Working with Camera Resolution
Many digital cameras allow you to select various resolution settings. Those settings may be in pixel dimensions, such as 1024 x 768, or in graphic display standards, such as VGA (Video Graphics Array, usually 640 x 480) and XGA (Extended Graphics Array, usually 1024 x 768). The settings may even take on generic terms like Fine, Hi and Basic. To understand the resolution settings your camera offers, check the manufacturer's documentation. Depending on your type of camera, the manufacturer may...
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Here are a few specifics in regards to each type of printed creation. Greeting cards After the page is printed, you need to fold the page in half and then fold it again. Some types of photo paper can crack when folded, so be careful. It helps to score the card with a paper clip or thin-tipped burnishing tool before folding. Calendars After you print the pages of your calendar, you can either bind them yourself or take them to your local copy shop for binding. Ask for a clear acetate cover and...
Editing in an application other than Elements or Photoshop
If you have an external image editor other than Elements or Photoshop, such as CorelPAINT, you can jump to that application from Album. All of the steps are identical except that when it comes to saving the file in the external image editor. Here are the steps to follow 1. Select a photo in the Photo Well. 2. Choose one of these methods to launch the editor Choose EditOEdit with Editor (where Editor represents your designated image editor). The name that appears in the menu depends on what...
Specifying an External Image Editor in Album
If you have another digital-imaging application installed on your computer, you can jump to that application directly from Album to edit your images. But what if you're lucky enough to have more than one image editor installed on your system Well, you can instruct Album to choose one over the other by setting it as the default editor in the Preferences file. Here's how 2. Select the Editing category on the left side of the Preferences dialog box, shown in Figure 12-2. 3. If you have an Adobe...
Editing in Elements or Photoshop
Here are the steps for launching either Photoshop Elements or Photoshop 1. Select a photo in the Photo Well. 2. Choose one of these methods to launch the editor Choose EditOEdit with (your designated image editor). The name that appears in the menu depends on whether you chose Elements or Photoshop as your editor in the Preferences dialog box (as described in Specifying an External Image Editor in Album earlier in this chapter). Click the Fix Photo button in the Options bar. Then click the Edit...
Working with Different File Formats
Photoshop Album can handle a variety of file formats for graphics, sound, and video. A file format is the way a file's data is represented and saved. It is a specific way of structuring the information into bytes. All digital data is stored through a series of 0s and 1s, each known as a bit. And 8 bits create a unit of storage called a byte. No need to worry about the technical jargon. Just know that each format has its strengths and weaknesses, and some are better at certain tasks than others.
Comparing Photoshop Elements and Photoshop
If you're interested in purchasing an external digital-imaging application, I highly recommend either Photoshop Elements or Photoshop, depending on your needs and budget. Trust me I'm not being paid to endorse these products. It's just that if you use either of these Adobe products you'll have the benefit of seamless integration with Album. You can purchase Elements for about 90. Photoshop will set you back a hefty 600 or so. (Ouch.) If you're not sure whether you want to make the investment,...
Gathering Your Source Materials
Before you start importing your files into Album, it's a good idea to gather all your source material. Granted, you don't have to get every digital image you've gathered over the years into Album in one sitting, but may find the process to be more time efficient if you have some materials handy before you get started on the first import session. Here are some items you may want to round up Digital camera If you have images stored in your camera, connect your camera to the computer. Or if you're...
Changing the resolution by enlarging the pixels
Album allows you to resize your images in certain instances. You should be careful in choosing a new size that is a significant increase from the original. What happens is that the original number of pixels is spread across a larger area resulting in pixelated mush, as shown in Figure 3-3. Here are a few scenarios in which you want to avoid increasing the size of images with small pixel dimensions i Web Photo Gallery I took a small photo of a dog, which had dimensions of 66 x 100 pixels. When I...
Importing Photos from Cameras and Card Readers
If you are connecting your camera directly to your computer, via a serial, USB or FireWire cable, first make sure that you have all the necessary drivers that came with your camera. If you are running Windows XP, drivers for some cameras (models of Nikon, Kodak, Olympus, and others) are already installed. Still, I recommend installing the drivers that actually came with your camera. If you don't know where the disk containing the drivers is, you should be able to download the drivers from the...
Your Devices Aren't Talking to Each Other
Problem Your peripherals, such as your scanner, camera, printer, Zip drive, or even your mouse, aren't talking to your computer. Possible cure There could be many reasons why this scenario is taking place. Here are a few troubleshooting suggestions l Check that everything is well connected and powered up. Hey, I see you rolling your eyes Don't be so sure your problem is a huge one until you rule out the possibility that the issue is a simple power supply problem. I have had a couple of...
Removing the dreaded red eye
Digital photographers adore the ability to remove nasty red eye from pictures. Red eye occurs when light from a camera's flash bounces off the back of the retina of the eye and back into the camera's lens. It often occurs in low lighting situations and or when the flash is too close to the lens of the camera, as is often the case with digital and point-and-shoot cameras. At the source, you can prevent red eye by making sure your camera is set to no red eye mode. Check your documentation to see...
Changing the default catalog folder
To establish a different default folder to any catalog you create, follow these steps 2. In the General pane of the Preferences dialog box, click the Browse button for the Save Catalogs In section, shown in Figure 7-3. The Browse for Folder dialog box appears. 3. Either select an existing folder or create a new folder in your desired location. Click OK. If you change your mind or made a mistake, simply click the Restore Default Settings button to get back to the original folder pathname. 4....
Getting Photos from Adobe Photo Deluxe or Adobe ActiVeShare Albums
If you are a current, or most likely a former, PhotoDeluxe or Adobe ActiveShare user, Album can import images from those catalogs. I recommend consolidating your entire inventory of images into one program. Trying to remember which image resides where is just too tedious for even the most fastidious among us. Follow these steps to import photos from Adobe PhotoDeluxe or ActiveShare 1. Choose FileOGet PhotosOPhotoDeluxe Album or ActiveShare Album. Either the Finding PhotoDeluxe Albums dialog box...
Using a neutral background
If you've become attached to the dancing dinosaur wallpaper on your desktop, it's time to cut the ties. It might be painful, and it may seem oh so boring, but let go of the disco T. Rex and keep your desktop a neutral gray, which is better for image viewing. Any colors and patterns behind your images will affect how you view those images, as shown in Figure 10-1. Think about it When you display artwork, whether photographic or illustrative, it is usually framed against a neutral black, white,...
Renaming a group of files
This means that after you assign something called a common base name, each file gets that base name along with a numeric suffix. For example, if you assign the common base name Europe, the first photo is named Europe-1, the next one Europe-2, and so on. Note that Album renames the files according to the order in which they appear in the Photo Well. If you batch rename an edited or duplicated photo, it loses its _edited or _copy suffix. The name of the original...
Working with the Tags pane
Tags offer you an excellent way to identify, organize, and quickly find your photos. You can create, edit, attach, and remove tags by using the Tags pane. To display the Tags pane see Figure 2-11 , choose ViewOTags or click the Organize button in the Shortcuts bar. For everything you need to know about tags, see Chapter 5. The Properties pane is information central for all of your photos. CilDatai.Pics-Movies anta Barbara Zoo f Size 1018,4KB Photo 1920x2560 gj 4 4 03 2 48 PM Audio Caption...
