From gspiegel@paltech.com Wed Mar 29 16:16:31 1995 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!liuida!sunic!sunic.sunet.se!trane.uninett.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!sun4nl!news.nic.surfnet.nl!howland.reston.ans.net!news.sprintlink.net!news.cais.com!news From: gspiegel@paltech.com (Glenn Spiegel) Newsgroups: rec.photo.advanced,rec.photo.misc Subject: FAQ: Getting Started with Digital Imaging Date: Tue, 28 Mar 95 16:15:46 GMT Organization: Capital Area Internet Service info@cais.com 703-448-4470 Lines: 551 Message-ID: <3l95pf$836@news.cais.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 198.69.130.40 X-Newsreader: News Xpress Version 1.0 Beta #3 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.photo.advanced:13152 rec.photo.misc:17405 FAQ-Getting Started with Digital Imaging for Photographers (Hints and encouragement for photographers) Version .99 3/27/95 Note: anywhere you see brackets [ ] I need information. Please feel free to also send any other information you want to contribute and especially to correct my mistakes Table of contents 1. Who maintains this FAQ? 2. What can I do with digital imaging? 3. How Hard is it to Do Digital Imaging? 4. What Hardware do I Need? 5. What's Some Good Software? 6. What's the Least Expensive Way to Get Started? 7. How do I get Images into my Computer? 8. How do I Get Prints? 9. Colors 10. Where Can I Get Help Online? 11. What reading Material Can be Helpful? 12. How Can I Contact Vendors 1. Who maintains this FAQ? a) Glenn Spiegel (gspiegel@paltech.com) b) Anyone who contributes information c) Contributors Bob Niland, rjn@csn.net Nathan Gasser, gasser@linc.cis.upenn.edu Tom Lathrop, tgl@ycc.kodak.com Larry Angier, langier@eworld.com; langier@aol.com [your name goes here] 2. What can I do with digital imaging? a) In a word, anything. You have total control over every pixel in your picture. b) You may want to start with simple cropping, retouching, color correction, brightness and contrast adjustments--stuff you could do in a darkroom if you had a color darkroom. Of course they would take a lot more time in a darkroom. Removing a skin blemish from a portrait takes a only a few seconds with imaging software. c) Special effects. Collages, wild color manipulations, applications of texture, geometric distortions, morphs. Splice a gorgeous sky into your favorite landscape. Remove your deadbeat ex from the family pictures. Morph your redneck brother-in law with a pig, put halos on your children. Produce wild abstractions. The possibilites scare me. 3. How Hard is it to Do Digital Imaging? It's not easy, any more than it's easy to become skilled in traditional darkroom work. There's a lot to learn. The software itself is complicated, and you'll have to practice before you can do things well. You'll have to learn a lot about colors and about techniques for managing images. Also, working with images takes a lot of time, even when you're past the flattest part of the learning curve. If you're experienced in dealing with images as a photographer, you will have less to learn about color, contrast, highlights, shadows, etc, but any powerful software takes time to learn. One contributor with 20 years of professional experience says, "The tools are there but the knowledge about putting the pieces together still has gaps." 4. What Hardware do I Need? a) CPU - At least a 486-66 on a PC or a 68040 on a Mac. If you plan to work with large images, such as the highest resolution Kodak Photo CD image (18mb) a Pentium PC or Power Mac will save you minutes of waiting each time you do something global. b) Disk Space - Have at least 300 mb *free* for imaging. These images are big, you may want to save multiple versions, and your software will want a lot of swap space. c) RAM - 16mb is a must unless you think watching your disk drive light flicker is entertainment. 