From scanner or camera, digital images, namely photographs, have become a part of everyday life. Even older photographs, on paper or film, are commonly converted to digital format. Documents, letters, notes, books, and just about anything else on paper can be scanned and preserved in digital format. This include vital records. Opinions vary widely on what equipment you need, and what formats to save in, and what software to use, but in the end it comes down to just a little bit of knowledge and some basic skills. Anyone can learn these skills. Years of practice, along with plenty of mistakes, can make an expert out of just about anyone. Geoffrey Rasmussen, from Legacy Family Tree, has experienced his own woes over the years. More importantly, he has learned many useful lessons to successful digital imaging. These lessons are shared in his voice and straightforward way through his book Digital Imaging Essentials: Technique and Tips for Genealogists and Family Historians.
Geoff helps answer age old questions, like which scanner to buy? He reviews the ever nagging questions of picture resolution and file format. He also covers basic skills like importing images from scanner or camera, editing those images, and, of course, organizing, sharing, and backing up. Listing from the back, here is what “You Will Learn:
- The do-it-right-the-first-time techniques of scanning old documents, and snapping pictures with your digital camera.
- How to finally get organized so that you can locate any digital image in under a minute.
- Which file formats and file saving techniques to use to properly preserve your digital images.
- How to use Adobe’s Photoshop Elements and Google’s Picasa with illustrated, step-by-step instructions and learn about other software choices.
- How to privately or publicly share your images and videos via printing, emailing, Dropbox, CDs, DVDs, or online via cloud technology.
- How to access your digital media from any Internet-connected device including your smart phone or tablet.
- How to develop a backup strategy to protect your collections from digital disaster.”
While Geoff tackles some of the oldest questions in digital imaging, he does so using the latest software and techniques. From hardware to software and from the local hard drive to the Internet, Geoff discusses what is available today. What makes this book so great is the clear and precise way Geoff handles each topic. His opinions are well thought out and come from his vast experience. The step-by-step instructions are easy to follow. This book is truly designed to make learning easy. As Geoff says, “So if you are ready to take your digital pictures to the next level, go ahead, open the book, and have fun!”
Contents
Foreword
Preface
Chapter 1: A Digital Image is…
Chapter 2: Before You Digitize
- What will you do with the digital images?
- Resolution
- File Formats
Chapter 3: Scanners, Cameras, Wi-Fi, Mi-Fi, and Eye-Fi
- Which Scanners?
- All-in-one
- Flat-bed
- Flip-Pal mobile scanner
- Wand scanners
- What to look for in a digital camera
- Resolution
- Zoom
- JPG vs TIF
- Wireless
- Image Stabilization
- Tripod vs. a steady hand
Chapter 4: Photo Software
- Photoshop Elements
- Picasa
- Other popular photo software
Chapter 5: How to Import from your Scanner or Camera
- 4 Steps to digitizing a photograph or document using a Flat-bed scanner
- Creating a unique file name
- 3 Steps to digitizing a photograph or document using the Flip-Pal mobile scanner
- 2 Steps to Transferring a Photograph from your Digital Camera to Your Computer
Chapter 6: Before Editing the Picture
Chapter 7: Auto-Editing Techniques
- Photoshop Elements techniques
- Picasa techniques
Chapter 8: Editing: Advanced Tips and Techniques
- Clone
- Fixing little scratches and blemishes
- Replace the background
- How to “colorize” a black/white photo
- Stitching
- How to selectively adjust dark areas of a picture
Chapter 9: Getting Organized
- My Personal Photographs and Scanned Images
- My Digital Genealogy Documents
- Another Golden Rule
- Photo Organizing Software
- Keyword tags, and facial recognition
- Compatibility of tags
Chapter 10: Sharing
- Printing and mailing
- Emailing
- Email feature of your photo editing software
- You can still send a large attachment
- How to add a citation to a digital image
- CDs and DVDs
- Adobe Premiere Elements
- The Cloud
- 4 Steps to Sharing via a the Cloud
- Picasa Web Albums – anywhere
Chapter 11: Backup Strategies
- External hard drive or another internal hard drive
- Cloud services
- CDs/DVDs
- Photo Books
Conclusion
Index