How to achieve the best image for your MMS campaign
Resizing and keeping your media at the correct scale is important for optimizing deliverability in ThruText. While some carriers can support larger files, differences in devices, file types, and how media is transcoded can prevent delivery.
The Media Library restricts the maximum size for most media at 750kb. Messages larger than this will be blocked by carriers. The limit for videos uploaded to the media library is higher at 10MB. Videos are transcoded, or converted and compressed, when they're uploaded to fit the messaging system standards. If the final compressed version still exceeds 750kb, the upload will show an error message. This guide offers recommendations to help you resize media for best results.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Resizing Images
Resizing Images using Preview for Macs
To resize images in Preview on a Mac, follow the directions on resizing images in Apple's Support guides. It is essential to select "Scale proportionally." By scaling proportionally, when you change the image's vertical or horizontal dimensions, the other value changes to maintain the proportions. Then, if you choose a size from the "Fit into" pop-up menu, the image's width or height may be smaller than the selected size to maintain the proportions.
Resizing images using Photos in Windows
To resize images using Photos in Windows, follow the directions in this Business Insider guide. Once the image is open in Photos, you can click the three vertical dots to access the "Resize" tool. By choosing the "Custom" option and selecting "Maintain aspect ratio," your image will automatically adjust when the height or the width is changed.
Other tools for images
Free tools like Krita, Image Resizer, or GIMP can be used. Alternatively, your organization may use a paid-for tool like Adobe Photoshop.
Video MMS
Most carriers can support an MMS message up to 1MB in size, however some carriers can only support file sizes up to 750kb. Sending larger media files can reduce the deliverability of your MMS campaigns. When you upload files to ThruText, our system automatically transcodes, or converts and compresses, your file to an acceptable format for MMS. ThruText's media library can only accept files up to 10MB in size, so if the video is larger than 10MB, we recommend compressing your video to this size before uploading it to the Media Library.
Resizing Videos on Macs
Most Macs come preinstalled with a video editing software called iMovie. To compress a video in iMovie, follow these steps:
- Open the video by selecting "File > Import Media".
- After opening the video, select "File > Share > File". You will then be able to adjust the resolution, quality, and compression options.
- Export the video and save it as a new file.
Resizing Videos on Windows
In Windows, you can download a free app from the Microsoft Store called ClipChamp. To compress a video in ClipChamp, follow these steps:
- Open the app, sign in, and click "Try it" next to "Trim your Video".
- Add your video by clicking "Add" or drag and drop your video into the app.
- Click "Export" and select a lower resolution to compress the video to.
- The file should automatically save in your Downloads folder.