[RESOLVED] Does Anyone Know Anything About PeaZip?

I downloaded PeaZip from C-net because it got a very good rating from the editor and from people who used it. I have never been good with Zip programs but according to people that have it, it is suppose to be very easy to use. I went to their on-line help page and read all the FAQs http://peazip.sourceforge.net/peazip...ive_layout_job & still don't understand it. More than half the file names they mention I have never even heard of. All I want to do with a zip program is just to compress a few BMP photos and send them by email to someone. The photos are each about 1.9 MB in size. The person I am sending them to does not have a zip program so I was going to send her the link where to download this program. But she knows exactly nothing about zip files, so I was also going to send her instructions on how to extract the files once she gets them in her email. But when I right clicked on a photo that I wanted to compress, I got a lot of options and was unsure of which one I needed. These were all the options: (in the Send To Menu)
Add to .7Z, Add to .Zip, Add to Archive, Add to Self-extracting archive, Browse path with PeaZip, Compressed (zipped) folder, Open with Command Prompt here, Open with PeaZip, Secure delete, Split File, Test Archives. Since I was not sure which one I needed, I chose the option that said, Add to .Zip. The Zip file that it made, showed no different in size for the photo than the original photo when I attached it to my email. The original was 1.8 MB and the zip file in my email showed the same size. Evidently I am not doing something right. I am sorry that I could not understand the help line, I am sure it is perfectly clear to a lot of people what it was talking about, but it is mostly Greek to me. :confused:
Thanks for any help offered,

All versions of Windows from XP on have a good zip program built in. You right click on a file and select send to compressed.....The other person right clicks on it and select Extract all...Boom all done.

Absolutely. If I want a bit higher compression than .zip I occasionally use WinRar, but otherwise I just use the built in Windows utility and it works perfectly, and couldn't be simpler to use :)

gypsy63--Specific to .bmp files, you can make them smaller by
1) using a graphics editor (even MS Paint will do) and decreasing the physical size (dimensions) of the image. When Saved, the file will also be smaller in bytes.
and/or
2) in the graphics editor save the .bmp as a .jpg file.

I have Vista and I think the friend does too. Where do you find this Windows Utility (their zip?) When I right clicked on the photo, I didn't see anything that showed me a zip program for Windows Zip--maybe I just don't know what I am looking for?:o
Thanks,

Right click on the image in Windows Explorer, and then choose Send To>Zipped folder:

SuperSparks: When you said

Quote:

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choose Send To>Zipped folder

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did you mean this would be the Windows Zip program. The reason I asked was because I could find no mention of a Windows Zip program anywhere on my computer--not even in the Program's list or on the right click menu. I did as you just asked--right clicked on the image in Windows Explorer, looked in the Send To menu, and I did not see anything that refereed to to the word zip other than PeaZip. The only option that was listed there that did not have the PeaZip icon next to it, was the option that said "Compressed (zipped) Folder" and that Option just had a folder for its icon. But I tried it just to see if maybe this was what you were talking about and a zipped file appeared--but when I did a property search on the zipped file, it stated, "Opens With PeaZip". Does this mean that the file I just zipped was done with PeaZip, or did it just mean that now PeaZip is associated with all my zip files and that is what will now open all my zip files? I really hope that "Compressed (zipped) Folder" is the Windows Zip program because then maybe my friend will also have that on her computer and she won't have to download a zip program. I did notice that the zip file was smaller than the original file I tested it on--the original file was 26 MB and it compressed it to 13 MB (not one of the photos that I was sending).

Welshjim: You must have posted at the same time I posted my last post because your post was not there when I left the site. I do realize that JPEG files are a lot smaller, and normally when I send anyone a photo, I always send JPEG. But I have photos I took of this lady's newborn grandson (I am the great-grandmother) and she wanted some of the photos. She said she did not have much luck printing out photos that others send to her in her email because they were not large enough for her printing needs--said they always came out distorted when she tried to print them as a larger photo. That is the only reason I was going to send her such big files of BMPs instead of smaller files of JPEGs. She is about a 3 hour drive from me & I hardly ever see her or I could have just put them on a thumb drive and let her save them from there.
Thanks,

