How to Choose Software for Booklet Printing
Personal
12th Nov 2009
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If you want to print cheap booklets, you will probably need to do the layout on your own to avoid paying the expensive professional fees of a layout artist. To achieve this, you will need to choose the appropriate software for booklet printing that matches your skills. Do not worry, choosing the software is really easy to do. For your convenience, we have listed down below the most popular booklet printing applications that you can use. Just see what software matches your skill level.
For beginners: For beginners, it is always good to start out with something you are familiar with. In this regard, we recommend using common word processing software. Most word processing applications already have most of what you need in booklet printing. You can make chapters, tables of contents, add in page numbers and set appropriate booklet margins in word processing software. While actual customized layout and design elements can only be added to a limited degree, the functionality of these applications should be enough for you to create a decently composed booklet for printing.
Common word processing applications that you can use for booklet printing include:
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Works
- Apple iWork
- OpenOffice.org Writer
- StarOffice Writer
For intermediates: For more intermediate users who already understand the basic concepts of layouts, you may want to try something more advanced than just simple word processors. While most of those word processors only have basic functionality, professional desktop publishing applications usually have specific features, commands and functionality that are catered especially for specific print mediums like booklets. This is perfect if you want a more professional look to your color booklets without needing to go in depth in learning the software.
Common examples of desktop publishing software like this include, Microsoft Publisher, Adobe PageMaker and advanced commands and features for OpenOffice.org Writer.
For professionals: Finally, if you feel that you are ready for the big leagues and want to fully control how your whole booklet is going to look like, you may want to use professional imaging and desktop publishing software. Most applications at this level give you a chance of full customization, from specifying typographical elements, adjusting image attachments, drawing graphics, color corrections and specifying settings for the actual digital values and file formats. All this and more can be done with professional desktop publishing applications.
Common examples of these professional level applications include Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw and even a free software called GIMP. Each has its own limitations and advantages for booklet printing, but most let you customize every single aspect of your booklet design to the layout that you want.
Great! Hopefully that helps you out in picking the right software that you need. Just match your skills with the software and you should be alright. Good Luck!
For comments and inquiries about the article visit Booklet Printing and Cheap Booklets
Compressed Digital Photo File Formats – Storing Digital Photos
Digital Photography
12th Nov 2009
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Digital photos are stored as files on memory cards and computer hard disks. They can be stored in different file formats (each format has a unique file extension). Most of the formats are compressed to save space and each has its own pros and cons.
The need for standard file formats
Digital photos are saved as digital files on electronic media. These digital photo files are a collection of bytes. If each manufacturer and camera would have used a proprietary file format then you would have needed proprietary software that could read, print and display those formats. Using a standard format allows any camera to save photos while any other software can read, display and print them.
What is compression and why it is needed
A digital photo is a collection of pixels each pixel is stored as a value that represents its color and intensity. Usually each pixel is represented by an RGB value (three numbers one byte each with values 0 to 255 representing the intensity of Red, Green and Blue that combined together create the pixel’s color). An RGB value occupies 3 bytes. So how big is a digital photo file? It depends on the number of pixels in the photo. For example if you shoot a photo using an 8 mega pixels digital camera the photo will have 8000000 pixels each one occupying 3 bytes. The total file size would be 8000000*3=24000000 or 24Mbytes. This is a very big file. Big files are harder to manipulate they take a long time to send by email, they occupy large storage space and they take longer to load.
In any digital photo there is data that is either redundant or that if removed the viewer would not be able to notice the difference. In addition representing pixels as RGB values is not efficient in terms of storage space. The process of compression takes advantage of these facts. When you compress a digital photo the compression software represents pixels in a more efficient way, removes redundant data and removes data that is “not important”. The result is a significantly smaller file. For example the above 24Mbytes file could easily be compressed to about 3Mbytes with hardly any noticeable quality degradation.
Before compressed digital photo files can be viewed or printed they need to be decompressed. Decompression is the reverse process of compression – a compressed file is converted to its original format usually a simple RGB pixel file. Using standard compression file formats allows one software to compress a digital photo file and another software to decompress it and process it.
Lossy or Lossless compression?
There are two main types of compression software: lossy and lossless. Here are the differences:
Lossless compression: Lossless compression means that if you take a file compress it and then decompress it the decompressed file would be the exact copy of the original file. With lossless compression no data is lost in the compression process the compression software uses better representation of the data in the file but it does not remove any data from it.
