[Macworld]

Post your comments for Optimize photos for your digital scrapbook here

[MutantPie]

Some very good basic advice. My second most used tool after Crop is Rotate/Arbitrary, as there is something pleasing about having the main subject as close to vertical as possible.

The included advice is great if you're sticking with digital copies, but if you're going to print out to display on a wall or in a scrap book, then you'll want Layer/Adjustment Layer/Brightness Contrast. This is important because What You See Is NOT What You Get, from the screen to the page. The print will always be significantly darker than the screen. This is also good for fixing either overexposed or underexposed pictures.

[wwelsh39]

Nice article and good advice but, you're example used a $700 application which most of us are not going to buy. You only briefly mentioned several much more reasonably priced options. I'm guessing that Photoshop CS4 is for professionals and serious hobbyists.

[wwelsh39]

Arrgg! S/B "your" NOT "you're" in my reply above.

[Phooto]

MutantPie, on 11 January 2010 - 06:50 AM, said:

The print will always be significantly darker than the screen.

In which case, your screen is not calibrated. If you have your screen set correctly, then you stand a chance of getting the print to match the screen. Sadly, most screens are not calibrated, so all colours and levels are different!

[MutantPie]

wwelsh39, on 11 January 2010 - 07:09 AM, said:

Nice article and good advice but, you're example used a $700 application which most of us are not going to buy. You only briefly mentioned several much more reasonably priced options. I'm guessing that Photoshop CS4 is for professionals and serious hobbyists.

While the article does refer to Photoshop CS4, you can do what I did and buy a legal, transfered older version for much less money. There are still way more features in Photoshop CS than I have the time to explore and exploit. I think that the Crop feature is a pretty universal one, and it certain comes free with the Preview program in Mac OSX going back to at least OS 10.4, probably iPhoto too.

Mutant_Pie

[MutantPie]

Phooto, on 11 January 2010 - 07:38 AM, said:

MutantPie, on 11 January 2010 - 06:50 AM, said:

The print will always be significantly darker than the screen.

In which case, your screen is not calibrated. If you have your screen set correctly, then you stand a chance of getting the print to match the screen. Sadly, most screens are not calibrated, so all colours and levels are different!

Can you calibrate the screen of an iMac? How about an older one? Doesn't calibration require the use of an external calibration sensor? I know that the fluorescent backlight on the iMac I use has some "hot" and "cold" spots, and I don't think that can ever be adjusted, let alone calibrated like a high end monitor. The photo's can still be corrected for the difference between a backlit image (the computer screen) and a reflective image (the photo print), I don't think that it's possible to calibrate that difference away.(?)

Mutant_Pie

[alansky]

It is just plain silly for an article aimed purely at novices to reference an expensive powerhouse app like Photoshop. iPhoto would be a more reasonable starting point for the target audience—or perhaps Photoshop Elements, which I've seen for as little as $59.

[Kennethfcooper]

wwelsh39, on 11 January 2010 - 07:11 AM, said:

Arrgg! S/B "your" NOT "you're" in my reply above.

For your information: if you click on the link at the top of the comments titled: "View entire thread" it will take you to a version of the comments that will allow you to edit your message.
I mention this because it took me some searching to find this method of getting to the page. I thought it might be useful to you and others.

[Phooto]

MutantPie, on 11 January 2010 - 09:22 AM, said:

Phooto, on 11 January 2010 - 07:38 AM, said:

MutantPie, on 11 January 2010 - 06:50 AM, said:

The print will always be significantly darker than the screen.

In which case, your screen is not calibrated. If you have your screen set correctly, then you stand a chance of getting the print to match the screen. Sadly, most screens are not calibrated, so all colours and levels are different!

Can you calibrate the screen of an iMac? How about an older one? Doesn't calibration require the use of an external calibration sensor? I know that the fluorescent backlight on the iMac I use has some "hot" and "cold" spots, and I don't think that can ever be adjusted, let alone calibrated like a high end monitor. The photo's can still be corrected for the difference between a backlit image (the computer screen) and a reflective image (the photo print), I don't think that it's possible to calibrate that difference away.(?)

Mutant_Pie

Of course you can. Calibration does require a sensor (I use a Spyder), which costs about $100, but you'll soon recover this from the savings made from not having dark printouts... If you're spending $700+ on CS4, then it's worth a little extra to ensure quality. Not just brightness, but colour rendition too.

[artspeed]

One thing the author didn't mention: You might also consider reducing the file size of the images before inserting them into your scrapbook message or page or whatever -- if one is wanting to email said item to friends and family, they will all appreciate not having to wait for a 26MB message to download just to see the latest pictures of you and your dog...

Then, if someone reeeally likes a picture, they can always email back and ask for a printable file, right?

This post has been edited by artspeed: 18 January 2010 - 01:36 PM