NAPPAP Log Entry - Digital Photography

I ran across this pdf document thoroughly describing the technical aspects of digital photography and color reproduction. This is pretty technical but a great insight into how those little things with the 'pushbutton' work.FYI

http://www.rmimaging.com/information/color_accurate_photography.pdfMarc R. Hanson

Thanks Marc I'll add that to our help desk link on our website along with the one we have already http://nappap.org . Also we have a file that Mark Anderson loaded up to our Yahoo site at as well so I'll add this one there as well Thanks

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Re: Calibrating your monitor


Bob, good to hear from you, you can see how to calibrate your monitor
here: it should help.

http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/digitalphotography/gopro/organize/calibrate.asp


Best
Debbie

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Digital Photography - Equipment notes

Hi guys -

I've been noticing increasing interest by artists in using digital photos, and I may have some info to offer.....

I've been using digital since it became available and affordable for consumers, and I have used it successfully in my articles for American Artist magazine. First, it is true that one should buy the highest resolution camera one can afford, but that is not a rule. Because the light must first pass through the lens before it strikes the CCD or CMOS chip, I would rather afford a camera with a superior glass lens and a lower resolution - megapixels - than more resolution but mediocre optics. Sony offers a superb line of digital cameras for the consumer that employ Zeiss optics, thus guaranteeing superior sharpness and resolution before the image is digitized. One can purchase a Sony Cybershot DSC F717( 5MGP, 2560x1920 ) from B+H Photo in NYC for $700, - a very affordable pro-quality tool. Or, one can step up to the SLR variety, which start at 5MPG and go up from there, and look like and feature all the controls of an analog SLR. These are typically sold without lenses, and represent a sizeable investment in equipment when one adds the lens. But, at 5 or 6 MPG, one will not have to fear the need to upgrade every couple of years - these cameras will deliver images that are nearly indistinguishable from 35mm quality images. Because I already own a Nikon SLR, I am saving for either the Fuji FinePix S2 Pro, 6.12 MPG, $1995, which accepts all Nikon automatic lenses, or the Nikon D100, 6.1MPG, $1499, also from B+H.

About reproduction and creating photo archives: One should always shoot one's master images in either RAW or TIFF file format, whichever your camera will support. These are the largest and most detailed images digital cameras can record. I used to think that there was not much difference between Super Fine and TIFF on my early Nikons, but as the resolution has grown, so has this critical distinction. I know a professional photographer who works only in digital now, and he takes the further steps of making 3 bracketed exposures of each image ( on a tripod, of course ), and then layering them one atop the other in Photoshop, dodging and burning as necessary to create incredibly detailed, deep images, that are indistinguishable from large format view camera prints. His Canon shoots 11MPG.

For magazine reproduction, I start with a TIFF or RAW file in Photoshop, make my corrections, then only resize once I am satisfied that the image is perfect. I size the images down to 3x4" at 300 d.p.i., and e-mail them to the publisher. No kidding - email. Since the reproduction quality of the typical magazine is 150 d.p.i., my images are twice as good as they will finally print, so the printed image quality is very good.

The other advantage to digital cameras is a big one. The sensitivity of the CCD or the newer CMOS chips is much greater than the average film, speed for speed( ASA ). I can shoot in poor lighting conditions that would severely challenge film, if not be impossible, with my digital camera and get amazing results - tough conditions like candlelight, or into the sun. This aspect alone has encouraged me to continue to invest in new equipment over the years. Now that 6 and 11 MPG cameras are within reach, I'm using less and less film, and the cost savings essentially pays for my digital equipment.

Hope this helps.

Best,

John Hulsey


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Making a CD digital photos to send your work.

I've been compiling some photos (digital) recently and have noticed
that there seems to be some gap in understanding digital photos being
used in advertising vs those being used on the web.

I thought I'd give a brief run down of what I know so that everyone
on the NAPPAP list can get up to speed on this.

First, in order to have an ad made from a digital photo that you
either scan in or digital camera, you need to scan in or take the
photo with a resolution of 300dpi (dots per inch) Mac users use a
different lingo but it is the same principal and the media I've dealt
with use the term dpi.

If you have a good scan or digital photo at 300 dpi you still need to
consider the OUTPUT size. You can generally tell this by looking at
the photo properties. If you have 2093 x 1428 pixels at 300dpi your
output is discover by dividing 2093/300dpi and 1428/300dpi roughly
6.9" x 4.76" photo. So if your ad layout is a 1/2 page layout and
you have an 8x10 full page your output size would have to fit into a
page size of 8x5 horizontal or 4x10 vertical ad space.
If you are doing a small 1/6th page ad like I was doing for Am Art of
course your photo will be smaller. I also had to convert my photos from bmp to
CMYK format (simply another format than bmp or jpg) and save the CMYK
photos into a tif file. You can do this through your photo program
and photo program differs so this is something you'll have to learn
though the help menu attached to your computer. This gives the
printer the highest quality resolution and best color production
provided they are truely 300 dpi photos.

Ok once you have the 300 dpi and the output size and converted it to
CMYK you need to consider how are you going to convey it to your
advertiser. If you have a CD writer on your computer you can create
a folder with your name on it and drop a copy of your photo into it.
Simple as long as your equipment works. For smaller files you can
send by email and I think that anything larger than 500mb will be blocked.

Bottom line, it is really an easy process although writing it out
seems complicated it is only a 3 or 4 step process and it saves you
alot of money not having the advertiser do the process for you.
Also, you have control how the image looks. With digital it comes
out exactly which is sometimes a real time saver since the sensibilities
of a printer are often way off when it comes to color.

Hope this helps, Print it out and keep a copy for the next time you
have to go through this process.

Thanks
Debbie


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