Lossy compression: Lossy compression means that if you take a file, compress it and then decompress it the decompressed file would be slightly different than the original one. The compression software not only represents the file’s data more efficiently but it also removes data that it considers minor or not important. Such data can be removed without hardly any noticeable degradation in the file quality. The differences between the original file and the decompressed file are minor and should be negligible to the user.
Lossless compression is usually applied to text and other data where all data is equally important. For example when compressing the text in this article and later on decompressing it you would want to get the exact original article without any words or sentences dropped by the compression software that decided they were not important.
Lossy compression is usually applied to digital photos and graphic files. Such files include data that the viewer would not be able to notice if removed. For example small changes to color in a photo might not be noticeable. The decompressed file is not exactly the same as the original one but when viewing both the original and decompressed photos side by side the viewer can not tell the difference. Lossy compression software can be set to different compression levels based on how much data is allowed to be lost. At some point losing too much data is noticeable and degrades the digital photo quality. Many digital cameras allow you to set the level of compression from low to high where high compression means smaller files but less quality and low compression means bigger files but no noticeable quality degradation.
Common digital photo file formats
You can know what a digital photo file format is by checking its extension. Usually the extension is three letters representing a specific format. Here is a list of the common extensions and formats:
BMP Windows Bitmap: this is a basic raw format. The photo is stored as a pixel raster and is not compressed. While this format is very easy to use and is supported by practically all software it is not efficient as there is no compression applied.
GIF Graphics Interchange Format: An old file format initiated by CompuServe. It uses a lossless LZW compression and is thus more efficient than BMP files. GIF files are very efficient for storing basic graphics (that include lines, circles and other graphical shapes) and also efficient for storing small digital photos but are rarely used to store large digital photos as there are more efficient formats for that purpose. GIF files can also include multiple “frames” and support basic animation.
PNG Portable Network Graphics: This relatively new format was designed to be used in online applications such as web pages. It uses a lossless compression. The original goal of the PNG format was to replace GIF (due to some licensing complications associated with the GIF format). PNG is commonly used now by online web sites to represent small digital photos or graphics replacing the GIF format.
JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group: Also known as JPG this file format was designed by a special industry group and became an ISO standard. The design goal of the format was the efficient storage of digital photographic files. Although JPG files can support lossless compression they are almost always used in lossy compression mode. JPG files are very efficient in compressing digital photos. The JPG compression software can be set to different compression levels with higher compression levels the photo files can get very small but they can also get distorted. JPG files are the most common ones used by digital cameras to store compressed digital photos on memory cards and computer hard disks as they result in small file sizes and hardly any noticeable photo quality degradation.
Avoiding Pitfalls When Taking High Quality Digital Photos
Digital Photography
10th Nov 2009
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With today’s sophisticated digital cameras it is relatively easy to take good digital photos. This is especially true if you are using s point and shoot digital pocket camera. However even with such a camera you can follow some tips that will result in better higher quality digital photos. These tips become much more important when using high end SLR cameras in manual mode.
There are many things that can go wrong when taking digital photos. Many of those things could be easily avoided if only the photographer was aware of them. Here is a list of things that can go wrong and some simple ways to avoid them.
Blurry digital photos: Also known as out of focus digital photos the objects in such digital photos look blurry or smudged. Many people think that by using the automatic focus feature of the camera all digital photos will come out sharp and clear. This is not true. There are some scenes that are harder to focus on. Such scenarios can fail even the most advanced digital camera. Moreover with most digital cameras (excluding SLR) you do not really see how focused the camera is when taking the photo. Looking at the LCD shows you how the photo would be composed but not how focused and sharp it will come out. Even by reviewing the photos on the small LCD it is hard to see on those small screens if the digital photo is focused correctly or not. With digital SLR cameras this becomes easier as looking through the viewfinder provides an accurate focus feedback through the digital camera’s lenses. Digital cameras provide some sort of feedback either audible or visual when they are focused. They also display a green rectangle (or another shape or color) around the area of the photo that they focused on. It is important to make sure that this area is where the objects you want to focus on are especially when there are multiple objects in different distances from the camera.
