Table of Contents

1. How Do I Download Images from My Digital Camera?
2. How Do I Scan a Picture for Best Quality?
3. What Are the "Normal" Image Formats?
4. How Can I Convert Formats Using Standard Windows Programs?
5. How Can I Edit Images for Size and Brightness?

 

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How Do I Download Images from My Digital Camera?

These instructions assume that your computer is running Windows and has plug-and-play?

When you plug the camera into the computer and turn in ON (there may be a switch setting on your camera for this connection), it should automatically open the "Windows Scanner and Camera Wizard" program. It should show you the name of your camera. If you ever have the option of downloading in various formats, the best for actual pictures (IMHO) is ".jpg" or ".jpeg".

1. Click NEXT.
2. First it shows you the pictures in the camera, where you check-mark the ones you want to download. (Normally, all should be checkmarked. If you don't wish to download a picture from the camera, unmark it, but watch the next step.)
3. Click NEXT.
4. You are now on the "Picture Name and Destination screen.
   1. "1 - Type a name of this group of pictures."
      It's asking you to enter a prefix for the pictures you will download from the camera. NOTE: Personally, I name the picture with the date of my download, and maybe a little more information, if the majority are of the same subject. (ie: "20060714_Jul4th_"). The final underscore is because the download will number all the pictures, using what I entered as a prefix to the picture name.
   2. "2 - Choose a place to save this group of pictures."
      It's asking WHERE you want to download them (directory and file).
      1. Use the BROWSE button and navigate to where you wish to save the pictures.
      2. Personally, I have a folder (in My Computer/My Pictures) called "$Camera" - The "$" forces Windows to show the folder first in line when sorted by name.
      3. In THAT folder, I have folders called "2004", "2005", "2006", etc. (the year).
      4. For each download, I create a NEW FOLDER named with the month/day (ie: "1129").
         SPECIAL NOTES: When creating a new folder, make sure you are creating it IN the year (or your preferred method folder.) You will then need to click on another folder name, make sure it appears in the bottom, then click on your new folder. I believe this is a bug in the system, but this is a simple work-around.
   3. "[ ] Delete picture from my device when copying them."
      Click this (check-mark it) to delete the pictures from the camera when they are downloaded. I usually check the box. (No reason to use the space on the camera once you have them on the computer.)
   4. Click NEXT. It downloads the pictures, then deletes them from the camera (if the box was checked.) This step can take a while, depending on the size of the picture files in your camera, your memory and CPU, etc. You CAN Cancel the deletion of pictures once they are downloaded on this screen, if you wish.
5. On the next-to-last step, you get options, such as:
   1. Publish these pictures to a Web Site.
   2. Order prints of these pictures from a photo printing Web site.
   3. Nothing. I'm finished working with these pictures.
      NOTE: I normally leave "C" clicked. You can ALWAYS do the other options.
   4. Click NEXT
      Option "C" will then open the directory into which you downloaded the pictures after the next step.
6. Click FINISH
   It says to click the location shown to view your pictures, but (and this may be a setting I've forgotten), the directory comes up when the wizard closes.

TURN THE CAMERA OFF.
(No reason to waste the camera batteries, now the pictures are no longer on it.)

When the directory from above opens:

1. I usually select the VIEW/THUMBNAILS option. I can see most of the pictures that way, but to really view them...
2. Double-click the first one* (this will only happen if you download in an image format... DAT is NOT an image format...).

NOTE: In some cases, double-clicking MAY bring up a picture editor. I, personally prefer to look at all the pictures, first, before editing. My default viewing program was (and still is) Windows Picture and FAX Viewer. If double-clicking produces and editor, and you'd prefer to view them:

1. With the cursor on the picture, RIGHT-click (press the right mouse-button).
2. Either click PREVIEW or select the OPEN WITH... option and select the Windows Picture and FAX Viewer (or a comparable viewing program).

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How Do I Scan a Picture for Best Quality?

Most scanners use a DPI (Dots-per-Inch) scale. For highest quality images, use the highest DPI setting you can on your scanner. However, processing this scan may take some time. For most personal uses, including "blowing them up" to about 8x10 to print them, the following DPI settings are the ones I prefer:

Remember, the higher the DPI you use, the larger the file in which the image is stored will be - and, if it's too large, many email systems will not be able to handle it. But, remember also, the higher the DPI, the better the quality of the picture should be.

