photos via email

**123nat** · 01-10-2013, 09:42 AM

Hello,

I am struggling to be able to download and save photos that were sent via email on my Playbook.

Am I missing a simple trick or something? I don't just want to keep it under "downloads" I want to download it all and save it to a file. How does one do that?

Many thanks

**snow_stipple** · 01-10-2013, 11:38 AM

If you want to save all the pictures that came in an email onto your Playbook and into a file (album) you name there is a way when accessing the emails through the browser and not the native Messages. I've only tried on gmail and hotmail accounts and each is a little different in the methods and some of the things you can additionally do.

I had written something up with all the procedures and was hoping to edit it down a bit before posting. I'll go through it again and add it here soon.

**pacoman03** · 01-10-2013, 02:00 PM

Photos downloaded from Messages will by default be downloaded into your "Downloads" folder. You can transfer these to your "Photos" folder- there are a number of file managers that will allow you to do this. For me, the best and easiest way to do this is by using "Ghost Commander", a free app in app world. It's a dual pane file browser. Install and open Ghost, tap on Playbook Media from the left pane, then on "downloads" folder. Then, on the right pane, tap on Plabook Media again, then on "photos". Then, back to the left pane, scroll down to find the pic you want to move, tap on the right hand side of the file to select it (tapping on the left hand side of the file opens it), and then, from the toolbar at the bottom of the screen, select "move". and then "OK" from the popup screen. The file will then be moved to the photos folder.

**snow_stipple** · 01-10-2013, 06:24 PM

Access gmail by browser:

On the left, scroll down to bottom of Messages area and select 'Desktop'. After it loads, open the email with the pictures. Click on 'Download all attachments'. The save box will default to whatever the email's name was along with .zip as the extension. Keep that or re-name without zip part. Save. Click on the Download message and click Open on the download. It will then go to File Manager which you can just close to then go back to Downloads. Delete download and click the back arrow. You'll then be back at your email page. Sweep up from bottom twice to go to the Playbook's Pictures App (not the File Manager). Scroll to new Album.

Opening more emails this way and saving each with the same name as an existing Album will keep adding pictures to that album. You will get a message when opening the download saying 'Output folder/accounts/1000/shared/downloads/xxxnamexxx already exists' and the choice of cancel or overwrite. Select overwrite and when you go to the Pictures they'll have been added into the album.

Hotmail through browser:

At bottom of email page select 'PC site.' Open email and scroll below the pictures to the message 'Download all as zip.' Select, Name, Open Download, Close FileManager, delete download, back arrow to email account, sweep up twice and go into Pictures and to the Album.

To add to an existing Album from Hotmail name the download the same as the Album. A message will say 'File exists. Rename this file or press Save to replace existing file'. Choose Save, click on download message and then open download, click Overwrite to the Output folder message, (brief 'extracting zip' message will appear), close File Manager, delete download to go back to email. Sweep up from bottom bezel and open Pictures. Latest pics will be added into Album.

Don't save emails using the names Camera Pictures or All Pictures. I don't think anything would happen if you tried but they're Playbook Albums already so find other names. New pics will show up in All Pictures anyway.

Pictures in an Album will not be in the order they were in the email(s). They now follow the naming order of the Playbook.

**taz323** · 01-10-2013, 06:42 PM

Press,hold hit save.

**Mel25** · 01-11-2013, 06:27 AM

Wish I could send pics straight from my photo albums.

**welshyyyyy** · 01-11-2013, 09:39 AM

Mel, you can do this with the files and folders app

**pacoman03** · 01-11-2013, 02:21 PM

Originally Posted by welshyyyyy

Mel, you can do this with the files and folders app

Actually, Ghost Commander or ES File Explorere or X-Plore are much better for doing this that F&F.

