photoscape
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

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Below: Restoring Contrast and Vibrancy


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Below: Adding Descriptive Labels to the Image itself


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Below: Rotating and Cropping and Adding Border

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

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

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Below: Removing Imperfections


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Below: Combining Multiple Photos into One


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Below: Creativity only possible in the digital world

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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.

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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.

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