Digital Photos
On this page...
Newer stuff
Podcasts -- relatively short online videos -- are a good way to learn by watching. Here are a couple of the best ones on digital photos.
http://cybercoyote.org/news/2006/12/photoshop-online-video-podcast.html
http://www.podtech.net/scobleshow/category/photowalking
George Jester's presentation on digital picture workflow, and links to the programs he discussed in his presentation.
http://cybercoyote.org/articles/workflow.shtml
Picasa
"Picasa is a must-have application for everyone who owns a digital camera. This wonderful piece of software offers simple photo management tools with various sorting options and photo labeling (meta data) capabilities, and provides simple yet powerful photo editing tools that even true beginners can use. You can launch slideshows, create collages, send photos to blogs and Web sites, order prints, and perform virtually any other photo-related task you can think of. I especially like the way the application blurs in the background when a dialog pops up, to ensure you're focused on the right thing."
http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/google_pack.asp -- scroll down
http://www.winsupersite.com/ -- Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows
Picasa works directly with Gmail to send photos to friends. [Use "Tools" > "Options..." > "Email" to switch Picasa to your own email program.] Picasa automatically adjusts your photos for email so they're easier to download and open.
http://picasa.google.com/ -- get Picasa
http://cybercoyote.org/internet/gmail.shtml -- get Gmail
Photo software
Paint.NET: If you want to use a top notch (but free) photo editor to enhance your photos, give "Paint.NET" a try. It's powerful and easy to use (as photo editors go). Unless you already have Microsoft ".Net" installed Paint.NET is a big download, but not too bad with a broadband connection.
http://www.getpaint.net/index2.html
GIMPShop: If you'd like to move up to Photoshop, but want to do it for free, then GIMPShop is for you. It is very much like, and in some ways more powerful (through extensions) than Photoshop.
http://www.gimpshop.net/
Tabblo is an easy to use online photo editor and arranger with an emphasis on presenting photos in a more personalized way.
http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20060621.html
IrfanView, and Microsoft's own "Image Resizer" give you two simple image resizing tools. You can use them to fit pictures to many purposes, for example, printing, emailing or uploading. IrfanView is more powerful.
http://www.irfanview.com/ -- Use [Image > Resize/Resample] in the menu when you want to resize an image.
Image Resizer: scroll down to "Image Resizer" to find it when you get to Microsoft's "PowerToys" page. You access Image Resizer in Windows Explorer. Right click any image(s) and select 'Resize Pictures' in the context menu. Click "Advanced" to get a custom size.
http://cybercoyote.org/url/162.html -- S
Recover Photos: Have you deleted photo(s) you meant to keep from your flash memory card? You cannot recover images with Windows, but you can often do it by using special recovery programs. PC Magazine has the information you need. [A Gail King find]
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1811808,00.asp -- overview
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1811810,00.asp -- the programs
Graphics, Photo Editing, Desktop Publishing and more: Serif Software uses a unique way to promote their products. When they introduce a new version of a product, they make the old version free. Of course Serif hopes you will want to upgrade after you try it, but you can't beat the price if the old version does your job.
http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/ -- the free stuff
http://www.serif.com/ -- the latest versions
PhotoImpact: Can't afford Paint Shop Pro? Compare Ulead PhotoImpact at less than $100. Another approach is to buy a scanner or camera (to get the reasonably good software that comes with it).
Get Organized: There are many programs that offer to organize your photos for you. Three of the best alternatives are free. :-) Kodak's EasyShare and Picasa, and good old Windows Explorer.
http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20051208.html -- EasyShare
Top 8 Free Photo Editors for Windows -- More at About.com
http://cybercoyote.org/news/051208.shtml#thumb -- thumbnails
All about resolution (well almost all)
Resolution is to cameras what horsepower is to automobiles. Yes, it's important, but it's easy to focus too sharply (pun intended) on resolution. The resolution you actually need depends on what you're going to do with your pictures. :-) [below, but more]
Many newer digital cameras take poorer pictures than earlier models. It's simple. Blame it on the pixel race. Compact cameras with more pixels produce images with more "noise". The pictures are grainy and less sharp.
That is, unless you increase the size of the sensor. But a bigger sensor requires a bigger lens, and you'd no longer have a compact camera. ;-) Don't fall into the pixel trap. Six megapixels is the limit for compact camera sensors at this point. [more]
Total pixels is the photographic equivalent of area for a camera. Total pixels should thus be compared to total picture area. Area = Length x Width. If you double the length and width of a picture, you will naturally quadruple the area of the image. That means you would need 4 times as many pixels from your camera's sensor to print an 8" X 10" as for a 4" X 5".