SuperSparks: My apologies! For some reason I over looked the image you had posted about where to find the Windows Zip & I just noticed it and tried the image! :o The question I was asking you is now a moot point because your image showed exactly what I was asking! I am so glad that ""Compressed (zipped) Folder" is what I have been looking for all this time. Thank you, thank you. Now I can let my friend now that she can probably just double click on any zip file I send to her and it will open.
Thanks For All The Different Replies,

R-click a zip file and

http://maximumpcguides.com/windows-7...ile-or-folder/

They explain it better. ;)

Train: Thank you for the link it did explain things better. My question to you will this work on Vista as well as XP? I ask because this article referred to Windows 7 and I have Vista whereas my friend has XP (just found that out). I really like the part that explains how to use the Unzip Wizard. I think that would help my friend when she starts to up zip those photos because I did not know what to tell her about how to save them where she wanted to save them.
Thanks for the link,

I know this has been resolved, but--

If you have Irfanview, you can also convert them all to jpg's, and they'll be considerably smaller. No need to zip.

Foxy: Thank you for your suggestion, but the whole point of me sending her such large files is because she wants them for printing out large photos. She tells me when people send her small photos per email, and she tries to print them out as a larger photo, they come out distorted. Normally when I send photos to someone just for viewing, I always send them smaller JPEGs and never have to zip them. The photos are of my brand new great-grandson, which is her first grandson. The baby is my granddaughter's child and her husband is the son of the lady I am trying to send the photos to. Naturally she wants to print out the photos since it is her first grandson.

Thanks for trying to help, all suggestions are welcomed.

I wasn't talking about physical size, but file size. jpg's are compressed, therefore smaller than equivalent bmp's.

First off, I seriously doubt that size-wise, you'll see much improvement by zipping a .BMP file. They just don't compress well at all.

I have found that .PNG files are the best type to use when size matters and the compression of .JPG files is unacceptable. .PNG files can be quite small but retain very good clarity.

I hate to admit it but I haven't used the built-in image viewers in Windows for a very long time. So, I don't know if they can show .PNG files. I do know all other freebies and paid viewers I have used can...

But because Jpegs are a lossy format, by the time the files have been messed about with a few times, you can lose a lot of quality. It can be worthwhile to either send a bitmap as a zip file, or use another lossless compression method such as Tiff, or .psd for Photoshop users.

The Windows zipping and unzipping process is pretty much the same between XP, Vista and Windows 7, Sheila.

A zip file makes for a handy to place a bunch of graphics so I only need to attach the one folder.

JPGs with 100% compression are not to bad, but they do have a large kb file size.

It cost me less than $2 to snail mail 5 data DVDs of graphics with each graphic being about 20 MB in size. All in the tif format. I let them convert or not as they wish, but they do have a backup from the start.

SuperSparks is right when he said:

Quote:

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Jpegs are a lossy format, by the time the files have been messed about with a few times, you can lose a lot of quality

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That was one of my considerations for not sending a JPEG since she wanted quality photos to print out. Since she is not too familiar with Photo Editing programs, I didn't know if she had something that would read a Tiff file or not, so that is why I finally settled on a BMP format--every computer reads those as well as JPEGs.

HAN: Same reason not to send a PNG file as the reason I gave for not sending a Tiff file. She may not have anything to read it.

Train: That was a good idea about putting the Photos on a DVD (or a CD) and snail mailing them. Also, I could make a CD with photos and leave the CD at my son's house the next time I visit--which is about once every 6-8 weeks. Since she lives closer to them than I do and sees them more often, she could just pick up the CD the next time she came over to see the kids. It would not have paid for me to do that this time though, because there wasn't enough photos to make it worth putting on a CD. I took over a hundred photos of the new baby and his 11 month old sister, but as you know, no matter how good your camera may be all photos don't turn out well. Especially if a 11 month old won't be still! So I will tell her that when I have enough photos to put on a CD I will either mail it to her or bring it to my son's house when I visit. That was a good idea.
Thanks Everyone,

Tif will open in windows fax and picture viewer , which I use. Or whatever they call it in Vista and Win 7.

Sometimes I do not worry about filling a cd/dvd. Backups are extremely important with heirloom graphics in my book!

Then when you have about 8 generations worth. . . I think you understand. ;)

Thanks for the info Train.