David Schwaegler
Former Music Teacher
Computer Software Developer
Professional Photographer
Naturalist
http://www.davidschwaegler.com
Good light
Composition
Interesting and clearly defined subject
To learn more: http://www.kodak.com
Sharing your images with others
Choosing an appropriate resolution
Long-term storage
Attaching or embedding: Attaching may require the recipient to have more knowledge.
Use "Copy To…"
Choose an appropriate resolution. Computer screens do not require high resolution. Sending a high-resolution image will needlessly take more time to transmit.
Use a commercial photo lab at Wal-Mart or Target for example.
Use Kodak printing station.
Upload to a web based photo lab.
Be your own photo lab.
Computer: Photo editing requires more memory and processing than other applications.
Software:
Adobe Photoshop Elements
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopel/main.html
Paintshop Pro http://www.jasc.com/
Printer: Epson, Canon, HP
Use a commercial website such as http://www.ofoto.com
Roll your own (An advanced topic)
Microsoft Frontpage http://www.microsoft.com/office/frontpage/prodinfo/
Macromedia Dreamweaver http://www.dreamweaver.com/
http://www.indianpondnh.com uses Frontpage.
Several software applications are available to help you present a sequence of still images with professional looking transitions. You can even add audio.
Quicktime Pro from Apple Computer ($30)
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/upgrade/
PicturesToExe ($40)
Slide Show Movie Maker (Free)
http://www.joern-thiemann.de/tools/ssmm/
For prints
For Email
For a website
All digital images are a matrix (checkerboard) of dots termed pixels (picture elements). Resolution refers to the number of dots that are contained in the image. This number is often quantified in millions of pixels, for example 2 mega pixels. Other factors such as noise and good color being equal, the quality of an image depends on the presence of a "sufficient" number of pixels.
What is sufficient depends on the output device (monitor or printer) and size you want to present.
Printers are high resolution devices that require lots of pixels closely packed to produce good results. Photo editing software allows you to change how closely the pixels are spaced. The minimum spacing that looks sharp is about 200 dots (pixels) per inch (dpi) while optimum dpi is about 360.
To print an adequate image at 4 by 6 we need:
4 x 200 = 800 dots by 6 x 200 = 1200 dots
800 x 1200 = 960,000 pixels (1 mega pixels).
At the optimum resolution of 360 dpi we would need about 3 mega pixels.
Consumer digital cameras commonly come in 2, 3, and 4 mega pixel models. Consumer photo printers can produce prints about 8 x 11, so 4 mega pixel cameras are quite adequate even for these generous sized prints.
In contrast to photo printers, computer monitors are low resolution devices. They show images at just 72 dpi. Common monitor resolutions are: 640 x 480, 800 x 600, and 1024 x 768.
Most digital cameras allow you to select from among several resolutions. If you plan to print the images, you should choose a high resolution. You can use photo editing software to reduce the resolution to create a copy appropriate for email or the web.
By long-term I mean 100 years or more! By this definition, I believe the only practical method is to print the images using excellent paper with archival inks. Any technical solution, such as CD-ROM, is doomed to obsolescence. Remember 8-track tapes?
For shorter term storage I recommend external hard drives. At $1.25 per gigabyte, they are cheaper and more reliable than CDs or DVDs.
You can contact me at schwaegler@aol.com
Or visit http://www.davidschwaegler.com