SendPhotos v1

Reviewed by: Lianne Reitter Published by: SendPhotos, Inc. Requires: Windows 98, Me, 2000, or XP; Internet Explorer 5.0 or above, 15MB hard drive space required for installation MSRP: US$29.95 (download) If you have ever snapped a digital picture or scanned into your computer an older 4” x 6” print and then endured the arduous task of e-mailing it to someone, SendPhotos is the program for you. I know what you're thinking - "arduous"? Sending photos over the Internet isn't that difficult and you're right of course. The usual process of attaching a picture file to your e-mail is easy enough, unless you want to send two, or a dozen, or unless you want to add caption or descriptive text. Then things get a little more complicated (if not impossible). And what about being on the receiving end of those e-mails? If I get one more picture of my new niece's nostrils, I may cry. After waiting three minutes for the photo to download I then have to save the attachment and open it in some other program just to see the whole of her face.

And then came SendPhotos.

Without question this is the fastest, easiest and most pleasant way to share your pictures. It's a three step process once the software is installed. The installation is so quick and painless it's not even worth mentioning, except to say that installation is quick and painless.

Step one, choose your photos. On the left of the main screen is your Windows Explorer hard drive tree. In Window's XP it defaults to your My Pictures folder, but finding other folders is just as easy as clicking through the Explorer menu. Once the desired folder is found, thumbnails of the pictures inside are shown on the main program screen, each with its own select box in the upper left hand corner. Select those you want to send (a Select All function is also offered) and step one is complete.

Clicking the Next button brings us to step two which allows you to create what I like to call my photo package. Your first choice is to pick the stationery (aka background color and style) for your pictures. There are several included in the initial installation, with many more available for fast download from the Novatix web site. A Get More Stationery button at the top of the program window allows you to access this feature without ever leaving the current activity. Choices for your stationery can be as plain as a single colored background or a theme such as Vacation or Hobbies.

Once you've made your stationery choice, move on to the layout screen to choose the size and layout of your photos. It is here that you also enter captions for each picture if you like, place a drop shadow on them for a 3D effect and type a message to the recipients. As soon as you are satisfied with how your e-mail is going to look, a click of the Finish button brings you to step three.

Earlier, during the installation, SendPhotos determined your preferred e-mail software. With that last click in step two, SendPhotos launches your e-mail software and places the photo selections and layout creation in the body of the e-mail ready for you to make your usual choices of who the lucky recipients will be. Send your creation off in the usual fashion and wait for the applause. SendPhotos works with Outlook, Outlook Express, AOL, Eudora, Netscape, Hotmail and Yahoo Mail.

I promise you will ask yourself how you ever managed to send photos before you bought SendPhotos. OK, it's an obvious play on words but truly, sending pictures in e-mail really was painfully unsatisfying until SendPhotos came along. Highly recommended.

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