A Picture says more…

Using Digital Pictures

Table of Contents

1. Why using digital pictures2. When using digital pictures3. How to use your camera4. Tips on photographing5. Editing pictures6. Editing tips7. Interesting links

1. Why using digital pictures? A picture says more than a thousand words Many people don’t have much time to read

or listen A picture needs no translation A picture is an idea and proof at the same

time You can show many things with pictures Makes local knowledge clear Over time you will see more Fast and convincing communication Can directly be used in training/

presentation Easy

2. When using digital pictures? In presentations Reports Explanations on field visits Trainings Websites

3. How to use your camera

When you are in the field, try to see things through the camera and take pictures

Ask local experts and resource persons to explain and ‘show’ what they mean

Try to capture the knowledge of local specialists

4. Tips on photographing (1)

Use series of photographs – this can make a story

4. Tips on photographing (2)

Think of detail and think of overview People make pictures more

interesting

5. Editing pictures

A lot of software is available for editing pictures. It is recommended to use ‘real’ edit programs. This means do not use Word or other text editors to edit your pictures.

Examples of picture editing programs are: Adobe Photoshop (very advanced, not free) Paint (not many options, but standard in MS Office) VCW VicMan's Photo Editor (Free) ImageMagick (free)

6. Editing tips (1) Sometimes your picture is too big to fit the

place where you want to have it. It looks very unprofessional to squeeze the picture without taking notice of scales. For example don’t do:

6. Editing tips (2) How to keep original scales

Most editing programs will keep scales of pictures when you hold down the shift key while you resize your picture by dragging a corner.

Another option is to go to ‘Format picture’, then look for an option like: ‘Lock aspect ratio’. When this option is active, the picture will keep the original scales when you adjust the size.

6. Editing tips (3)

The quality of a picture is related to the amount of pixels a picture contains. The higher the quality the larger the file. If you want to place a picture on the internet it might be better to use a low quality. Smaller files can be downloaded faster.

You can decrease the size of your picture (compressing) by:

By changing settings in your digital camera. Look in your camera for ‘image size, image quality or compression’.

Afterwards for example in a PowerPoint presentation: right click your mouse, choose: ‘format picture > picture > compress > change resolution to web/screen’.

7. Interesting links (1) Editing software

www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/photoshop

Adobe Photoshop. Very advanced, not free www.microsoft.com

Paint. It has not many options, but it is a standard program in MS Office

www.vicman.netVCW VicMan's Photo Editor (free)

www.imagemagick.org

ImageMagick (free)

7. Interesting links (2) Organizing pictures

www.picasa.google.com

Free software that helps you organize and manage your pictures in a clear way

www.magix-photos.comOnline album where you can upload your pictures and manage them online

www.shortcourses.com

Short courses on digital cameras or digital photographing

www.scantips.com

Tips on scanning by Wayne Fulton http://digital-photo-basics.classes.cnet.com

This is an online course on digital photographs from Cnet. Also available on this website are tip and tricks

7. Interesting links (3) Trainings and courses

http://malektips.com/digital_cameras_help_and_tips.html

Tips on digital cameras, varying from tips on how to buy a camera to tips on reducing red-eyed pictures

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=38&pq-locale=en_US&_requestid=735

Kodak Tips and Projects Center; tips on various topics

7. Interesting links (4) Tips and tricks