Rename Files Before Saving New Versions

Unless you're really a whiz at Photoshop, chances are that you'll go through several edited versions of a photograph before you arrive at just the version you're after. I often spend hours (even days) on a really important image and create a dozen or more different interpretations.

One thing you have to be careful of though is not saving the new versions with the same file name as the old one; if you do, of course, you erase the previous version. While that might not seem to matter if you like the new version more, the fact is that in the cold light of day, you may actually prefer earlier versions. All it takes is a little bit of organization (and some hard drive space) to save each different version until you're sure you have the one you want.

I've played with this shot of the Camden, Maine harbor many times (the shot is simply too crowded, but I keep playing with exposure and color balance to try and improve it--silly, I know) and each time I do I change the file name slightly: "Camden_Harbor 1" "Camden_Harbor 2," etc. That way I can always go back and look at earlier takes. I also keep the layers open when I save "working" images because that way I can trace exactly what I did and also turn various layers on or off at will. Finally, when I'm sure I have a file I like, I flatten the image, choose a final name and save it to a "finals" folder.

One other reason to change file names slightly is that if you open and re-save jpeg files (and only jpegs--it's OK to save TIFF or PSD files with the same name--though you will, of course, still delete the earlier version if you do) using the same exact file name, you degrade the file! Yes, you are actually harming the file each time you open and resave it under the same name--so don't do it!

Organization is an important thing in image editing, especially when, as I do, you have tens of thousands of digital files. So come up with a good naming scheme early and stick with it--you'll be glad you did.

Turn Your Scanner Into a Camera

If you have a flatbed scanner attached to your computer then you might not know it but you have one of the world's best digital cameras sitting on your desktop. Your scanner is not only great at copying old photos and documents, but it can take a scan (i.e. a photograph) of anything that you can fit on the platen: an arrangement of seashells, your antique button collection, or even some flower blossoms fresh from the garden. I laid these flowers on my Epson scanner (two separate scans), turned off the room lights (to get a black background) and scanned it. The great thing about scanners is that, while they can only "see" one surface of your subject, they have incredible depth of field (near-to-far sharpness) so almost everything the scanner sees will be sharp. I was surprised by the "tubes" in the green flower, could not see that with the naked eye, wild, isn't it?

Here are some quick tips for success:

Scan at a high (300 dpi) resolution so that you can make really nice prints.
Keep the glass clean.
Turn off the room lights or use a sheet of black paper over your subject to keep the background black.

Copying Pictures from your digital camera to your computer

STOP: Before you go any further, you need to know the basics of how your computer stores and organizes files. This topic is not a “camera” topic, it’s a really important part of understanding your computer. There are several excellent explanations in your computer’s Windows HELP files, and the Windows for Dummies book series explains files very well.
To your computer, that beautiful picture you took is a file made up of 0s and 1s. Before you can do anything with that picture, you want to get that file onto the hard drive.
The process can be called “uploading” or “downloading” but it’s really just a process of copying the computer file(s) from your camera to your computer.

Copying pictures from camera to computer using Windows XP
1. DO NOT USE THE SOFTWARE PACKAGED WITH YOUR CAMERA.
2. The easiest program to copy picture files from one place to another came with your computer. It’s called “My Computer”
3. Turn off your camera and remove the memory card.
4. Insert the memory card in a card reader, either one that’s built into the computer or a separate one.
5. To open My Computer, click Start, and then click My Computer
6. The memory card shows up as a removable disk in “My Computer”
7. Left click on that removable disk to find a folder called DCIM (Digital Camera IMages)
8. The files in that folder are your pictures, and their names end in “jpg”
9. Copy those files by selecting them and copying them. The keyboard shortcut (control-A) marks all the photos in a folder and the keyboard shortcut (control-C) copies them to the computer’s clipboard.
10. Navigate to the folder within “My Documents” named “My Pictures” and paste (control-V) your photos into place.
11. Learn how to make new subfolders within the master folder “My Pictures” so that it’s easier to find a photo you want. I make up folders with names like “2007March” and divide my photos by the month taken.
12. After you copy files or folders to the hard drive, it is useful to view the hard drive to confirm that the files are copied.
13. Do not erase photos from your memory card until you are positive you’ve saved them on the hard drive!

Using the camera as a source, instead of a card reader (but we really, really suggest using a card reader)
• You can copy photo files directly from your camera to the computer. Use the USB cable that came with the camera.
• Very important: make sure that your batteries have a full charge before you start this procedure.
• If the power fails during the transfer, data will be corrupted.
• Be very careful when inserting the USB cable connector into the socket of the camera. This is one of the most fragile components of the camera and we have seen cameras damaged by carelessness.
• After you copy files or folders to the hard drive, it is useful to view the hard drive to confirm that the files are copied.
• For the greatest safety of your irreplaceable images, make a second copy on CD, DVD or detachable hard drive.

How to send a photograph attached to an e-mail

It's easy to send a photograph to us or to anybody else, using the software that you normally use to send email.
However, you can't attach a photo file or any other kind of file unless you know exactly where it's located on your computer. Most pictures will be located within the overall folder "My Pictures" which is within the folder "My Documents"
1. Compose a message in your email software, such as America Online or Outlook Express
2. Find the button for attachments on your email software. It may look like a paper clip and it will probably say "attach files".
3. Click on that button. An explorer window will open.
4. Navigate to the folder where the file you want to send is located. For example, mypictures/2007Jan/0123.jpg
5. Click on the name of the picture or other file.
6. If you want to send more than one file, hold down the "control" key and click on the additional file names.
7. The display of the email message you're sending will have change. It will now say something like "attachments (1) 0123.jpg"
8. The message will probably also tell you the size of the file(s) you have attached - "140KB" for example.
9. Press "send"
Email with attachments takes longer to upload than plain text. If your photos are large, it may take a minute or more.