32mb is much better. Rule of thumb to avoid excessive disk swapping: you should have 3 times as much RAM as the largest image you plan to work with plus enough for your software and operating system. Ižve found 20mb is about right for 4 mb images from Kodak Photo CDs. A professional setup would have at least 64mb. d) Video Capability - On the PC, accelerated video card capable of at least 800x600 resolution at 24- bit (16.7 million colors) color depth. This means 2mb of video RAM. (You can get by with a 1 meg card at 800x600 by 64K colors). On the Mac, generally, the original video system will be adequate. The built-in video of the '040 Macs and PowerMac 6100 will support up to 32k colors on up to 16-17" displays. On the 840AV and 7100 & 8100 Power Macs, up to 16.4 million colors can be displayed with full V-RAM installed (2mb). The 8100 can have up to 4 mb of V-RAM for support of 16.4 million color on up to the 20" display. e) Monitor You can use a 14" monitor if you have to, but larger is better. For color matching purposes, a monitor with separate adjustments for Red Green and Blue, or with a color management system included is highly desirable. NEC Multisync monitors are widely supported by vendors of imaging and color management software. SONY Trinitron and Apple-labeled monitors are also fairly widely supported. f) CD-ROM drive - Needed for Photo CD use. Every computer should have one anyway. To read Photo CD, you need: i) For the PC: a) a multi-session CD-ROM drive that supports "XA" format. It should specifically state "Multi-session Photo CD" capability. Virtually all 2x, 3x and 4x overspeed drives support PCD, but some older 1x speed drives (seen in discount catalogs like Damark), don't. a) Physical and software interface between the PC and the CD-ROM drive. If you bought a PC with a built-in CD, you already have this. The interface may be SCSI, EIDE or proprietary (e.g. Sony or Philips). If SCSI, the interface may be stand-alone plug-in (e.g. Adaptec), a chip on the motherboard, or a port on a sound card. Software includes CD-ROM device driver and MSCDEX: The DOS/Windows CD-ROM file system driver. DOS 5.0 and later ship with mscdex.exe. So do most CD-ROM drives. PC Mag _____ rates several. ii For the Mac w/o built-in CD-ROM, a Mac- compatible SCSI external drive may be plugged- in to the SCSI port for virtual plug-and-play usage. Virtually all CD-ROMs manufactured for the Mac in the last 18 months and all 2x drives or better, support XA format and are multisession. g) Digitizing Tablet (optional) Better imaging software, such as Photoshop, Picture Publisher, Fractal Painter, Illustrator, Freehand, ColorIt, [others please?], supports pressure-sensitive tablets, which give you much greater control over painting and drawing tools than you can get with a mouse. Some reviewed in PC vol 14 #2. h) Syquest Drive/Optical Disk (optional) Most service bureaus support transfer of large files on 88mb Syquest removable drives. If you won't be using service bureaus for scanning, you won't need one. Many service bureaus also support 128mb writable optical disks, The larger service bureaus supporting digital photo output usually support 650 and larger 5" optical also, since some images just won't fit on the 128 MO and 88 Syquests, but there are few standards in the optical disk arena, so check with the service bureau you want to work with. 5. What's Some Good Software? a) Adobe Photoshop (Mac and PC) The best. The industry standard. Does everything. Especially strong on prepress. Not easy to learn, though, and a resource hog. 32 bit program--on PC requires buggy Win32s add-ons. Awesome on a Power Mac. Expensive, but comes bundled with some scanners. (Note: some bundles included Limited Edition, some full edition.) Street price is around $600, but $200 upgrade from Photostyler. b) Micrografx Picture Publisher (PC) Cheap. Does 90% of what Photoshop does at 1/4 the price. About $150 when I last looked with competitive upgrade for $100 (They don't ask any hard questions when you say you're upgrading.) c) Aldus Photostyler (PC) Now sold only as limited, bundled version with multimedia upgrade kits, etc. The limited version is missing a lot, such as ability to save masks. You wonžt want to live with it for long. Upgradable to Photoshop, though, for $200--a great buy. d) Digital Light and Color's Picture Window (PC) Transmits images for printing directly to their service bureau. You work on your pictures and transmit to them via modem. I haven't used this myself, but have heard the software is functional but not elaborate. Aimed at the photographer who doesn't want to get into computers too much. [more info needed] e) ColorIt! 