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08/13/2002 08:12:17 AM · #1 |
This question kind of goes with the rules, or maybe I am just taking them too literally. I know nothing of the technical aspect of taking a photo. I have auto focus, auto flash (although I can turn it off), and I don't even know what arpature is. I use a magnifying glass in front of my 2.5 digital zoom so it wont turn out looking all crappy when I do a close up. I don't even have a photo editing program. I can crop, and that's all I know. So my photos are pretty much just that. Photos. Nothing fancy, no special tweaking, nothing.
However, there are times when I want to crop a bit, but in the rules it says that the photo has to be a certain size. (640X480, I THINK). If I crop, i can never get it back to exactly that size. However, I see in the voting selections that almost none of the photos are 640X480. I'm seeing like 90's and 170's. Please remember, I have NO idea what these numbers mean, I just know that it's the "size" and I can change it if I want.
My question is this... Does it really have to be 640X480, or does it mean UP TO 640X480, or are the other sizes I'm seeing some other version of 640X480??
I apologize for wasting your time on this...it's probably pretty self explanitory to most people, but technical, I'm not.
Some people may be asking why I'm here. I'm here because I (among other people) think I have an artistic eye for taking pictures and I'm very good at taking pictures. |
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08/13/2002 08:36:01 AM · #2 |
the 640 and 480 are pixels. each dot on your monitor is 1 pixel.
640x480, and 640x427 are jjust fairly generic sizes that most cameras take photos in. its a ratio. the other sizes youre seeing are the pixel widths and heights of the thumbnails. obviously if the pictures smaller, it will have less pixels.
its supposed to be exactly 640x480, or the others that are allowed.
what software are you using
* This message has been edited by the author on 8/13/2002 12:36:24 PM. |
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08/13/2002 08:37:06 AM · #3 |
The #s you are looking at are the thumbnail size(90x120).
If you look at the properties of the larger photo you will see 640x480.
I'm too slow. Clay beat me.
* This message has been edited by the author on 8/13/2002 12:37:23 PM.
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08/13/2002 09:20:41 AM · #4 |
Originally posted by clay:
the 640 and 480 are pixels. each dot on your monitor is 1 pixel.
640x480, and 640x427 are jjust fairly generic sizes that most cameras take photos in. its a ratio. the other sizes youre seeing are the pixel widths and heights of the thumbnails. obviously if the pictures smaller, it will have less pixels.
its supposed to be exactly 640x480, or the others that are allowed.
what software are you usin
I use the software that came with my all in one printer thing. When you scan an image, you can crop it with the program, so I just open my digital camera pictures in that if they need cropped. The only other thing I have is also in the printing software, when I go to print a picture, there is an auto fix button (which i only use for printing pics) and there is a little rotate button also. It's called HP image editor. (not really much of an editor if you ask me though). I'm looking into getting a photo program like the photoshop or print shop that is talked about in the forums here, but I don't know what would be better, and I don't want to spend all the money and then not like it. I have something that came on my computer called MGI photo suite. I'm not really sure exactly what that is, haven't really explored it yet. Maybe I should do that. It looked like a program that you could add borders and frames to your pics when I first looked at it and didn't think it would do me any good, so I just ignored it. My hubby said that if I win 3 photo contests online that he'd get me that sony 7 mp camera when it's available in our area. I know nothing about cameras, but heard that that one is top of the line. It will probably be years upon years before I can get something that nice though, and by then, there will be a 20000 mp camera. lol. Thanks for clearing up the size thing. Guess it just means I can't crop, cause if I crop it, then make it the size it's suposed to be, it gets all blury. That's ok...I'm all for the natural photo thing. Just have to make sure I don't get anything in the pic I don't want. lol.
Take care.
~Heather~ |
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08/13/2002 09:33:42 AM · #5 |
you might want to search online for free downloads. you can usually get 30 day trials for the good software(adobe, etc.).
How many megapixels does your camera have?
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08/13/2002 09:37:42 AM · #6 |
| i asked langdon to make a script that sends all the disqualified pictures to me. if it was for something technical, like size, i would fix it and reupload it so it could be in the challenge. I WAS DENIED. i probably should have asked drew, since he's obviously the male in that prison-style relationship. i would imagine that over the past few months they started doing this. dont freak out about being a couple of pixels off. if you get disqualified for that, bitch about it. langdon will cave like a pennsylvania mineshaft |
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08/13/2002 09:44:30 AM · #7 |
One of the rules/site changes being considered but not finalized yet is to allow flexible aspect ratios, rather than the two constrained sizes now used. The maximum dimensions and file size have yet to be determined.
