photos. A pdf of the 2 page document weighs in at 795 KB but when I email it to myself, and open it, the photos are fuzzy.


I received a newsletter as a 6.7 MB Word doc opened it with Pages and it worked pretty well - text and pictures very clear.


Can anyone tell me the best way to use Pages to create the newsletter, save it in some format and attach to an e-mail. Or, better still, can I create Stationary in Mail and use that format?

Dec 18, 2012 12:58 PM in response to B. James Lees

B. James Lees wrote:


One of my photos .jpg file, weighs in at 14.8 MB. If I open the photo in Preview as suggested, and then save it as a .jpg, the file size is identical at 14.8MB.

Are you sure about the 14.8 MB? That is an enormous size for a JPEG. What are the pixel dimensions?


If you save a JPG as a JPG in Preview it will remain the same size unless you reduce the JPG quality level.


But I don't think anyone suggested doing that. The suggestions were to reduce the size of the image in terms of pixels which you can do in Preview via the Tools menu where you can set the required dimensions (in inches or cm if you wish) and an appropriate resolution. From what I think you're wanting you seem to be talking about small pics of less than 100 KB.

Dec 18, 2012 3:12 PM in response to babowa

babowa


Graphic Converter will not losslessly reduce a 14.8 Mb photo down to less than 1 Mb especially as it will have to do substantially better than that as that is apparently only one of the images.


B. James Lee


You will need to not just reduce the resolution and quality to get your files down in size, you will need to crop them to the final size as well. All of which can be done in Preview then the edited images brought back into Pages for the final pdf.


Peter

Dec 18, 2012 4:48 PM in response to PeterBreis0807

Graphic Converter will not losslessly reduce a 14.8 Mb photo down to less than 1 Mb


At this point, I am not sure that we are actually talking about a .jpg with a 14 MB file size - maybe I'm misunderstanding something here, but the OP said that the total 2 page PDF file size was less than 1 MB (so I'm not sure where the 14 MB come in). We also do not know if the format is really .jpg due to the file size - if it's been imported into a PDF document and resized there, it may be a different format by then? I do know that doing any editing of any kind with .jpg results in compression and a loss of quality when saving, so I rarely do any editing on .jpg's; I prefer using a lossless format to work with and - when done - save it as a .jpg if needed.


In any case, the save dialog in Graphic Converter allows a lossless save which I use quite often (and I specified .jpeg in the previous window):


User uploaded file

Or is he just fooling me with the lossless option?

Dec 18, 2012 7:35 PM in response to babowa

Babowa:

The file size is definitely 14.8 MB. It was a professionally taken family photo which I imported into my iPhoto. I wouldn't be surprised if it was of superior quality. There are 7 photos which I have dropped into the Pages document with sizes as follow: 14.8MB, 3.1MB, 8.8MB,2.3MB, 4.1MB and 4.5MB. The 7th was scanned and for some reason I can not determine it's size. The 6 above are all ".jpg" files - none are "jpeg", "tiff", etc. The entire 2 page document is 1.3 MB, (4 more photos on page 2). and this is the document I had printed and mailed with my Christmas cards.


I do not understand how each photo would be a different size in my iPhoto library, but never-the-less they are.


However, going ahead, I would like to prepare a Christmas letter in Pages, and send it either as an attachment in an email, or as an email in itself. If I start by using a Pages template (good layouts which can be manipulated). In the past, I would use the templates in Mail's Stationary, but they are smaller than I like, and I can not include the photos I would like to include, and can not be expanded either in length or with extra pages. I have used Graphic Converter in the past, and I suppose could use it again, but it seems to me, there must be an easier way to make a letter.


Again, thank you for your assistance.

Dec 18, 2012 7:40 PM in response to PeterBreis0807

Peter:


The family photo taken by a professional, was imported into iPhoto, and when I determine the size, it is definitely 14.8 MB and too large to be included as an email attachment. If I open the .jpg and take a screen shot, the screen shot image is 2.1 MB and very clear. This may be the simplest way to resolve the problem. While taking the screen shot, I can also crop the photo to better fit the form letter. I think this may solve the problem.


Thank you.

Dec 18, 2012 7:43 PM in response to Michael Wasley

Michael:

I am unsure as to how to determine the pixel dimentions of the photo, which was taken by a professional and imported into iPhoto, but the size is definitely 14.8 MB and too big to attach to an email.


It would be best if Apple could provide a template for doing this sort of think, but perhaps starting with a blank email, adding text and then dropping a photo into the letter is the only way we can greet our family and friends at Christmas other than by snail mail.


Thanks again for your assistance.

Dec 18, 2012 8:27 PM in response to B. James Lees

There are 7 photos which I have dropped into the Pages document with sizes as follow: 14.8MB, 3.1MB, 8.8MB,2.3MB, 4.1MB and 4.5MB


The entire 2 page document is 1.3 MB


Adding up the file sizes of the photos in the first paragraph results in a much higher figure than what you are saying in paragraph 2. The only way I can figure that is that you reduced them in size after dragging them into Pages - did you make them smaller as I had shown in a previous post? You would have had to , else one photo would likely be larger than a letter size.


I'm not sure if a Get Info window would show the pixel size of your photos, but you might as well try it. Graphic Converter will how it and so will other photo editing apps. I don't use iPhoto, but you can try that as well.

Dec 18, 2012 9:05 PM in response to babowa

I must admit to resizing the photos when I drop them into the Pages document Without further examination, I doubt if the reduction would exceed 10%.


Rather than waste any more of anyone's time, I think I should simply drop this matter, and hope that Apple will add some sort of template, either to Mail or to Pages which would allow a simpler and easier solution for everyone.


Thank you all for your help.


And, Merry Christmas.


Jim

How do I create and email my Christmas Letter?

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