3.x from MicroFrontier is bundled (or at least v. 2.3) with Kai's Power Tools. Street price is under $75 and has some neat features but is slow (at least on Mac 840av). Works with Photoshop filters, and is simple to use. (Mac only) f) Enhance 3.x, also from MicroFrontier is a gray-scale tool for the Mac. It was originally designed for scientific image analysis but is now a *general purpose* tool for grayscale but probably not as good as the tools in Photoshop. (Mac only) g) NIH Image, free on most on-line services, an analysis program designed for scientific imaging by the National Institute of Health. (Mac only) h) Canvas 3.5 for Mac/Windows-allows plug-ins for Photoshop-like usage. Canvas is a super program trying to the the Coral-Draw of the Mac world but a very usuable tool with the best features of MacDraw, Freehand, Illustrator and others in an easy-to-use MacDraw-like enviroment. Street price of about $160 to $300. i) Fractal Painter 3.0 (Mac/Windows) (they used to make ColorStudio, but it has been set-aside for now...). Super paint/editing program. Works with Photoshop plug-ins. I use this program when the tools in Photoshop arn't enough. Painter is the electronic equivalent of having all the tools avilable in an art supply all on a few floppies-If an artist has used it, it is here-almost any color and texture of paper, markers, paints, pencils, water color, oil, acrilic, crayons, pastels, plus the tecniques & infinite control of every-thing! If it can't be done in Painter, the technique hasn't been discovered! j) Kai's Power Tools - (Mac and PC) A fantastic collection of special effects that can be used in conjunction with other imaging software. k) [Others, please] l) Reviews: i) PC Mag, vol. 14 #2 (1/24/95) chose Photoshop and Fractal Design Painter (more of a fine arts type tool) as editors' choices ii) Infoworld [date] compared Photoshop and Picture Publisher and concluded that Photoshop was more powerful, harder to use and more expensive and that PP was almost as powerful and a great buy at $149. 6. What's the Least Expensive Way to Get Started? a) If you already have a 486- or 68040-based computer, upgrade to minimum configuration above. Use photo CD for input, inexpensive software (Picture Window or Picture Publisher on PC.) [Know good cheap software for Mac?], service bureau for prints. Photo CD scans are about $1 per image, service bureaus charge $10-$30 per 8x10 print. Add the cost to upgrade your computer to the minimum configuration above. b) If you don't have a CPU with a 4 in the number, no way is going to be real cheap, but the cheapest way would be to buy a 486-66 with a multimedia kit that bundles PhotoStyler SE and upgrade to 16mb RAM. Use Kodak CD's for scanning and a service bureau for printing. If you prefer a Mac, get at least a Performa 630 or 630AV [cheapest Mac imaging software?]. Prices change all the time, but, as of 3/95, the 486 PC option should be under $2000, with the Mac option $300-$500 more. Pentium based PC would add about $300 (low $2000's, and well worth it) and Power Mac 6100 would be around $2500-$3000 (also worth it). 7. How do I get Images into my Computer? a) Kodak Photo-CD - Many service bureaus scan your negatives and slides onto Photo CD's. You can call Kodak (see below) for a list in your area. Prices I've seen get as low as $.80 a scan. Photo CD's are an issue for a FAQ in themselves, but some general observations are relevant to getting started i) Resolution. CDžs include various versions of the image at different resolutions. The two that are relevant here are a) Base*4 (1536x1024?) which can be handled on a computer with 16mb of RAM and will produce a good 8x10 from the full or nearly full frame b) Base*16 (3072 x 2048) which takes 5 minutes just to load with 16mb of RAM, but which is useful if you need to make a large print from a small part of the frame. c) (There is also a professional CD format with 72mb files. Don't even ask how much RAM you need to work on one.) ii) Color Depth 24-bit True Color (16.7 million colors). Enough for any purpose. iii) Permanence. No one *really* knows how long CD's last, since they haven't been around that long, but audio CD's from the mid 80's show no deterioration. Kodak says its disks will last 100 years. As with all digital data, the life span of the media is only part of the permanence issue. The real issue is obsolescence. Be prepared to move your data when CD-ROM drives become obsolete or when software no longer reads the current .PCD format. If you want tested, long-term stability, keep your Kodachromes. b) Desktop Scanners Desktop scanners do a good job of capturing images for which you lack the slide or neg. It takes time to learn to get the most out of one. Drivers are an issue, so avoid off- brand cheapies and get one