To change the size of the image (for email and the web), see How Can I Edit Images for Size and Brightness?, below.

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What Are the "Normal" Image Formats?

Most image files are named based on the file-extension, which is used by many programs (and Windows) to define the file-type. Here are just some of the standard image extension types:

• BMP - (BitMapped image)
  • (Pronounced "BUMP")
  • This is the standard Windows raster format. (Originally, MS PAINT saved ONLY in this format)
  • May be saved in True Color (24-bit, like JPGs) or using a Custom Color Palette (like GIFs)
  • Files saved in BMP format tend to be quite large in size. I don't recommend this format for email or web, if you can help it.
• GIF - Graphics Interchange Format
  • (Pronounced "GIFF". NOTE: Some pronounce it with a hard-G (as in "go") and others with a soft-G (as in "gentle"). I prefer the hard-G.)
  • This is an 8-bit (or less), 256-color file-format for storing:
    • drawings or line-art (basically, non-photographic images. If you create the picture by drawing and coloring it on the computer, like most icons, backgrounds, some banners, etc.)
    • Photos that have large areas of the same color (Be aware that sometimes you can't tell that one shade is really different from another until you save it in this format and look at it again.)
    • Images that require transparency - You can normally chose one color in the image to be transparent, allowing the image or background behind it to show through. (Be aware that unless you can specifically chose the color to make transparent, another shade may be used, and give you results you don't want.)
    • Animated Images - Many of the graphics that change are "Animated GIFs". For an example, see the "An OFP Website" button near the lower end of the sidebar on this page. It uses six (6) different images (one shown twice) in a specific order, with pauses between each image. Basically, the images are "layered", with a different image coming "to the top" to display.
  • GIFs compress by removing redundant pixels, altering the image.
• JPG (or JPEG) - Joint Photographic Experts Group
  • (Pronounced "Jay-Peg")
  • This is a "True Color" (24-bit) file format for storing high-quality images (color or grayscale (B&W). It was designed to compress images using many colors (or shades of gray), which includes most photographs, for display on the web. These files usually have an extension (the part of the filename after the (last) period) of JPG. JPGs use a compression algorithm that creates moderate-sized images by removing data not necessary to display it correctly. You can normally chose the amount of compression to use.
• PNG - Portable Network Graphics format
  • (Pronounced "PING")
  • Most browsers (and, therefore email clients) cannot (currently) display PNG files without a special plug-in.
  • Compresses the image retaining all of the image data in the file, so no image degradation should be noticed. (I beg to differ with this, in that in some of the images I saved in this format, straight reds, blues and yellows displayed darker - so much so that the colors were then incorrect.)
  • According to what I've heard, this format is gaining in popularity on the web, even with the above "problems".
• TIFF (or TIF) - Tagged Image File Format
  • (Pronounced "TIFF")
  • Can be used for gray-scale, black-and-white, 8-bit and 24-bit color images.
  • Transfers well between platforms, including most email clients
  • Originally developed for storing scanned images.
  • These files are also quite a bit larger than most people want to view on the web (or in email).

The preferred formats are GIF and JPG formats. Please note that MANY email clients may have problems sending and receiving more than 2MB (2000KB) emails. Remember, too, that for the web, you want the image to be small enough for those people with 56.6 baud dial-up modems to be able to view in just a few seconds. People are impatient when it comes to the web, and pages that take too long to display may be totally ignored.

Most digital cameras and scanners allow you to save the images in at least one of the listed formats, though some will originally save in a proprietary format, then allow you to convert to one of these.

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How Can I Convert Formats Using Standard Windows Programs?

The following instructions use Windows Picture and FAX View and Windows Picture Editor, two programs that come standard with most Windows installations. If you do not have them, you should be able to use other programs following the techniques shown here.

These instructions were originally written for a friend who was sending .DATs as image files. While ANY file may be opened in some programs, .DAT is not considered by any to be a "direct image" file (meaning they will look at the data, and some will display it as such, instead of an image). Conversion MUST take place before you can do anything image-wise with it. The following assume we are starting in the non-standard format (.DAT) and will explain how (and why) you should convert them. It looks like there are a lot of steps, but after you've done it a couple of times, it will come pretty naturally, so don't be "afeared".

