Photo Scanning Guidelines  |  Attaching Images to E-Mail
 Mailing Photos  |  Tips for the Do-It-Yourself Horse Photographer
Photo Editing Magic  |  Equine Photographers Directory

Having a photo on-line with the rest of your stallion's information helps many people decide whether this is the sire they are looking for. You can print your stallion's page off the internet and use it as a full color poster or mail out. What could be easier! 

Not only can they see what he looks like, but they can print the photo on the spot for future reference.  If they have a color printer, it will print in color, saving you the time and expense of mailing an actual photo.

Having a photo on-Line can be fun for other reasons, too. You can share with family and friends without having to carry the pictures with you. Your stallion's photo is as close as the nearest computer.

Did you know .... once your stallion is established on-line with the Stallion Finder, many search engines will bring up his pages when you type his name in the search query box??? That's right! (Surprised me, too ... but it's a fact!)

We take special care with scanning stallion photos so they are as large as possible and still be seen on a single screen. Then we make them load quickly. (That's our  magic touch!)

PHOTO SCANNING GUIDELINES
for submitting automated images

SIZE:  To submit images utilizing our automated classified site,  images should be sized to about 350 pixels high or wide,  (whichever is the greatest)  and saved in JPEG (.JPG) format to attach using the "Place an Ad" form.

For 5x7 inches or smaller:
Set resolution at 100 DPI (dots per inch) or PPI (pixels per inch.). Set picture size (dimensions) to 100%.  

For 8x10 inches or larger:
Set resolution at 50 DPI (dots per inch).
Set picture size (dimensions) 100%  

When scanning your image,  be sure to do a "pre-scan" before performing the final scan,  and make sure you have positioned the target lines to the borders of your image.    

Otherwise the scanner does not know where your image is positioned on the glass and will scan the entire flatbed surface.  This will make your scanned image relatively small and show large white areas around it.  

If you have trouble doing this,  please e-mail Andrea,  or simply send the image to her attached to an e-mail with a short message giving the full registered name of the horse,  your name,  city and state. 

Place your photo on the scanner bed squarely.  Otherwise,  he may end up standing uphill,  downhill,  or leaning ... probably not what you wanted :-)  If the photo moves after you close the lid,  just reposition and scan again.  It's worth the extra trouble.

TRY NOT to use the GIF format to save a photo. The colors are limited to 256 shades and do not do photos justice. They need millions (literally) of color shades. 

If the only image you have is already in a GIF format,   don't try to convert it.  Just send it to me as is and I will do my best. Sometimes I can work with it, but much depends on the quality and size of the image file.

DO NOT OVER COMPRESS using the JPEG format (.jpg)    because it squeezes similarly colored pixels into coarse blocks of pixels that can't be "unblocked."

Color photocopies will not scan well enough to use on the internet.  They have already been "screened" (broken up into dots/pixels) and will be of lower quality after being scanned.  If you have no choice and it has been done with a high quality photocopier and it is large in size,  that will help.

To ATTACH AN IMAGE to E-mail

First, be sure you know where the image file is in your computer. You might even want to temporarily save a COPY of it on your "desktop" for easy retrieval.

Open your e-mail program and address an e-mail to me at hoofnote@wamego.net  Then in the "subject" line, put the full registered name of the horse.  (I receive a lot of photo images,  and I don't want a mix-up :-)

Now look on your menu bar (usually located near the top of your monitor screen) for an icon that looks like a "paper clip", or look for a place in the header of your e-mail that says "attach" or "insert."  Programs vary, but those are usually pretty standard appearances.  

Click the paper clip or the location designated for an attachment.  You should then see a text box with a button at the right to allow you to "browse" your computer for the file. Click "browse" and follow the path to the location of the photo image you scanned or have on file or on a floppy disk. 

When you have the name of the image file in the text box, click "OK" or hit "enter,"  whichever the case may be.  Now it should be attached. 

You might put a small message in the e-mail to give me your name and phone number in case I need to contact you.

Now all you have to do is send the e-mail by clicking your "send" button,  just like any regular correspondence. When I receive it,  I will send a note back and acknowledge it and let you know how it looks on my end. :-)

Sending Photos Through the Mail

Important TIP:  When you send photos, BE SURE to sandwich them between layers of THICK corrugated cardboard (or steel plates) so the postmasters from hell can't do their thing! 

Then write "DO NOT BEND" on the envelope.

My (nice) Postmaster says if you write "Do Not Fold,"  they won't FOLD it  ... as in folding it in half and stomping on it to fit my mailbox ...  but they still have permission to "BEND" it. 

I think you have to go to Postal Employee College to learn all this sophisticated terminology,  but ... We don't want the photos folded ... or ...  bent!  Right?

DO NOT CROP your mailed photo. I will crop the scanned image (not the actual photo) to the best advantage. I will remove distracting background objects, such as fence posts, lead shanks, etc. as seems appropriate. If there is a handler in the photo, please indicate whether you wish to have them included or cropped out. (I leave the handler in the photo unless instructed otherwise.) If the photo was professionally done, please provide that information (name, address, phone) so we may give them photo credit.  This is a requirement by most professional photographers.

Send your photos to:

 HorsesONLY
PO Box 148 
42410 Hwy 99 
Wamego, KS 66547-0148 

E-mail Andrea for more HELP 

Related Reading:

Do-It-Yourself Horse Photography - Andrea Laycock Mattson

For a national list of professional photographers, we have a complimentary list organized by state that may help you. We also have a few international listings included.  www.HorsesOnly.com/photographers

Photo Scanning Guidelines  |  Attaching Images to E-Mail
 Mailing Photos  |  Tips for the Do-It-Yourself Horse Photographer
Photo Editing Magic  |  Equine Photographers Directory