
Photo and Image Editing in your Genealogical Work
One
of the tools that I use almost daily in handling and manipulating
images and photographs in my genealogical material is a software tool
called "Photoscape"
(not to be confused with "Photoshop").
Photoscape is FREEWARE - with some awesome capabilities for it being
free. Most of what the average person wants to do with image
manipulation can be done with Photoscape.
Below
are some examples of work I have done with Photoscape.
Please note I do NOT consider msyelf anything near an "expert" in
digital image editing. Most of what was done below - was done with some
very BASIC techniques.
Go here to download a free copy of photoscape.
Below: Adding Borders & Frames to Photos

Below: Restoring Contrast and Vibrancy

Below: Adding Descriptive Labels to the Image itself

Below: Rotating and Cropping and Adding Border

Below: Example of Photo Restoration (using just basic techniques)

Below: Converting a color photo to a non-color photo for it's "effect"

Below: Removing Imperfections

Below: Combining Multiple Photos into One

Below: Creativity only possible in the digital world

File size and Private info
Many
people are also not aware of how useful image editing softawre can be
in reducing the file size of digital images. The raw image file
coming out of a digital camera can often be between 3 and 10 MB in
size. Handling and distributing files of such large size - can be wieldy
and very time consuming. Software can easily compress and reduce the
size of such files down to even below 1/10th of the original size
- with little degradation in photo detail that would be detectable to
the human eye. Transmission and processing time of such
files would also be directly proportional to this ratio.
In short - smaller file sizes means you can work with and share
photos much quicker.

Another
thing that people often don't realize - is the private informaton they
may be sharing with others - if they simply share raw files directly
from their camera.
This information could even include information about where the photo was taken (and thus possibly where you live).
Most digital editing will remove this private information as new versions of the photo are created.
check out this page for more info: http://www.army.mil/article/51268/
The One Caveat: BACKUP, BACKLUP, BACKUP!!
Make sure you have a great backup system of the cipies of your photos.
Seriously consider a cloud based system like BOX.COM, DROPBOX.COM, GOOGLE DRIVE and other similar technologies.
