Absolute Beginner's Guide to Digital Photography

Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Digital Photography......Page 2
Copyright © 2004 by Que Publishing......Page 3
Contents at a Glance......Page 4
Table of Contents......Page 5
About the Authors......Page 11
We Want to Hear from You!......Page 12
Preface......Page 13
PART I Digital Quickstart......Page 14
CHAPTER 1 Quickstart to Digital: Pix to Print in Seconds......Page 16
What Do You Mean by “Digital Photography”?......Page 17
Why Flash Media Is Important......Page 18
Photography and the Internet......Page 19
Is Traditional Photography Really Less Expensive?......Page 20
CHAPTER 2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Digital Cameras......Page 24
Capture Delays......Page 26
Sensor Resolution and Crummy Lenses......Page 27
The RGB Color Space......Page 28
The CCD Image Sensor......Page 30
Aliasing and Other Imager Problems......Page 34
Digital Camera Technologies and Standards......Page 36
CHAPTER 3 Film Basics......Page 42
Choosing a Color Film......Page 43
Types of Color Film......Page 44
Selecting and Using Film......Page 45
How Film Responds to Light......Page 54
PART II Digital Basics......Page 56
CHAPTER 4 The Importance of Lenses......Page 58
Lens Focal Length......Page 59
Focal Length and Digital Cameras......Page 62
Automatic Focus......Page 67
Focus and Depth of Field......Page 71
CHAPTER 5 Exposure and Focus......Page 76
Digital Cameras and Color Balance......Page 77
Exposure Latitude......Page 79
Film Latitude......Page 80
CHAPTER 6 Getting Your Pix Onscreen......Page 84
Making a Scan Step by Step......Page 87
Alternatives to Scanning......Page 92
CHAPTER 7 Files and File Formats......Page 94
Photoshop Elements and Photoshop: File Format Compatibility......Page 97
JPEG File Format......Page 99
TIFF File Format......Page 104
Photoshop File Format......Page 108
CHAPTER 8 File Recovery: Finding “Lost” Images......Page 110
Using PC Inspector File Recovery......Page 112
Recovering Lost Images from Flash Media......Page 113
Filesystems at Work: The File Allocation Table (FAT)......Page 116
Preventative Maintenance: Defragmenting Flash Media......Page 120
Another Disaster Point: USB......Page 122
PART III Image Editing......Page 124
CHAPTER 9 Basic Editing with Photoshop Elements and iPhoto......Page 126
Finding an Image on Your Computer......Page 127
Editing with Photoshop Elements......Page 129
Rescan or Resample a Photo......Page 132
Modifying an Image in Elements......Page 134
Editing with iPhoto......Page 139
CHAPTER 10 Editing with Selection Tools......Page 146
Introduction to Selection Tools......Page 149
The Most Popular Selection Tools......Page 151
Introduction to Image Editing......Page 158
Color Balance 101......Page 161
CHAPTER 11 Advanced Selection Tools......Page 164
The Polygonal Lasso Tool......Page 166
Magnetic Lasso......Page 167
Single Row and Single Column Marquees......Page 168
Quick Mask Mode......Page 169
The Amazingly Versatile Pen Tools......Page 170
When Your Software Tools Quit Working......Page 176
Photoshop Elements Workarounds for Pen and Quick Mask......Page 183
CHAPTER 12 The Importance of Resolution......Page 186
Understanding Different Terms for Resolution......Page 187
Input Resolution......Page 189
Output Resolution......Page 199
CHAPTER 13 The Importance of Filters......Page 204
Sharpening Prints......Page 205
Taking Advantage of Blur......Page 210
CHAPTER 14 The Importance of Brightness/Contrast......Page 218
Introduction to Histograms......Page 220
Using Histograms to Diagnose Exposure Problems......Page 223
CHAPTER 15 The Importance of Levels and Curves......Page 232
Using Levels to Fix Your Images......Page 233
Correcting Images with Curves......Page 239
Accessing Levels and Curves Adjustment Layers......Page 244
CHAPTER 16 The Importance of Layers and Masks......Page 248
Adjustment Layers Are a Different Kind of Layer......Page 249
Creating Image Layers......Page 250
Harmonizing the Elements of a Collage......Page 252
Preventing Color Banding and Data Loss in Adjustment Layers......Page 255
Making a Composite Image Step by Step......Page 257
Advanced Selection Techniques: The Pen Tool......Page 260
Layer Masks: Attaching a Mask to a Layer......Page 265
CHAPTER 17 The Importance of Channels......Page 268
Using Masks to Create Selections......Page 270
Seeing Through a Mask......Page 272
Troubleshooting: Keeping Track of Layers, Channels, and Masks......Page 278
PART IV Digital Output......Page 280
CHAPTER 18 Printers and Printer Resolution......Page 282
Printer Technology......Page 283
What Resolution Are My Images?......Page 286
Third-Party Ink and Printer Resolution......Page 289
Printing Big Pictures......Page 295
CHAPTER 19 Preserving Your Images......Page 298
Photo Papers......Page 299
Plain Papers......Page 300
Saving Your Images on CD-ROM......Page 301
CHAPTER 20 Color Theory......Page 306
Three Image Layers Create Color Images......Page 308
Making Your Prints Match the Monitor—Gamuts and Color Management......Page 310
CHAPTER 21 Lighting......Page 320
Degree of Diffusion: From Hard to Soft Light......Page 321
Available Light: Outdoors......Page 323
Available Light: Indoors......Page 325
Qualities of Artificial Light......Page 326
The Main Light: The Dominant Source......Page 328
The Fill Light: To Lighten Shadows......Page 332
PART V Using Your Digital Pictures......Page 336
CHAPTER 22 The Portrait......Page 338
Converting Color to Black and White......Page 341
CHAPTER 23 Digital Photography and the Web......Page 350
Making Images for the Internet......Page 351
Creating a Web Photo Gallery......Page 352
The Internet: Resource and Gallery......Page 356
Glossary......Page 360
Index......Page 366