This will allow photographers "full artistic freedom" in their cropping, at least. |
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08/13/2002 10:11:33 AM · #8 |
Ive been having problems resizing my photos also, i get alot of bad image quality comments and i dont know exactly how to get good quality after i resize with photoshops 'save for web' feature. i would like to hear of other ways to resize and get the great quality i see on this site.
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08/13/2002 10:14:30 AM · #9 |
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08/13/2002 10:17:58 AM · #10 |
Originally posted by clay:
dont use web safe color
what is web safe color and how do i not use it???
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08/13/2002 10:22:27 AM · #11 |
file -> save as
rather than
file -> save as for web
lets say, for instance, theres a checkbox that says "use web safe colors." you then attempt to uncheck that box |
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08/13/2002 10:24:05 AM · #12 |
Originally posted by TerryGee:
you might want to search online for free downloads. you can usually get 30 day trials for the good software(adobe, etc.).
How many megapixels does your camera have?
my camera has 2.1mp. it is a hp 315. it has 2.5 digital zoom (although it looks crappy when zoom is used without a magnifying glass placed over the lens, and it can't take far away zooms, only close ones) it has a 8mb card and 1.8 inch LCD.
I think it's the digital equivalant of a 35mm disposable camera. It works great though for just taking pics of family get togethers, or events and taking pics around the house that I'm going to print, but for something detailed and "contest quality" I really really have to work at it and take literally like 90 pictures of the exact same thing before I can get one that is semi decent and in focus. I guess it just makes me stronger for having to work at it, but it doesn't seem to get the appreciation for the time spent. I think i will enjoy it a lot more with a camera that I can control, rather than the Auto-everything camera. |
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08/13/2002 10:26:50 AM · #13 |
Originally posted by shutterfly:
Ive been having problems resizing my photos also, i get alot of bad image quality comments and i dont know exactly how to get good quality after i resize with photoshops 'save for web' feature. i would like to hear of other ways to resize and get the great quality i see on this site.
There is nothing wrong with using the Photoshop 'save for the web'
option. Well at least that's pretty much what I use all the time.
Basically the steps I go through are:
Load picture into photoshop.
Play with curves/ levels until I'm happy
Convert the image into 8bit mode (as I start off with a 16 bit shot from the camera)
Crop using the the rectangular selection tool, with the
constrained aspect ratio option set to 640x480 or 480x640
Resize to 640x480 (or 480x640)
Once resized I sharpen the image
From there, I use 'save for the web' and then select
optimise to file size, from the drop down options (little black arrow
pointing to the right) and optimise to about 147k
Then I just save the image off, and apply the original EXIF information to
the saved JPEG file ,as I'm getting TIFFs from my camera.
Web safe colour palettes are an entirely different set of options, relating to
colour management and are best avoided for photographic images. More suited
for buttons/ icons and that sort of thing.
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08/13/2002 11:41:33 AM · #14 |
Originally posted by hbunch7187:
This question kind of goes with the rules, or maybe I am just taking them too literally. I know nothing of the technical aspect of taking a photo. I have auto focus, auto flash (although I can turn it off), and I don't even know what arpature is. I use a magnifying glass in front of my 2.5 digital zoom so it wont turn out looking all crappy when I do a close up. I don't even have a photo editing program. I can crop, and that's all I know. So my photos are pretty much just that. Photos. Nothing fancy, no special tweaking, nothing.
However, there are times when I want to crop a bit, but in the rules it says that the photo has to be a certain size. (640X480, I THINK). If I crop, i can never get it back to exactly that size. However, I see in the voting selections that almost none of the photos are 640X480. I'm seeing like 90's and 170's. Please remember, I have NO idea what these numbers mean, I just know that it's the "size" and I can change it if I want.
My question is this... Does it really have to be 640X480, or does it mean UP TO 640X480, or are the other sizes I'm seeing some other version of 640X480??
I apologize for wasting your time on this...it's probably pretty self explanitory to most people, but technical, I'm not.
Some people may be asking why I'm here. I'm here because I (among other people) think I have an artistic eye for taking pictures and I'm very good at taking pictures.
