See Also: Digital Product FAQs 1) What are the advantages of digital pictures? Since digital cameras take pictures without film or film processing, the pictures are available for immediate use. Digital pictures can be transmitted over computer networks, can be stored on a variety of media, and will not degrade over time (as long as the storage media remains intact). 2) How are digital pictures captured? The most common ways to capture or make digital pictures are: Scanning existing pictures from negatives, slides, or prints, or Using a digital camera to take digital pictures. 3) Can my pictures shot on film be turned into digital pictures for me to use on my computer? Yes, pictures taken on film are frequently used in the computer environment, and there are a number of ways to achieve the computer files you need. Many professional photo labs have taken on the role of service providers to scan your negatives, slides, or prints (or other flat art) and provide digital files on KODAK PHOTO CD Discs. These scans can range in price from less than US$3.00 to hundreds of dollars depending on the equipment used and the quality needed. Scans on PHOTO CD Discs provide high quality and are an excellent source of imagery for computer use. KODAK Picture Disk Software, introduced in 1996, provides digital images scanned from negatives and stored on floppy diskette along with a software program to view, print and export images to other programs (such as word processing applications). KODAK Picture Disk Software is available through outlets in the United States, in particular through retail locations which offer "Kodak Premium Processing" service. As introduced, KODAK Picture Disk Software, which comes with each Picture Disk, is compatible with computers using MICROSOFT WINDOWS Software. KODAK Picture Disk Software is not compatible with APPLE MACINTOSH Computers. It is possible to view the images on a MACINTOSH computer using any MACINTOSH program capable of displaying JPEG files. A variety of photo scanners, including ones for home use, are available to digitize prints. The KODAK Snapshot Photo Scanner 1 fits easily on your computer table, no bigger than a small phone book, and makes it easy to add photos to everything you create on your computer. 4) What kind of computer system works best for digital imaging? Multimedia computers using INTEL PENTIUM, PENTIUM II, PENTIUM III, MIPS or POWERPC Processors are best for use with digital imaging. However, you can use many digital scanners and cameras with older computer systems like 386- and 486-based IBM or compatible computers and 68030- and 68040-based APPLE MACINTOSH Computers provided there is sufficient RAM and disk space available. 5) Which is less expensive, traditional or digital imaging? It depends on the application. Small quantities of certain items may be more economical to produce digitally and large quantities more economical to produce in the traditional manner, and vice versa. Advances in technology generally seem to be driving quality up and prices down for many digital imaging components. 6) What is meant by resolution? Resolution is the degree of sharpness of an image displayed on a computer screen or quality of printed output from a laser printer or photo or laser typesetter expressed in dots per inch (dpi). Resolution can also refer to the number of bits per pixel. In printing, resolution refers to the space between dots in a halftone screen and is expressed as lines per inch (lpi). 7) How does resolution affect quality? Resolution is usually equated with quality. Generally, the higher the resolution, the higher the perceived image quality. 8) How does resolution affect file size? The higher the resolution of the picture, the greater the file size. However, some image formats like JPEG compress image files so that you can have high-resolution pictures with relatively small file sizes. 9) What is meant by compression? Compression is a data storage scheme in which data files are compressed by algorithms to save disk space. 10) What are software drivers? Software drivers are files that allow your computer to communicate with a peripheral device such as a scanner, digital camera, printer, modem, etc. 11) What is a SCSI port? A serial port? A SCSI port is a place you can connect certain devices like scanners, disk drives, CD-ROM drives, etc. A serial port is more commonly used for printers, modems, cameras, etc. Cables are used to connect the ports to the computer. 12) Does a digital camera use film? A digital camera contains a charge-coupled device (CCD) on which the image is captured. Software inside the camera looks at the image three times-once each for red, green, blue-then combines and presents the complete RGB picture on the screen. 13) Why are digital cameras more costly than traditional cameras? In a sense digital cameras are really little computers that can take pictures. They are packed full of computer memory, microchips, microprocessors, and a CCD image sensor chip often larger and more expensive than those used in a video camcorder. However, each new product introduction is decreasing in price and helping to drive down the cost of digital camera prices. 