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I was wondering how most of you load pictures onto this sight??? Do you use a scanner???? or Digital camera?? and do you like what you have??? What brands are they??? Still shopping around to get a great clean picture and need alittle help...
__________________ Thanks, ~*~*~*~ Julyn~*~*~*~ My Gallery
I probably shouldn't even respond to this because I have been here almost a year and have yet to upload a card :confused: BUT I do love my digital camera and wanted to share that. I have a Kodak Easyshare. It truly is easy to use, and takes awesome pictures! Last summer I went on a missions trip with my church. One of the other participants could be a professional photographer - his camera bag (digital also) was HUGE! Although he had a much better eye for taking pictures, there really wasn't a big difference in quality between his and mine.
The thing I love most about the digital camera is that I can download my pictures to my computer and see how they look before I print them. I can also alter them - crop, lighten, darken, get rid of red eye - before I print.
Hope this helps with your decision!
__________________ My Gallery Team Jasper! "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" Mt. 6:21
I upload cards using my scanner....its ancient but still works great, its a HP scanjet 3300C. I use my Kodak easy share on anything that can't be scanned. I use the Close-Up setting and try to use natural light to get a good picture of a scrap page. If I am specifically taking a pic so I can upload, I save it as a .jpeg and use the "best for web" save function which is under the save as .jpeg section.....just below it in another row. It won't be a clear picture if you tried to print it and its saved as best for web, but when I upload it is smaller and more clear. HTH.
I don't have a scanner, so I use my digi-cam. I have a sony something. It's a great camera, but I'm not a good photographer, so my cards usually dont look all that good. I'd love to get a scanner someday.
I use my scanner for my cards & anything that stays flat. Itz easy, fast & I don't have to worry about propping the card & trying to get the best angle or bother about lighting. Otherwise I use my Canon digi cam for 3-d stuff.
Hope this helps.
I use my scanner. It's a Canon Canoscan LiDE 50. It only does 8.5 x 11 paper, but it scans wonderfully. Even the bulky things, I just put a towel over the top of the scanner so no light gets in while scanning and it does alright.
I personally prefer my digital camera because I can get different angles, avoid reflection issues that can happen on the scanner, photo 3D items easily, etc.
I also find I can shoot and download it to my computer faster than working with my scanner. I also had a heck of a time getting things straight on the scanner bed, etc. and by taking photos digitally, I deliberately do not try to take straight on shots and, personally, find it more visually appealing/interesting.
__________________ Julie Ebersole (JulieHRR once upon a time . . . )julieebersole.com"So shines a good deed in a weary world." -Willy Wonka
I prefer to use my scanner to upload to my gallery. It looks better-I don't have lighting issues with the scanner and it's easier to get a straight picture. I love my digital camera though and use it all the time. My printer, copier, scanner is an hp1210 and my digital camera is a fuji. Love them both.
__________________ Alisha SU! Demo and Mom to Ella, Seth, and Cole My Blog
Like Julie said: digital camera because I can get different angles, avoid reflection issues that can happen on the scanner, photo 3D items easily, etc.
I agree this...It is easier to take photo of our work.
What setting are you taking your pictures on? I usually use auto. Sometimes if I use the close up setting, my pictures aren't as clear. Digital cameras "handle" a little differently. Once I got used to mine I was hooked, though. Enjoy!
__________________ My Gallery Team Jasper! "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" Mt. 6:21
I personally prefer my digital camera because I can get different angles, avoid reflection issues that can happen on the scanner, photo 3D items easily, etc.
I also find I can shoot and download it to my computer faster than working with my scanner. I also had a heck of a time getting things straight on the scanner bed, etc. and by taking photos digitally, I deliberately do not try to take straight on shots and, personally, find it more visually appealing/interesting.
I love looking at Julie's photos ... not only are the cards/items wonderful, but the pictures are awesome ... lovely backgrounds, items propped nicely. I'd always taken my photos straight on, but I'm now getting more adventurous and trying to be like her!
I have been using photos ... partly because I also scrapbook and it saves me from having to stitch together scans for 12x12 items. Now, our scanner has 'died' (it's about 8 years old), and is disconnected from the computer. Until we get a new one, it's photos or nothing.
Hey, now I know what to put on my Christmas list ... ;)
I find the scanner super easy and I'm happy with the results.