Blurry photos can also result from shakings of the camera. Such shakings are mostly a problem in conditions where a long shutter time is used. When the shutter opens for a very short period small shakings would not be noticeable. If the shutter is opened for longer period usually longer than 1/250 of a second shakings become an issue. To avoid such shakings learn how to hold the camera steady using two hands and leaning on your face. If the shutter speed is very slow try to stabilize the camera preferably using a tripod but if you do not have one you can improvise using any stable surface such as a table or a wall.
Dark digital photos: Digital photos that look dark are usually a result of underexposure. They are dull and lack details. In most cases the camera can automatically set the exposure to produce good quality digital photos. In some scenarios however the camera sets the wrong exposure. Learning to identify these scenarios can help you compensate for such camera errors. If there is a very bright light source in the photo it can confuse the camera to believe that there is enough light in the scene for a low exposure setting. It is a good assumption that scenes that have extreme lighting differences between different areas will confuse the digital camera. In such cases you can manually correct the exposure. If your camera supports bracketing a good option would be to take a few photos of the same scene in different exposure settings and later on to choose the best one.
Very bright photos: Digital photos that look very bright are a result of overexposure. They usually have areas that are blown out or even completely saturated. The scenarios that cause overexposed digital photos are similar to the one mentioned above that cause underexposed photos. You can identify them in the same way and compensate the exposure setting or better use exposure bracketing if your camera supports it.
Unwanted shadows: Sometimes unwanted shadows will appear in a digital photo. For example when taking a portrait digital photo there are unwanted shadings on the object’s face. The reason for such shadings is that the camera measures the ambient light and sets the exposure accordingly. However even with the right exposure setting shades can appear on the object depending on the angle of the light source relative to the object. In the mentioned portrait photo if the light source is from the side of the object’s face the object’s nose can create shades. In another scenario the object is wearing a hat and it is lit from above. The hat creates shades on the object’s face. The camera can not automatically correct such shades as it simply measures ambient light and can not figure out the light source position relative to the object. It is easy to fix this problem when you identify a scenario that can be problematic set the flash to a “fill in” mode (make sure that the object is within flash range) the flash will fire regardless of the exposure and compensate for the shades.
The object in the digital photo is completely dark: This is also known as a silhouette effect. It happens when taking a digital photo of a scene that has a very bright light source right behind the object. One good example of that is taking a photo of a person during sunset or sunrise. The result is a dark silhouette of the person with a good photo of the sunset or sunrise background. Similar to the shading problem this problem can be solved by setting the flash to “fill in” mode. The fill-in flash lights up the object (you need to make sure that the object is within effective flash range) and results in a quality digital photo.
A Few Cool Photoshop Tips And Tricks, Part 2
Graphic Design
7th Nov 2009
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Photoshop is a powerful piece of software with plenty of cool tricks you can apply.
What Can You Do With Advanced Photoshop Tips and Tricks?
Advanced Photoshop users are often familiar with all tools and have mastered most of the fundamental tutorials, tips, and tricks, such as creating a cloudy background. Some people are unaware of all of the cool tricks that Photoshop has to offer, especially when you’ve upgraded your version to CS. The power to create some of the most impressive works of digital art are only a few clicks away once you get a hang of advanced Photoshop shortcuts and tricks.
Some Photoshop tricks on the advanced level can help a more tedious project seem easier. The more you learn the tips and tricks of the trade, the better your overall creations will turn out. To get an idea of some of the advanced tricks associated with Photoshop, a few examples are mentioned below:
Photoshop allows advanced users to create digital comic coloring that looks just like the human hand penned it. The tricks and tips associated with this sort of higher-level design deals with the manipulation of various brush sets to achieve the look you desire. Photoshop also lets users create photomontages that can transform an original photograph into something much different.
There are also tips and tricks that can take your most unfavorite picture and alter it in any way you wish. Let’s say you want to change a regular photograph into something dazzling. Advanced Photoshop tricks can beautify a face that displays a natural appearance. In regards to a photo, skin can be fixed, blemishes and wrinkles erased, teeth fixed and whitened, as well as changes made to the eyebrows, hair, and eyes.
When one is able to master advanced Photoshop techniques, the creative possibilities seem never-ending, including 3D glass balls, planet and star-studded skies, matte paintings, and airbrushed illustrations.