14) Are the pictures also stored on the CCD? No, the CCD is analogous to the film in a traditional camera. The CCD is used to capture the digital picture. Pictures are usually stored in EPROM (Erasable, PROgrammable Memory) microchips. Some digital cameras use PCMCIA Cards to store pictures also. 15) Do I have to know a lot about computers to use a digital camera? It doesn't hurt, but it's not necessary. The point-and-shoot digital cameras are geared for the average user, and ease of use is an important part of the package. The professional digital cameras are aimed at an experienced group of people who already have solid photographic and computer skills and want features that take advantage of the advanced equipment. 16) Is there such a thing as "film speed" with digital photography? Digital cameras do have "speed" ratings that are similar in concept to film speed. Some cameras operate at a fixed speed and some offer flexibility in speeds. What's interesting from a user's point of view is that with some digital cameras you can change speeds from shot to shot to match changing conditions. And, much like film, picture quality is usually better when using slower speed ratings. 17) How many shots will a digital camera take? Can I erase one if I don't like it? Digital cameras vary greatly in storage capacity and that's an important feature to consider when selecting one. In the computer world, memory is a commodity and it's no different for digital cameras. Some cameras can only operate tethered to the computer and have no storage of their own. Some have in-camera storage only, and some have a combination of in-camera storage augmented by removable memory cards. In all cases, pictures can be "erased" after they've served their purpose. 18) Can I use digital equipment to make copies of old family pictures? The professional digital cameras are excellent for copy work. They operate at a resolution that is high enough for making sharp copies, and they can reproduce a wider tonal range than the point-and-shoot digital cameras. The professional digital cameras can make use of higher quality lenses for that are specifically designed for copy work. Some of the point-and-shoot, non professional digital cameras, do offer close-up attachments for use in copying pictures. You can also scan your pictures into your computer using a photo scanner. The photo scanner will take a digital picture of your photograph and allow your computer to display the image. 19) In average use, are digital cameras affected by high heat and humidity? Heat and humidity can affect almost anything and digital cameras are no exception! With many image sensor designs, extreme heat can cause "noise" buildup, causing the picture to look "grainy" especially in the shadow or dark areas. 20) When I'm taking pictures, does the camera always have to be connected to a computer? Many digital cameras are designed to be used on location and do not need to be connected to the computer until you want to download or transmit pictures. 21) When the battery is exhausted, what happens to the pictures I've already taken? Pictures are stored safely in the camera's memory even if the battery fails or while changing the battery. They will not be deleted until you instruct the camera or software to delete the pictures. 22) What is a PCMCIA card? A PCMCIA* Card is a peripheral device that can add a wide variety of capabilities to computers including system memory, mass-storage, LAN, fax/modem and wireless communications. The PCMCIA standardized PC Card is roughly the dimensions of a thick credit card and has a 68-pin connector at one end. PCMCIA is a technical design standard and an international industry trade association. The PCMCIA interface is a series of hardware and software standards for PC Cards. These credit-card sized devices can expand the memory, storage, input/output (I/O), and eventually, the processing capabilities of host machines. A host machine can be any computer-based device including notebooks, palmtops, desktop PCs, personal communicators, laser printers, digital cameras, fax machines, test equipment, and medical imaging equipment. *Personal Computer Memory Card International Association 23) What do the various levels of PCMCIA cards mean? To allow manufacturers to add functions and technologies in the PC Card form factor, PCMCIA has defined three PC Card types. Type I, II, and III cards all look like credit cards from the top, with the same length and width, but with different thicknesses. All three have a 3.3-mm thick guide rail around their edges and connector ends, but Type II and III cards have bubbles or canopies that are 5 mm (equal to a stack of about 6 credit cards) and 10.5 mm thick respectively. The guide rails allow the thinner cards to be installed in thicker slots (for example, Type II cards fit in Type II and III slots, Type I cards fit in any Type slot). A Type I PC Card is 3.3 mm thick and is commonly used for system memory products. Type II PC Cards are 5 mm thick to accommodate applications that require slightly more room for components such as flash cards, fax/modem, and network cards. Type III PC Cards are 10.5 mm thick to accommodate high-functionality products such as rotating disk drives and wireless communication devices. 