Need help with E-Card file size

Hi there--

I work in the Marketing and Graphics department of my company, and need to figure out how to reduce the file-size of our e-cards. The "web" guy can't even figure this out and so, put it on me to resolve.

I only have a basic HTML/CSS background, but my guess from looking at other e-cards, is that in order to keep the size under 60KB, the e-mails are directly coded as HTML docs. Is this right? Is there a specific program for developing them, that perhaps I am not aware of, that would make this easier for our department? So far we have been designing our e-cards in Illustrator, and saving them for web at 800x600px...and the file size ends up anywhere between 100kb and 160kb usually. We need to get an e-mail e-card out for under 60kb...so if anyone has any suggestions on how to do this, that would be great!

Thanks in advance...

Yeah do it all in HTML. As I understand it, some email programs do not support CSS. Don't take my word alone though wait for someone else to reply.

Also, what file type are you saving your images as? png, gif, jpeg?

Yes...the whole e-card is 800x600 px and entirely created in Illustrator, saved as the smallest .pdf file size, imported into Photoshop, and saved for web as either a .gif or a .jpg... they usually result in relatively the same size either way.... and then I guess plopped into an e-mail and sent off after it leaves my hands or my co-worker's.

These articles might help.

Optimizing CSS presentation in HTML emails
A Guide to CSS Support in Email: 2007 Edition

and keep Campaign Monitors' website handy ... TONS of useful info in there!

What type of e-cards are you trying to send? 60kb is quite small: you may be undershooting your market!

See...I didn't think that 150KB was so bad (I have a graphic design/marketing/advertising background, and I'm used to GBs upon GBs! 150KB is NOTHING!)...but he's telling me that the majority of the recipient's e-mails with regard something that big as junk mail and they will never see it.

Oh, and the e-cards are basically just on-screen post-cards--eye-catching design and information.

Nah, tell him he is crazy. 150KB is not all that big, look at Google. Their limit on their entire mailbox is 2,600MB per person. So I am sure most people will have the 150KB to take your email...lol.