__________________ ~ Children nowadays are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food and tyrannize their teachers ~ (attributed to Socrates 470-399 BC)
For straightforward cards I use our scanner. I also use our scanner to scan templates that I make, so that they remain true to size and I can share them with everyone.
For 3D objects and pop-up cards I use our digital camera. It's an old Sony one and it needs replacing, so I won't give you the model number.
If I could only have one, I would probably choose the digital camera, because it will allow you to photograph both regular cards and 3D objects.
I don't have a scanner but I do have a Canon Powershot A95 digital camera that I use for my uploads. I find that if I take the photos without the flash the images come out better but sometimes blurry. Wish I had a scanner so things would be more clearer.
If I am in a hurry and it is night, I use my scanner. I have a CanoScan and it is excellent.
Otherwise, I use my digital. I like photographs better, because the scanner makes my cards look FLAT. There's no sense of dimension to a scanned card...everything gets squished down.
My digital is a Minolta DImage. I use a card reader to download the pictures to my computer, since downloading them straight from the camera eats the batteries up in no time flat.
Here are my photography tricks:
I use natural light from my front window. I try to take pictures on a sunny day...in the winter this isn't as necessary since the snow reflects a lot of light into my window. I open the curtains as far as possible.
I drape a dinner napkin up on some boxes on my entertainment center near the window for my backdrop. Taking pictures in my window usually makes for too much light, so I take pictures near the window instead. To take close-up pictures of cards, you need to have a macro setting on your camera. This is usually represented by an icon of a flower. This will zoom in and allow you to focus.
Having a tripod helps, but if there is enough light in the room, my camera will capture the image fast enough that camera shake will not be a problem. I do let out all my breath before taking the picture; holding your breath seems to make your hands shake. The macro setting will turn off your flash; this is what you want! The flash will bleach out most of the color in your card.
For horizontal cards, I hold the camera in the regular way, for vertical cards I turn the camera 90 degrees (so that it is on it's side.) I try to fill the whole frame with the card, leaving a little of the backdrop showing all around. If there is glitter or Pearlex on the card, I may take a photo slightly from the side to capture the light bouncing off the face of the card, so you can see the glitter or the sheen of the Pearlex.
Once I take the picture, I download it to my computer. I open it in Photoshop. I rotate the picture if needed, crop it to get rid of any extra background (I leave some in so the card looks three dimensional) and then I adjust the levels. This is under Image->Adjust->AutoLevels. This takes your lightest value in the photo, assumes that it is white, then adjusts the rest to a preset value range. This almost always gives me the look I want; it makes the whole photo glow and look nice. Sometimes, it doesn't work so well. Then I either undo it, and try AutoContrast instead, OR I leave it and fiddle with the Brightness/Contrast feature. On cards that use some of the darker colors, like Handsome Hunter, Elegant Eggplant or Bravo Burgundy, AutoLevels will render those colors as almost black, so bumping the brightness up slightly and bumping the contrast down a little will fix that, though you'll lose some of the "glow" you got from the AutoLevels feature.
After that, I put my watermark copyright in, merge all the layers and save it.
ok... I just bought a kodak easy share...and it seems to be very easy, but the picture doesn't always come out real clear???? what am I doing wrong??
Somewhere I read that some digital cameras have this problem. Before you take a photo, try zooming in (as you usually would), zoom back out, then zoom in again. Then snap the photo. I don't have this problem with my digi camera, but I've heard this trick works for some people. Worth a try.
I use a scanner unless I'm posting a picture of a 3-D item or something bulky and then I use my camera. I do use Photoshop to put a watermark on everything I upload as well.
__________________ Jess Don't tell God how big the storm is, tell the storm how big your God is!
I use a scanner too. I am useless with Photoshop or photo editing programs and my scanner which is a HP Scanjet 3400C is virtually foolproof in getting a frame around the image with no white.
I didn't even read the instructions, just did it by using the program prompts.
I have a digital camera, but I am never happy with the results when I upload
I use my scanner for my cards & anything that stays flat. Itz easy, fast & I don't have to worry about propping the card & trying to get the best angle or bother about lighting. Easwari
Me too! Even my thickest most embellished cards go in the scanner. Tried the camera, but could not get rid of shadows and "hot spots."
Grandchildren on the other hand, won't fit in the scanner LOL. So I keep the camera on hand for their visits.
Scanner vs. Digital camera
Scanner
