Computer Genealogy Specialists

Working With Genealogical Photographs

(Article 34)

Preparation steps:

1. Crop photo to size.

2. Adjust brightness / contrast.

3. Use the despeckle filter.

4. Clone portions of the photo

to create more headroom

and grass at bottom.

5. Size the picture to 2 inches

wide at 300 dpi.

6. Save the photo in a JPEG

format (about 250K storage)

7. Insert it into a WordPerfect

document and adjust its size.

8. Add a colored frame.

9. Add a caption at the bottom.

10. Print on photo paper for

best quality.

(photo illustrations available in printable version of this document, see below).

Four basic ways to obtain a digital photograph

Scan an original photograph (recommend 300 dpi with 175 lpi filter and %-adjusted to about 1 MB)
Use a digital camera (3.3 Megapixals at high resolution 2048x1536, using close-up lens setting)
Have someone send you a digital image by email (recommend JPEG or BMP format)
Find a family picture at a genealogical web site and download it to your computer.

Photo software to enhance and repair your photos

Adobe PhotoDeluxe (either Home Edition or Business Edition). Most control and features.
Adobe Photoshop Elements. Lots of features, but fewer improvement filters than PhotoDeluxe. Has a steep learning curve like the larger version of Photoshop.
PhotoImpact and PaintShop Pro. Easy to use with most of the popular features.
Many others that are simple to use but limited.

How to email your photo to eager family members

First, use your photo editor to prepare an email version of your photo by adjusting its file size to be between 100K and 200K. This size will display nicely as an email attachment. Remember where you stored the photo (e.g., c:\My Photos\Grandchildren).
Start Outlook Express and select Message, New Message. Select the person to receive the email and photograph. Then complete the text of your message in the normal way.
Select Insert and File Attachment. This will open a browse window allowing you identify which file (in this case a photo) you want to attach:

(e.g., c:\My Photos\Grandchildren\Amy Johnson 1999 at Fair with homemade dress.jpg)

4.After finding the photo, select Insert. The photo is now attached and is ready to Send.

How to use a prepared photo in PAP-4 & 5

Click on the ancestor for whom you want to add a photo. In the top menu bar, click on Edit, Multimedia, Add, and then Browse. From the browse window find your picture and click on Open.
Fill in the Caption (a title for the photo), and the Description (about two sentences). Click OK , Save.
If you Edit the photo this allows you to select a portion of the photo to display and how long it is displayed in the slideshow. This does not alter the original photo but only how it is displayed in PAF.

From the Multimedia window, you can change the order of the photos as well as which one is to be displayed in family group record and pedigree charts.

For a printer friendly version of this document with illustrations contact CGS by email and request this document by number and title. It will be returned to you by email as soon as possible.

34 Working With Genealogical Photographs