24) Do I need to format a PCMCIA card like I format a diskette? PCMCIA cards usually are pre-formatted by the manufacturer. They do need to be formatted for the MS-DOS environment. II. Storage 1) Where do I keep my digital pictures after I have looked at them? Once captured, modified (if necessary), and saved, your pictures are, at this point, computer files. Just as you need to organize word-processing files or spreadsheets or database files, now you need to set aside a place for photo files that you wish to save. You may choose to save them on your computer's hard drive or you may want to move them to a separate disk or CD-ROM drive. 2) Are digital pictures "archival"? Once in digital form on your computer's hard drive, your pictures are essentially a collection of bits and bytes and, in that sense, they are archival and they cannot fade or degrade. As long as the storage media remains intact and there is a device that can replay it, the digital pictures will exist as you saved them. 3) Can digital pictures be put onto a PHOTO CD Disc? Currently, KODAK PHOTO CDPortfolio II Discs can accept any image files including digital pictures as well as those from other film scanners or from computer generated files in PICT, TIFF, or BMP format. Some of the same service providers who make PHOTO CD Discs also author Portfolio Discs. 4) How much file space does a digital picture take up? How many pictures can be put on a high density diskette? File size depends a lot on the camera used to take the picture. A standard-resolution picture from a KODAK Digital DC40 Camera takes up about 116 KB, while a picture file from a KODAK Professional 460 Digital Camera takes up about 18 MB. That's quite a difference and shows the range in this line of products as well. Approximately 12 standard files created by a Kodak Digital Camera can be written to a 3.5-inch high density floppy diskette. 5) Can digital pictures be compressed? Using a software package such as PICTUREWORKS PHOTOENHANCER Special Fun Edition Software, ADOBE PHOTOSHOP Software, etc., you can compress pictures as you save them. For example, selecting JPEG compression (highest quality), you can compress a standard-resolution picture from a KODAK DIGITAL SCIENCE DC20 Camera from about 225 KB to 50 KB and a high-resolution picture from a Kodak Digital Camera from about 540 KB to 75 KB. III - Manage 1) What can I do with digital pictures? You can do lots of things with the right software... Using appropriate software, insert digital pictures into word processing, drawing, database, or spreadsheet documents for eye-catching and informative reports, newsletters, brochures, etc. Send digital pictures as e-mail attachments over the Internet (more about that in the section "Share"). Print digital pictures in color at home on photographic-quality ink-jet paper products. Organize digital pictures into slide and sound shows that replay at the click of a button. Make custom icons and folders and screen savers from them. You can even have your digital pictures printed on coffee cups or T-shirts. 2) What is this "alphabet soup" of file formats-JPEG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, PCD? A great number of image formats exist because the competition in the software industry is very intense. Different companies promoted their particular image format. To make sure their product is useful to a greater number of users, manufacturers now commonly enable their imaging applications to use a variety of formats. Each format has a particular advantage. 3) When/why would one save a picture in JPEG format versus, say, BMP? Some programs, like word processors, require pictures to be of a certain image format if you wish to use them in a document. A format like JPEG is simply a good way to save a high quality picture in a relatively small file; JPEG is truly cross-platform. 4) What I print out is not the same color as what I see on my screen. Why is that? Computer monitors generally can create and display more colors than an ink-jet printer can for instance. Output that is very different from what is displayed on screen can indicate that a color management system was not available or not used. Color management systems are available to help with this problem. Many are built into operating systems like MICROSOFT WINDOWS 95 Software, APPLE MACINTOSH OS, and SUN SOLARIS OS. Color management systems help to match what you see on your display with a particular output device by finding a common color gamut (range) in which both can work. 5) Can I use my digital pictures in word processing or database documents? Yes. Importing digital pictures into newer versions of word processing, drawing, database, or spreadsheet documents is easy and a very popular feature of digital imagery. In fact, the quality of pictures taken with point-and-shoot digital cameras, as well as their ease of use, matches up well with these sort of applications. 6) Can I add text and graphics to my digital pictures? Adding text and graphics to digital pictures is certainly possible. With software such as PICTUREWORKS PHOTOENHANCER Special Fun Edition, you can enhance your pictures and easily drop them into personalized templates, including greeting cards, party invitations, certificates, and awards. If you are a computer enthusiast, you can add your own text and graphics using programs such as ADOBE PHOTOSHOP Software and then output to the device of your choice. 