You can't see more than about 240 dots per inch at a reasonable viewing distance, which is about all that many printers can achieve anyway. At 8" X 10", that means 1920 x 2,400 dots. The dimensions of a 5 Megapixel sensor are 1,920 x 2,560 pixels. (The sensor might be 0.48" x 0.6" in actual size, but pixels, not inches is what counts.) A 5 Megapixel camera matches 8" x 10" pictures very well.
If you severely crop a picture, and then print it at the original size, you'll want a lot more resolution than you would if you just printed the uncropped original. Example: Take an camera that has enough resolution for printing on 8 x 10 paper. Crop (trim) the image down to a 4 x 5 region in the middle. Then expand and print that cropped region at 8 x 10 too. It won't be as crisp.
It would take 4 times as much resolution in the original image to still get good resolution. That's because you've expanded the area by 4 times. Your 4 or 5 Megapixel camera doesn't give enough starting resolution in this case. An 8 Megapixel camera would be better for that degree of cropping.
Computer monitors are another matter
Monitors do not work in inches either -- they also work in pixels. If a computer monitor has a screen "resolution" 800 x 600, that means that an 800 X 600 pixel picture exactly fills the screen. That works out to around 75 pixels per inch. There is little advantage in having more pixels than that if the image will be only be displayed by monitors. Keeping the pixels down lets the image load faster.
On the other hand, the resolution of pictures that will be downloaded and printed should be 300 pixels per inch or so. That's why there's often a separate link to download the picture if you want to print it. The downloaded file will be several times larger that the image file being displayed. Good photosharing websites provide that option. For example, the file that you download at PhotoWorks is close to 8 times (418 KB vs 53 KB) the size of the small file that you see online.
Printing Photos
If you want your print quality to be better than "good" your photo printer should have 6, not just 3 colors to work with. The Epson 2200 is an example of a 6 color printer, but it's overkill for what most of us want to do. The most important thing you can do is use the manufacturer's own ink and paper if you want top results with any digital photo printer
"Why Do-It-Yourself Photo Printing Doesn't Add Up":http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/08/technology/08photo.ready.html
http://www.photoworks.com/ -- the online photo service that I use. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1538516,00.asp
http://www.dpreview.com/
Comparison of photo printers. [more]
Get your digital pictures professionally printed without a special printer or cartridges:http://www.photoworks.com/Info/Digifilm/Default.aspx
http://www.shutterfly.com/learn/index.jsp
http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2911791,00.html
Thanks to Mike Diamond, I have some great digital photo links to pass along. These are sites where the passion for photography shows (pun not intended) If you're serious about your photos, they are a great place to start. If you just have some questions, some of these sites can be very helpful too.
http://www.computer-darkroom.com/ -- Film Scanning, Photoshop, Color Management, Display (monitor) Color Calibration, and Printing with Epson Inkjet Printers, plus some great photo galleries.
http://www.arraich.com/ps_intro.htm -- Photo editing and everything you wanted to know about Photoshop.
http://www.breezesys.f9.co.uk/critique/favourable/index.htm -- some superb photos, plus more on using Photoshop.
http://www.normankoren.com/ -- Tutorials on many aspects of photography, plus extensive information on all aspects of digital images, including advanced manipulation.
http://www.photo.net/ -- a forum for photography enthuiasts
http://www.photography.com/ -- the online website of RitzCamera (where I bought one of my first cameras about 50 years ago).
http://www.zuga.net/ -- "How to take great pictures."
http://www.visionlandscapes.com/Home.aspx -- Landscape Photography.
More resources online
"Point and Shoot" http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/23/technology/circuits/23BASI.htmlFamily Album: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/23/technology/circuits/23ALBU.html
Rayovac has new rechargeable NiMH batteries and a 1-Hour Charger to replace ordinary camera batteries.
CNET compares 4 online photo managers:http://home.cnet.com/software/0-3227861-8-9797885-1.html
And not to be outdone ZDNet has an interesting article too:
http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2867350,00.html
Microsoft has an interesting photo page, primarily about Windows XP features
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/digitalphotography/default.asp
Some of the best options for organizing your pictures.
Graphics 101 http://builder.cnet.com/webbuilding/0-3883-8-4892140-1.html
http://www.shortcourses.com A serious digital photography resource.
Camera reviews and more at CNet http://reviews.cnet.com/
Comprehensive camera reviews http://www.imaging-resource.com/
To SUBSCRIBE to the "Imaging Resource Digital Photography Newsletter" http://www.imaging-resource.com/IRNEWS/
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