1. Open the file in Windows Picture and FAX Viewer
2. Click the computer disk along the bottom. The tool tip should say "Copy To (Ctrl-S)"
3. Change the "Save as Type" box to JPEG/JPG.
   NOTE: This will leave your original picture (in my friend's case a .DAT) file alone. Note also that his image.dat was 901KB. That's almost 1Meg - 1000KB! When saved as the JPG, the same picture with no other changes to it was 192KB. Saves a LOT of space in emails, etc. After this, we're going to make it/them even smaller!
4. When you have all your pictures converted to JPG, now you get to edit them!

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How Can I Edit Images for Size and Brightness?

Edit image(s) using Windows Photo Editor.

1. Open the file:
   1. You can navigate to where the images are saved, or
      You can close and reopen the Picture/FAX Viewer.
   2. Find the picture you want to edit and RIGHT-click your mouse on it.
   3. In the menu that appears, chose the OPEN WITH... option and select it

   4. One of the options should be Windows Photo Editor - click it. (Paint will do, if necessary)

      Windows Photo Editor should open with the picture ready to edit. Paint may require you to change the extension to BMP.

    

2. Check the PROPERTIES of the current image...
   (In FILE, click on PROPERTIES.)

   We do this step, because sometimes the picture is actually that size, but you cannot tell. For most emails and webpages, 800px wide is the largest you should EVER want to go...  600px is pretty normal, though. If they are 640px (or less) like these were, your width and height are ok. If not:

   NOTES: You can also change the format from True-Color to Black & White (Gray-Scale or Gray-Ramp, here) too.

   These steps can also be used to resize a picture LARGER, too. However, when doing so, in most cases, the resolution will cause problems in the way the picture will look.

3. Close the PROPERTIES window
    
4. Chose RESIZE in the IMAGE menu
   1. Make sure UNITS is set to PIXELS
   2. Make sure "Allow distortion" box is NOT checked and SMOOTH box IS checked

   3. Change the WIDTH to a number between 600px and 800px.

      Standard is 600, 640, I use 650, 700, and largest you should resize should be 800. The HEIGHT should change to match, and the %-ages should be the same.

   4. Click OK and your picture will change to the new size
       

5. Now you can do anything else you want to do to the picture.

   Most of the time, you will not want to do much more than lighten/brighten the thing, although there are MANY things you can do... Play around... See what all the options do.

6. To brighten, use IMAGE/BALANCE (you will see the changes to the image)
   1. 1st try to change the GAMMA up. This brightens all the colors.
      If you don't like the changes, reset GAMMA to what it was, AND
   2. Change the BRIGHTNESS up.
      Again, you will see what the change will do to the image.

   3. Change CONTRAST if you wish. (If you change the brightness, you will probably also wish to change the contrast.)

      If you like the change(s), keep it/them (click OK).
      If not, click CANCEL.

7. You may want to change the SHARPNESS of the image.
   1. Choose the SHARPEN option in the EFFECTS menu.
      Try a number of settings, pressing CTRL-Z or EDIT/UNDO to reset the image between each. You can do it a little at a time, or a lot at a time. Don't worry, you can always Control-Z or Undo (EDIT menu) the change(s).
       
8. SAVE the picture.
   1. Click FILE/SAVE AS...
      1. Make sure it's going to to be saved to the folder you want it to

      2. Give it a new filename, by at least adding a suffix-code with what you did to the image.

         This step is the most crucial, as far as I'm concerned. ALWAYS save the picture with a different name than it started with. That way, if, when you look at it again, if you notice things didn't change the way you wanted them to, you can delete the changed image, or replace it by starting at step 1 (above) again, and save it with the new name. You will be told a file by that name already exists, and asked if you want to replace it. It's up to you...

      3. Make sure the List Files of Type box says JPG
      4. Click MORE>>
         1. CONVERT TO should be what your image is (normally, True Color (24 bit))
            [You will normally use as many colors as possible!]
         2. Make sure JPEG Quality Factor is 50 or so. 100 would be 100%, meaning you would not lose any quality, but the image would be large (remember the 192K, above?)
         3. Click OK

Your image should now be saved. With the compression (JPG Conversion and JPG Quality), my friend's image was only 23.5KB, but looked just as good, if not better (I DID sharpen it!) than the original.

You MIGHT have to reopen the picture and save it again, recompressing it to bring down the size even more. This depends on how you wish to use it.

Remember,

• JPGs should be used for "real pictures" on the web.
• GIFs should be used for graphics you make.
• "Real pictures" are anything that AREN'T DRAWN, while Graphics ARE drawn.

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