that has a TWAIN driver. PC magazine tested them (vol 14, #3, 2/7/95) and rated the HP Scanjet IIcx as its Editors' Choice. (I've seen it for around $800 including a rebate offer.) The Agfa Arcus and Agfa StudioScan II received good ratings in MacWeek [I've never used a scanner. Could use some real experiences here.] Desktop slide scanners, such as the Nikon Coolscan (around $1500), are good, but not cost effective vs. the Photo CD unless you plan to scan thousands of slides. (Probably not relevant for the "getting started" FAQ.) c) Service Bureaus If you need professional quality scans, they can use a drum scanner to produce very high quality, hi-res scans of prints, slides or negatives. $30 is a typical rate for a scan. You will need a Syquest Drive or optical disk, though, to take away the file. d) Digital Cameras There are essentially two breeds of digital cameras -- the under-$1,000, all-in- one, point & shoot, and the over $10,000 workhorses, often in fact digital backs for the likes of standard Nikons and other SLR's. The first is typified by the Canon Xapshot, the Apple QuickTake, and the Logitech Fotoman. The second is typified by the original Sony Mavica and the Kodak DCS (various uninspired model numbers). Of the first set, the QuickTake is currently regarded as the best, and I (Bob Niland) have taken numerous pictures with it. Apple sells a kit to adapt it to the PC, about $125. Its easy, and a full- resolution shot is 640x480 pixels, 24-bit color (half resolution images are very badly color distorted for some reason) Is it, in the remotest sense, a replacement for film? No way. Only if your aim is to get pictures into a computer as fast and cheaply as possible. Of the second set, priced more like a car than a camera, the Kodaks are rated well, while the Mavica is supposedly a hit with certain photojournalists who need to get an image back to the publisher ASAP--you can fit a modem to it and wire the images back from your hotel room. 8. How do I Get Prints? a) Service Bureaus - Basically, the way to go. They provide photo-quality printing, usually by a dye- transfer process. Most still require you to bring in the image in .tiff format on a Syquest drive but some are starting to accept compressed jpeg images, which can fit on a floppy. A few accept files by modem or mail, which will save you the cost of a Syquest drive. Cost range $10-$30 for an 8x10. b) Home printers - Color inkjets are cheap ($500 or less) but do not produce photo quality output. You can see the dots of ink, and color gamut is less than a photo (blues and purples are weak). Currently the best is the Epson Stylus Color. It has a 720dpi mode on special paper which is OK for proofs and casual use. From 2 feet, you can't see the dots. Other good ones are the HP 560/540 and Canon BJC 600. See PC Magazinežs Printer Issue. c) Affordable Dye Transfer Printer: The cheapest dye transfer printer is the Fargo Primera Pro, at about $1200-$1500 plus $3 a page. I haven't seen its output, but have communicated with several happy users and am told it's photo quality. Anything beyond this is probably not for the "getting started" FAQ. 9. Colors a) Why can't I print all the colors I see? (aka What is Gamut?) Gamut is the range of colors displayable by a device (monitor, printer, whatever). Photo film can display colors that your monitor and printer cannot. Your monitor can display colors that your printer can't. Those blues that are so vivid on your slide and your monitor will never look as good printed out. This is an intrinsic limitation of the phosphors used in monitors and the inks used by printers. (Not to be confused with Gamma). b) Why won't prints ever exactly match what I see on the screen? Your monitor is an RGB (red, green, blue) device. It displays a color by making red, green, and blue phosphors glow at appropriate intensities. Green is produced by only the green phosphor. Yellow is red and green with no blue. A printer is a CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) device. It uses inks that absorb light, instead of emitting it. Green is a mixture of cyan and yellow. (Actually, it's what's left over after the cyan ink absorbs red light, and the yellow ink absorbs blue) Naturally, a printer can't do greens as vividly as a monitor. Software tries to translate when you print, but RGB won't translate perfectly to CMYK-- the gamut is different, and inks--particularly cyan ink--are imperfect. Blues and