Fall. We sent our daughter off to first grade a few weeks ago. We captured the event digitally, of course. But the images of my wife and I going off to school are on slides and negatives. Getting those images into digital form is a great way to remember what it was like to be a kid - and to share those memories with our own kids.

The leaves are starting to come down and the winter rain and snow are just around the corner. But right now, it is time to get out to enjoy soccer season, pumpkin picking, and fall colors. When winter comes, we'll be here to help you recapture memories from years past.

Steve Bennett
Pixmonix President

Tell-a-friend and Win!

Your friends can get you free scans! Each time you Tell-a-Friend about Pixmonix from now until October 31, 2006 you are entered to win a chance at 50 free scans. The more invitations that you send, the more chances you have to win. You will also earn free scans for each friend who places a qualified order. *

Start telling your friends about Pixmonix today!

Using your images:
Photo Organization Software

You have converted your slide and negative images into digital form, and you have been shooting new images with your spiffy digital camera. There are so many images now! Keeping track of your images using the Windows Explorer or Mac Finder can be quite a challenge. Fortunately, many companies produce software to assist you with the task of organizing your images.

There are two basic classes of image management software: browsers and cataloging software. Image browsers can be very simple (like Windows Explorer's support of images) or more complex. They extract information about your imagers in 'real time' - that is, at the time that you view the images. Cataloging software, on the other hand, analyses the images and keeps a permanent record of the information it extracts.

Why should you care about the difference between a browser and cataloging software? Simply put, you want to make sure that you choose a cataloging application. Cataloging software is much more powerful than simple browsers. It is faster. It allows you to organize your images in a wide variety of ways. It makes mundane work like backing up your images to CD or DVD easier. Because of these advantages, we suggest that you focus your attention only on cataloging software.

Some photo editors (like Photoshop Elements) are bundled with a browser, which can be very convenient as it can allow you to do things like run editing scripts without ever directly opening the editor, or open several images at a time easily in your editor. However, these browsers don't provide all the advantages of cataloging software that we describe here.

A significant benefit of digital images over slides and prints, when managed using a photo cataloging software package, is the easy manner with which you can annotate the images with names, dates, places and comments. A photo cataloging software package will help you do this. You can also organize your photos into albums without the usual restrictions of prints or slides; images can be in more than one album simultaneously!

The list below details a few cataloging packages that we like to use. All have free trial version available to try out. We encourage you to download a couple of these packages to see for yourself how they work. Need help choosing the right package for you? Give us a call and we can try to help!

• ACD acdsee* Photo cataloging software with editing capabilities. This program does a great job handling large image collections. An added bonus is that this program understands and can organize files other than photos.
• Photools IMatch* Powerful, flexible image cataloging tool. Very inexpensive for its abilities. Steep learning curve, but it is unlikely that you will ever exceed its capabilities. Full scripting interface and full-featured RAW file format support. Used by many professional and serious amateur photographers.
• Extensis Portfolio* Another full-featured cataloging application.

Questions or comments? Please let us know at contact.php.

Photoshop Tip
Converting to Black and White

Converting a digital image from color to black and white would appear at first to be a simple process, and it can be. But if you take some time to learn slightly more sophisticated ways to convert your images, you will get far better results. We'll show you a few of the many ways to convert images. A sample color image is shown below, along with the results of the various conversion methods we discuss below.

The easiest way in Photoshop to convert an image from color to black and white is to use the Mode Conversion tool, under the Image menu (Image > Mode > Grayscale). Simple. Fast. Works well for some images, but many images come out looking a bit flat and boring if this is all that you do.

Another relatively simple way to convert to grayscale is to simply desaturate all the colors. To do this, choose the Hue/Saturation tool (Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation...). Sliding the Saturation slider down to -100 causes the image to loose all its color channels. This method allows Photoshop to choose which color channels (and in what proportions) are used to produce gray. This is not always what you would like to see.

There are other ways to convert your image to black and white which can make your pictures look much better. One of the most powerful tools available to you is the Channel Mixer tool: Image > Adjustments > Channel Mixer... The picture below shows you what this tool looks like.

This tool allows you to choose which color channels Photoshop uses to create gray tones. Make sure you check the Monochrome box at the bottom, or else you will be changing your image's colors instead of producing gray. Sliding the Red, Green and Blue sliders will change the relative contribution of those colors to the final black and white image. It takes some experimentation to understand this tool and get good results, but learning to use this tool allows you to make amazing black and white photos.

Here is a sample color image and the resulting black and white images created using the techniques described above. Clicking on the pictures will take you to a larger version of the images on our website.

Original Color Image	Greyscale
Desaturated	Channel Mixer

There are many other ways to do this conversion to black and white. A little exploration (try Googling for "Photoshop convert black white") and a little experimentation will let you create great black and white images. Have fun!

Questions on these procedures? Please let us know at contact.php.

Scanning Technology
Reflective Scanning vs. Transmissive Scanning

If you have shopped for a scanner, you may have come across the terms "reflective" and "transmissive". This article will explain the meaning of these terms in the context of scanner hardware.

Reflective scanning is the process used to scan a subject that does not allow light to pass through it. A piece of paper is a good example of an object that would have to be scanned using a reflective scanner. The reflective scanner is composed of a cover, a subject, a glass screen, a light source, and a lens. The light source produces an intense light that goes through the glass, and is reflected off the subject and back to the lens. A charge-coupled device detects the light. A charged coupled device is a chip that is light sensitive.

A transmissive scanner, on the other hand, scans a subject that allows light to pass though. A good example of such a transparent or translucent object is a negative or slide. Scanning a transparent or translucent object does not work correctly on the reflective scanner because most of the light will pass through the subject to the back of the scanner and be reflected back to the lens and CCD.

Transmissive scanners have nearly the same components as reflective scanners, but they are arranged differently. Notice that in this type of a scanner has no glass surface (though some film holders do use glass to hold the film in place). Instead, the film being scanned is held rigidly between the light source and lens (for example, by holding the film edges). The light source is on the opposite side of the scanner as the lens. The light shines through the subject and onto the lens instead of having to bounce off the subject in order to make an image.

The film scanners that we use to scan your slides and negatives are a special kind of transmissive scanner that are catered to scanning only film. Though some flatbed (i.e., reflective) scanners can function as both reflective and transmissive scanners (by enabling a "transparency adapter"), the results are better using these dedicated transmissive film scanners because the light sources and optics of the scanner are created specifically for film scanning.

New at Pixmonix:
3D Realist Slide Scanning

We have added a number of great new scanning services in the past few months. One that has been particularly fun has been scanning 3D "Realist" slides.

The 3D Realist camera has a double lens to allow you to see two separate perspectives on the same scene. When viewed properly, you see depth in the image as if you could actually walk into your own picture! The surge in digital photography has provided many new ways to enjoy these wonderful film images.

We scan these slides very carefully to preserve their 3D characteristics. And we include all the great service and features of our 35mm scanning, including dust and scratch removal, color and exposure correction, cropping, archive quality CDs and DVDs, contact sheets and fanatical customer service. Click here to see details of our Realist scanning services.

Fall Newsletter Special

From now until October 31, 2006 you are invited to enter the promo code "COLOR" on your Pixmonix order form to receive 10 free scans on an order of 60 scans or more. **