Digital Photography

"Photographs of real people doing things at your agency almost always trump other forms of graphics for web pages, flyers, brochures, slide shows, etc. But are you finding it difficult to find, produce and/or modify photographs from your digital camera? This half day class will cover selecting digital cameras and scanners; producing and duplicating photos; tricks to using photo software as well as sources of stock photos and the like. A fun morning chock full of useful ideas for the small to medium nonprofit."

Presenter: Wes Doak
Date: Friday, September 30, 2005 Time: 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Location: Access Media School (Mariposa Room) , 4623 T Street, Sacramento, CA 95819
 

Sponsored by: the Nonprofit Resource Center 828 I Street (2nd Floor Sacramento Public Library) Sacramento, CA 95814-2589

(916) 264-2772 (916) 264-2787
http://www.nonprofitresourcectr.orgt
Class Notes
Last updated 27September2005 by Wes Doak; class instructor

The basics: acquisition/manipulation/utilization/storage

Today's agenda:

  1. Introductions
  2. Q&A
  3. Live demo of PE3.0 [BTW 4.0 is available for Windows PCs $99]
  4. Discussion of picture sources
  5. Demo of Fotosearch
  6. Demo of hd search (Tiger/Google/Windows)
  7. Discussion of graphic formats/resolutions, etc
  8. Demo of scanner/sofware
  9. Discussion of printers
  10. Break
  11. Review of picture manipulation software
  12. Discussion of TechSoup and TechSoup Stock
  13. Discussion of slideshow software
  14. Discussion of printing options

Picture Sources

Free via web (do ask for permission!)
Use Google, Teoma, et al. and ask for "free (topic) .gifs" etc.
Scan from original source (do ask for permission!)
Scanners; Epson HP, Microtek, Umax, etc.

Scanning software; proprietary or VueScan by Hemrick

Google Images/Yahoo Images
Commercial sources
On-line; Getty Images, Comstock, liquid treat, Corbis, etc. Check out fotosearch!
CDs;
Clip Art: What about it?

Finding them on your HD

Cameras (Yes) WebCams (Maybe) Cell Phones (No)

Film via CD [SEE ALSO resources found at fotosearch]
Digital
Pixels/Resolutions
Graphic formats; .gif, .jpeg, PNG, etc.
  • GIF. Use for logos, line drawings and icons. NOT good for phographs. GIS allows for transarency and interlacing and support no more than 256 colors. Animatred gifs are also possible for low res items. Vector-based images require something such as Macromedia's Flash, etc.
  • JPEG. Supports up to 16.7 million colors and is primarily used for photographs. While GIF reduces the number of colors, JPEG tosses some of them to reduce the size of the image. Sometimes the naked eye can see the difference sometimes not.
  • PNG. Competition for GIF this format does not require patent licenses, etc. and provides somewhat greater depth of color. Does NOT support animation
  • SEE ALSO the Photo Manipulation section of this website.
 
Screen resolutions [4:3]; VGA, SVGA, XGA,QVGA, SXGA, UXGA, QXGA, etc. and [5:4 or 16:9]
  • VGA=640x480
  • SVGA=800x600
  • XGA1024x960
  • QVGA=1280x960
  • SXGA=1400x1050
  • UXGA=1600=1200
  • QXGA=2048x1536
  • QSXGA=2800x2100
  • QUXGA=3200x2400
Megapixels; 2 or less and up to 6 or so
  • 2 megapixels or less is typically found on inexpensive cameras, cellphones and PDAs, etc.
  • 3 megapixels is currently a sweet spot as it is OK for 4x6 and can be stretched to 5x7 or even larger
  • 4 megapixels can be used for up to 8x10s with great results...excellent below that
  • 5 megapixels. Now you're talking about at least several hundred dollars but you're also rubbing elbows with professional photography. 11x14 is at least OK.
  • 6 megapixels gets you into serious territory and rarely needed for NPOs!
  • Check "Froogle" or similar websites for the latest pricing; which changes daily....
 
dpi, et al
DPI (dots per inch) is a measurement of priunter resolution, through it is commonly applied, somewhat inappropriately to monitors, scanners and cameras. The higher the DPI the more detailed the images, text and other printed elements will appear. A more accurate term for all but printing would be PPI or pixels per inch. If your picture source is higher than your printer specs, or screen specs/resolution, the extra quality will simply be lost to your viewers.
Removable media
  • CDs/MiniCDs
  • Cards
  • USB
  • Mini HDs
Prices: On Tuesday ()Sept27th) I received an email from OfficeMax announcing the HP Photosmart R717 6.2 Megapixel digital camera, including a free 256MB SD Card (a $40 value?) all for $269.98. Go figure. The price goes down on these items seemingly by the hour. You knew SD means secure digital, didn't you?
Printers

[Question: is the image to the left a gif or a jpeg?]

Photo manipulation software

Photo Album/photo manipulation/slideshow software

Slideshow software

Printing service bureaus

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