greens suffer the most. c) What is Gamma? Gamma measures how bright a middle tone appears. Given a picture with a full range of colors from black (RGB all at 0) to white (RGB all at 100%), a monitor with a higher gamma will display middle tones as brighter than a monitor with a lower gamma. Most software allows you to calibrate your monitor against a test pattern to approximately the desired gamma. A gamma of 1.8 is most commonly used. If your gamma is not properly calibrated, then your printed output will be lighter or darker than your screen. (It won't match exactly, no matter what you do, but getting the gamma right helps.) d) What are Color Management Systems? -- These attempt to correct for the different color renditions of scanners, monitors, printers, etc. by mappings that correct the colors as you move from device to device (e.g. from scanner to screen or from screen to printer). They work reasonably well, but, in my experience, won't provide exact matches on amateur level equipment. c) Some examples i) Kodak Color Management System (KCMS)Kodakžs system depends on a set of "transforms" or mappings of the color characteristics of specific devices. Input from or output to any device is modified by a mapping calibrated by Kodak for that device. You can buy them from Kodak. If you want accurate color management, you'll need a transform for your monitor, printer, and scanner, as well as for photo CD's. Most software that uses KCMS (Photoshop, Photostyler, Picture Publisher...) comes with some transforms. Monitors are the problem. Unless you have a widely-used high-end monitor, Kodak probably hasn't done a transform for it. Personally, I've found the KCMS under-documented and confusing, but some people like it. ii) Windows 95 Will probably include a CMS licensed from Kodak. iii) Agfa [need info] iv) Colorsync or other Mac based systems [??] v) [other] vi) Caveats Prepress professionals will tell you there is no such thing as calibration accurate enough to replace proofs. They stress that pressmen have to work from proofs ('matchprints') that they match by tweaking the printing press controls during the press run. They point to washed out highlights as typical of what happens when you believe the press will reproduce what you see on the screen. d) How do I make my Epson/Canon/HP inkjet print what I see on the screen? i) You can't(see above) ii) You *can* get adequate, but not photo quality prints if you a) Calibrate your monitor carefully b) Get the Kodak Precision Transforms for your printer c) Tweak the resulting print by trial and error iii As you might expect, flesh tones are very hard. My prints tend to come out with too much red. Playing around with calibration curves to suppress red in the middle tones deals with this pretty well. Blues tend to come out purple, and the lighter parts of the picture tend to wash out, since there just wonžt be many dots of ink in them. Don't let your highlights get too bright or your contrast get too high. 10. Where Can I Get Help Online? a) Internet i) rec.photo.advanced ii) rec.photo.help iii) comp.publish.prepress b) Compuserve i) Photography Forum, Digital Imaging Section ii) Adobe Forum iii) Micrografx Forum iv) Kodak Forum c) AOL i) Kodak Photography Forum: keyword KODAK ii) Keyword Photo, iii) Keyword Digital Imaging iv) Keyword Photoshop 11. What reading Material Can be Helpful? a) Margulis, Dan: _Professional Photoshop_ Extensive Treatment of Color Correction and Retouching with particular relevance to prepress work b) Adobe Photoshop Classroom in a Box series (with CD), Adobe Press; Focuses on how to use the software but techniques are applicable to other software. c) [author] Photoshop WOW! Peachpit Press. Mostly about special effects. d) Computer Artist (magazine) Some examples of work and some how-to's. Subscriptions 918-831-9405 e) [others, please] 12. How Can I Contact Vendors a) Kodak: US: 1-800-235-6325 (1-800-23-KODAK) Canada: 1-800-465-6325 (1-800-GO-KODAK) Other countries +01 716-726-7260 Kodak The Kodak Web Server http://www.kodak.com) FTP to ftp.kodak.com (150.220.251.16). Log in as "anonymous" and use your e-mail address as the password. The photo-cd directory is located directly under '/pub'. The Photo CD e-mail list: To subscribe to the photo-cd mailing list, mail to: listserv@info.kodak.com and have: SUBSCRIBE PHOTO-CD First_Name Last_Name on a line by itself in the body (and no other text). b) [others] gspiegel@paltech.com