Overview of Digital Imaging and Photography

Where can pictures come from?

1. Digital Camera, by downloading your pictures to your computer's hard disk from the camera or via a card reader.  See "Digital Photo File Basics".

2. Scanner: This is best for getting prints, old family photos, flat artwork, even slides and negatives, into your computer. See "Choosing and Using a Scanner".

3. Saving pictures from email or from the Web. In most cases, you can right-click on a photo on your computer screen and select Save Picture....

4. Photo CD.  When you take a roll of film (or your digital camera storage card) into a photo processor, you can have them give you back a "Photo CD", a CD-ROM that has all your pictures on it.  Open it like any disk. See "Digital Photo File Basics".

What can I do with the pictures on my hard drive?

1. Organize them: separate them into folders, rename them, etc. See "Picasa Photo 2 Organizer". Picasa is a great way to find and organize all the photos on your hard disk. 

2. Edit them: Use Picasa to crop, straighten, improve contrast and color, add fill light, etc. To repair and retouch damaged photos, use a Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop. See the handouts.

3. Print them on your inkjet printer, using either Windows XP (see "Digital Photo File Basics") or Picasa (see "Using the Picasa Photo Organizer").  For best results, use glossy photo paper and select that paper type from the Paper type menu in Print Properties. 

4. Display them as a slideshow. See "Making Slideshows from Still Images".

5. Email them to friends and family.  Use either Windows XP email command (see "Digital Photo File Basics") or Picasa (see "Using the Picasa Photo Organizer"). If you attach a picture to an email directly, reduce its size first (See "Practice Task 1", #7).

6. Put them on a Web photo album for friends and family to see, without clogging up their email with giant photos. See "How to Send Photos on the Internet using Shutterfly".

7. Insert them into letters, newsletters, greeting cards, etc., using a word processor. Most programs can insert photos from elsewhere on your hard disk. See "Practice Task III".  

8. Order prints, T-shirts, and other merchandise with your pictures from webshots.com, clubphoto.com, or other Web photo album sites.

9. Make a video slide show to watch on TV with your DVD player.  See "Making Slideshows from Still Images" and "Memories on TV". 

10. Make a CD-R disk to archive and back up your photos, send to friends via postal mail, or show on TV (if your DVD player supports JPG). See "Picasa Photo 2 Organizer".

11. Make a creative project. On the Web at hp.com => Home & Home Office => Activity Center or go to canonprintplanet.com.

12. Make a custom photo greeting card to print or email.  On the Web at mycardmaker.com or to usagreetings.com
 
(c) Tom O'Haver (toh@umd.edu), April, 2005