Luckly, I've been screwing around with computers for a while and know quite a bit about digital imaging. If you just take the picture directly off of your camera, you can usually just shrink it until it fits (within a few pixels, at least). If you dont have ANY imaging programs, just open it in Windows Paint and shrink it with that. Also, when you crop off a large section of your picture and stretch it out to meet the size requirements, it will look warpedand streched. I try not to crop anything because of this. Here are some handy notes:
1. There are 96 pixels in an inch (38 in a cm)
2. Your aperature is just like your eye's iris. It closes to make the picture dark and opens to brighten it. The higher the aperature number, the darker the picture.
3. Shrink your picture until its four or five pixels bigger than you need(like 484x645), then crop off the extra. NEVER shrink it too small. |
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08/13/2002 11:44:28 AM · #15 |
Originally posted by Nswenson0:
1. There are 96 pixels in an inch (38 in a cm)
If you're running a Mac, it's 72 ppi.
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08/13/2002 12:02:48 PM · #16 |
| because mac's are inferior |
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08/13/2002 12:13:25 PM · #17 |
hbunch:
To answer the question about processing software, I use Paint Shop Pro. I started with mixing and matching with LView Pro, MGI Photo Suite, and Gimp. (Yes we still have all of them on our computer, but i think were are dumping Gimp and LVP). I have found for purposes of trying to make my pictures look a little better, PSP is the way to go. If you are really serious about post-processing, i suppose photoshop would be what you need. But it is costly. For me, i would rather put that money on a new camera! But anyway . . . I think Photoshop Elements is cheaper, but I know nothing about that.
You mentioned having MGI. that is not a bad little program. I still use it to get my EXIF data, so you should probably play around with it a little.
karmat
PS -- Clay, I, for one, am glad to see you back in the forums. You add such spice. How long you think you will be here? :-)
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08/13/2002 12:15:46 PM · #18 |
Originally posted by clay:
because mac's are inferior
Yeah, they do what their owners want them to do instead of what Bill Gates tells them to do, like screw up your document layout.
And I say this on a Compaq 1MHz/Windows Me/AOL 6 so I can complain if want... |
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08/13/2002 12:22:45 PM · #19 |
Originally posted by karmat:
. . . I think Photoshop Elements is cheaper, but I know nothing about that.
karmat
PS -- Clay, I, for one, am glad to see you back in the forums. You add such spice. How long you think you will be here? :-)
Photoshop Elements is a limited set of Photoshop tools, containing more than enough to do all the photo processing needed here. The main limitations are in converting files into CMYK mode, which you would only need if you are printing a book, and maybe some limitations on selectons (not allowed here anyway). Plus, if you ever upgrade to or get Photoshop (likely) you'll have a big headstart on using it.
You can download a full-featured 30-day demo version directly from Adobe. |
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08/13/2002 12:27:28 PM · #20 |
I use Elements (and love it) as well. Version 2 just came out, so I'm not sure which version you can download for tryouts.
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08/13/2002 12:28:26 PM · #21 |
langdon said if i can control myself i might _not_ get be banned. of course, langdon isnt the only owner of this site. also, i dont have much self control.
* This message has been edited by the author on 8/13/2002 4:28:10 PM. |
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08/13/2002 12:31:53 PM · #22 |
Originally posted by clay:
langdon said if i can control myself i might _not_ get be banned. of course, langdon isnt the only owner of this site. also, i dont have much self control
I appreciate the effort and think you're doing pretty well so far...thanks. |
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08/13/2002 12:35:56 PM · #23 |
Macs are inferior. Thats funny. I guarantee 90%+ of professional photographers and most photo labs are using strictly macs running photoshop.
you must be somekind of gamer to make a comment like that. ; )
-Charles
* This message has been edited by the author on 8/13/2002 4:35:56 PM. |
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08/13/2002 12:44:12 PM · #24 |
| if it werent for THIS, every time you called the apple tech line you would get the "disconnected phone" message |
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08/13/2002 01:19:16 PM · #25 |
If I'd managed to extort SIXTY BILLION DOLLARS from the world's economy for my personal use you can bet I'd be willing to toss Steve Jobs a few million out of petty cash...even Bill Gates isn't stupid enough to want the MacOS to die (what do you think the Microsoft annual report is laid out with? -- hint: NOT Microsoft Publisher)...I'm sure he just wants to own it like everything else.
Besides, supposedly Apple is going to run OSX on Intel chips within 3-4 years, and it should be a short step from there to being able to run whatever OS/App/chip combo you want... |
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