Digital imaging basics - Archives and slide shows

Archiving and presentation

Digital data can be volatile. Everybody whose computer has ever crashed knows that. But data loss doesn't follow natural law any more than a misplaced folder. As a stable basis for any photo collection, therefore, you should install a good archival program. It doesn't just organize your photos, it also periodically prompts the user to make backup copies. If you're looking for a particular photo, then the archival software can tell you that it was burned to CD number xy and where it might also be found on your hard drive.

Building an archive

Regular backups protect you from accidental deletion and other accidents.

Managing your digital images may require a little typing under some circumstances. But good software supports the user. Photos in JPEG format, for instance, already contain a lot of information which is stored in the so-called EXIF data. In this data, you can find information like the date of storage, and which aperture was used. Smart software like Photoshop Album can recognize this data and use it for convenient display or searching. Information can also be inserted later, invisibly to the user, which can allow international database to record them automatically, like press agencies do with the IPTC standard.

A safe place for pictures

Safe and space-saving, picture collections can be saved to a compact disc (CD) or Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), which have lately become the standard.. The flat disks can easily be stacked and, if saved in high quality and stored correctly, have a lifetime of about ten years. There is a growing number of specialty CDs/DVDs offer a longer life.

Any other data storage media have to face two questions: is the storage space enough for many pictures? Can I easily give the photos to friends without making them buy the right reader? An answer to the first question is the CDs and DVDs already mentioned. Otherwise, there are also Memory cards, Zip disks, Jaz drives, additional hard drives, and optomagnetic disks. However, only CDs are guaranteed to be exchangeable without problems, since almost every computer is equipped with the right drive.

Successful display

The Epson P-3000 or P-5000 Multimedia Storage Viewers offer an alternative for viewing photos. The Epson Photoviewers provide crystal clear viewing of electronic photo albums using a Photo Fine Ultra LCD. The flat screen can be carried around as easily as a book. But its storage can hold 40GB of photos (P-3000) or 80GB of photos with the P-5000. Even if you don't have a computer available, you can still share your portfolio with a screen Size of 4 inches.

You can also show a slide show on your home television. However, you need a DVD player which can handle the images. And you must also first save the photo albums to CD or DVD. But you don't need to worry about the technical details. Most of the work can be done automatically with the right programs, which are often available for free. Using an Epson video projector like the EMP-TWD3 you can watch your photos on the big screen, and even add music to provide a complete multi-media show.

There is an even larger selection of programs if you want to share photos with people via the Internet in a Web gallery. Usually, all you need to do for these programs is to enter the image directory. The corresponding function in Photoshop Album, for instance, compiles an overview with small preview images, links them with the large originals, and lays the album out however you wish.

You can also use the Epson PhotoSharing site to share your photos electronically.