**welshyyyyy** · 01-11-2013, 02:28 PM

In your opinion of course...actually

**pacoman03** · 01-11-2013, 02:52 PM

Not really, actually. Unless in your opinion having the ability to attach only one file to an email is "better" than having the ability to attach multiple files to an email. Or, unless, in your opinion, not having access to your PB Contacts is "better" than having access to your Contacts when sending an email. Or, unless, in your opinion, having access to only one email account to send an email is better than having access to multiple accounts. The apps I mentioned have more options and capabilities, and that's not an opinionm, it's a fact.

**Branta** · 01-11-2013, 07:01 PM

Someone came close to a ban, close enough to have the offending post removed.

**Mel25** · 01-12-2013, 05:03 PM

Originally Posted by welshyyyyy

Mel, you can do this with the files and folders app

Originally Posted by pacoman03

Actually, Ghost Commander or ES File Explorere or X-Plore are much better for doing this that F&F.

Why should I pay money to use an app just to email photos from my albums smh. It's the simple things that make me angry at rim.

**pacoman03** · 01-12-2013, 05:19 PM

Originally Posted by Mel25

Why should I pay money to use an app just to email photos from my albums smh. It's the simple things that make me angry at rim.

Ghost, ES and X-Plore are all free apps. Also, the android Gallery app, in app world and also free, is a Pictures type app that allows you to email from within the app. That being said, Gallery has a number of issues that otherwise make it hard to recommend.

**snow_stipple** · 01-13-2013, 09:07 AM

In the thread 'Are you disappointed with your Playbook?' the following issue was raised again:
“How is it unfinished? OK, you're looking at pictures and you want to email someone one of them in a folder of 100's. While in the picture viewing app can you choose "send to", nope. In email you can attach, have you tried to find the one pic you want to send and attach it? Yes after scrolling thru 100's of them to find it.”

Well, with some qualifications, it is possible to get a picture from Album to email attachment in about 30 seconds using only the Playbook. Under 15 seconds if you had Messages already open.

Starting in Album open and at full screen of the picture you want to send:

Take a screen shot.
Go and Open Messages.
Open new email.
Click on Attachments.
At File Manager first click on the Search Icon and then on Pictures.
Last picture is the one you just took the screen shot of.
Select and click Attach.
Attachment is now in email.

More pictures? After the first screen shot you could continue selecting and taking screen shots from that Album or elsewhere. Then complete the steps to get from email to the File Manger Pictures. Click on the pictures in the order you want them to appear in the email and then click the Attach button which will show the number of pictures you've selected.

Note: Clicking on the Icon then the Pictures to go to the last picture in File Manager (most recently taken) requires you be in Landscape. Portrait doesn't work.

Issues:
1) Others have said that screen shots don't have the same image quality as the original. Someone will need to provide details as I am not sure what is the level.
2) You've now created a duplicate picture so you'll want to delete it afterwards. Easy enough to find it being right at the end of File Manager.

If you had recently taken the original picture(s) then it's/they're near the end already so the above could have been skipped. Just opening an email and clicking Attachment, etc would have taken you directly to them.

F2 · 01-13-2013, 11:11 AM

snow_stipple:

That is definitely one way to deal with attaching a picture or pictures but they do lose resolution or quality. Whether that matters is dependent on the needs of the sender/recipient.

Here's a image with the data ovelayed over it. Not the best picture anyway - gray day in Oregon. The interesting aspect is the file size is larger and the number of unique colors is changed. The jpg is the original and the png is the screenshot

**snow_stipple** · 01-13-2013, 11:49 AM

F2,

Thanks, I wasn't sure if there was. I couldn't see anything in my tests but I tend towards the "good enough for me" work sign-offs.

F2 · 01-13-2013, 12:30 PM

I should do it with another brighter image. I was surprised at the number of colors aspect. When I first read it, I thought the screenshot had reduced it to 3,000 (approx) but then realized it had increased the color count. Eh, not very easy to read the data!

Again, increase in number of colors Went from 196,000 to 214,000 (rounding). Print size went from 36.x20 to 14x8. Resolution from 2592x1456 to 1024x600. Definitely a reduction in quality or, at least, a change in quality.