What's better to send in an email, attachment or link?

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Need to send an email to some junkyards to see if they have the part I need and show them a picture of it. Is it best to attach a picture or include a link to the picture? Personally I would avoid clicking on email attachments from unknown sources but also realise some people don't click on links either. So which one to use?
 
Originally Posted by atikovi
Need to send an email to some junkyards to see if they have the part I need and show them a picture of it. Is it best to attach a picture or include a link to the picture? Personally I would avoid clicking on email attachments from unknown sources but also realise some people don't click on links either. So which one to use?


Both methods come with viruses. What's so unusual that you just can't call it out by Model Car and year?
 
How would you call this part circled in red?

[Linked Image from fototime.com]
 
Center console lighter outlet panel, for the full console option that extends between the seats.

Attach the pic AND link to it. Many email clients will load an attached, supported image file for preview by default, so they may not even have a need to wonder if they should click an attachment because it's already loaded in the email client.
 
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Originally Posted by doitmyself
Why not just copy/paste the picture into the body of the email message?


Never done that. Is that even possible? Drag and drop?
 
1) It's going to a business. How do businesses communicate with customers without attachments?
2) Most people or businesses have security software that would flag something that had a problem with it.
 
I'd put the pic into the email. You could attach it too as backup but a simple inline pic I'd think would suffice. I'd think any good business would filter off anything it deemed malicious and/or it'd just send it to a spam folder. Speaking of, I wonder if a yard would "self filter" any email that has too much info in it?

Anyhow, I wonder if it'd be best to send the email, state the description, then put in a followup that says "I have photos of what I need, and what isn't correct; I can send those if that would clarify the issue?" and leave it up to them to request that info. At that point they have your contact info and may have verified you as someone trustworthy, or they may not care about any security risks.
 
Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by doitmyself
Why not just copy/paste the picture into the body of the email message?


Never done that. Is that even possible? Drag and drop?

Not only possible, but about as easy as it gets. In Outlook it's as easy as Insert>Pictures. Drag and drop will create an attachment.
 
I understand your frustration, I'm just explaining the realities here.
A lot of businesses have just a web based forms where one can only write an inquiry, with no attachments even allowed.

Also, security software can only do so much. If a user triggers something by opening a link or an attachment, virus software has little chance of catching it.

In my company I get regular security emails reminding everyone not to open any links or attachments from outside emails. So while internally we can attach links, pictures, whatever, external emails are treated differently. And we are all behind a security fire wall.


Why not call the place, give them your name and email address you will use, explain the situation and ask how they can accommodate it?
 
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Will do. And the Mail.com service I use occasionally sends a message saying, The email from xxx contained a virus and was deleted. Please contact them directly if it was in error... so I'm pretty sure it's detected before you even get it.
 
*Some* businesses have restrictive policies regarding the acceptance of email attachments that could make the (seemingly simple) process of emailing someone something more difficult than it needs to be. I doubt most junk or scrapyards would have such policies; but it's worth noting. Also, depending on their internet or data service, some people may not appreciate receiving a large file. Some email accounts have file size limits, too.

Using a link has two disadvantages: 1) The link may expire (if the image is moved or removed or the address changes; OR if the owner of the images disables "hotlinking" to the image directly) and 2) The recipient would have to have a functioning internet connection at read-time in order to see the image at that moment.

I'd use the attachment after scaling down and/ or cropping the image to ensure it isn't too large and I would also place the image in Google Photos or some other cloud-based, sharing-capable service as a backup.
 
Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by doitmyself
Why not just copy/paste the picture into the body of the email message?


Never done that. Is that even possible? Drag and drop?

Doesn't mean the recipients email will keep in in the body. Many will strip it out and put it back as an attachment.

To copy and paste into your email, you "copy" it and then "paste" it.

Or you "insert" it.

Or you can drag and drop it.
 
Originally Posted by Fawteen
Drag and drop will create an attachment.
Originally Posted by atikovi
I don't use Outlook, have Mail.com gmail.com, etc.

Drag and drop will work just fine using Gmail and many other email clients and/or services, including Outlook, Gmail, and Thunderbird (just tested).
 
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