7) Can I edit my pictures? What software should I use? One of the great advantages of digital photography is the ability to edit pictures on screen. Part of the attraction is the fact that it's the modern way to retouch pictures, and part of it is because it's so much fun! As time passes, we will see more and more image-editing products enter the market. Often digital equipment comes with the software packages that provide basic image-editing tools. 8) Can I use the computer to remove "red-eye" from my pictures? You can use your computer along with various image-editing software packages, to remove red-eye from pictures. PICTUREWORKS PHOTOENHANCER Special Fun Edition Software allows you to enhance your photos by changing the lighting, focus, or color saturation allowing you to reduce or eliminate red-eye from your pictures. 9) Can I adjust the colors in my digital pictures? How do I do that? Controls to adjust the color balance of your pictures are included in most image-editing software packages, such as KODAK Picture Easy and PICTUREWORKS PHOTOENHANCER Special Fun Edition Software, shipped with point-and-shoot digital cameras by Kodak. 10) Can I artificially enhance the resolution of my digital pictures? You can enhance a picture after it has been captured, but you cannot improve the actual resolution of the picture. Once the picture has been captured, you can sharpen it; you can increase its file size (although this interpolates pixels and does not increase resolution); you can optimize its tonal balance, remove noise and a host of other modifications, but you cannot improve its true resolution. 11) Will airport x-ray devices affect the pictures on my digital camera or storage disks? Photographers reflexively shy away from airport x-ray devices, but they will not damage the pictures on your digital camera or storage cards. IV. Share 1) Can I send my digital pictures via e-mail over the Internet? Yes! This is another area where digital pictures shine. KODAK DIGITAL SCIENCE Picture Postcard Software (available free by downloading from Kodak's Web site) is an example of a program that allows you to create a digital postcard and transmit the postcard easily over the Internet. There are other products and methods for transmitting digital pictures over the Internet or with online services such as AMERICA ONLINE and COMPUSERVE. 2) Can I make "prints" from my digital pictures? You can obtain prints from digital pictures. Use a computer printer. The quality and cost of the print depends upon the printer and the print media you use. Many of the new color ink-jet printers produce pleasing results, especially if you choose a high quality paper. The highest quality results are produced by a thermal dye sublimation printer, such as the KODAK PROFESSIONAL 8650R Thermal Printer. Some service providers offer these printing options to their customers. 3) Is a copy of a digital picture as good as the original? Yes it is. Because the picture actually consists of digital data, copies suffer no quality loss and are identical to the original. 4) Do digital thermal prints fade over time? Thermal prints that are printed using the KODAK EKTATHERM XTRALIFE Media have been extensively tested for exposure to daylight and to fluorescent lighting. Under display in typical home conditions,* we expect prints made with XTRALIFE Media to provide pleasing pictures for a few generations. *120 lux for 12 hours per day. Reference: " A Study of Lighting Conditions Associated with Print Display in Homes," S. Anderson and R. Anderson, Journal of Imaging Technology, Vol. 17, No. 3, June/July 1991 5) Can I create a digital "album"? I would like to send a collection of my favorite vacation pictures to someone I met on our trip. One way to do this is by using a KODAK DC260 Zoom Digital Cameras). You can create a custom multi-media slide show from your digital pictures and save it to a floppy disk (with the SLIDES & SOUND Projector included). Slide shows saved this way to a floppy disk can accommodate approximately 20 pictures. (Pictures from sources other than original digital pictures can also be included.) 6) Can my digital pictures be used with presentation software packages? Yes. Once saved, your pictures can be imported into the majority of presentation packages on the market, for example, MICROSOFT POWERPOINT and ADOBE PERSUASION Software. V. Miscellaneous 1) What does digital mean? Digital refers to the binary representation of data as bits and bytes. The binary representation of data is basically the language computers use to create, manage, and store information, music, pictures, etc. 2) What are bits and bytes? A bit (contraction of binary digit) is the smallest unit of information that a computer can store and process. It consists of an on or off electrical state with a value of zero or one. There are 8 bits in a byte. 3) What is a pixel? A pixel (contraction of picture element, spelled pixel) is the smallest addressable point of a bitmapped screen that can be independently assigned color and intensity. Digital pictures are made from many pixels of varying color and intensity, much in the same way a mosaic is made from many different colored tiles. 4) What is a bitmap? A bitmap is a digital representation of a picture in which all the dots or pixels making up the picture are rendered in a rectangular grid and correspond to specifically assigned bits in computer memory. Kodak and Photo CD are trademarks. faq1006, January 1999 Glossary... Return to Chapter Start... Return to Book Start... Return to DLC Main... DLC Plus