Photo Editing For Your

Family History

How to use free online tools to manage your

family photos.

By Shelly Longoria,Librarian

Palm Springs Public Library

January 5, 2013

Save your original images!

Before you do anything to edit an image, photo, etc., SAVE the original and work on a COPY of the image & name it something different to avoid confusion.

If you don’t like the results, if you want to experiment (play!), or if you want to use the image for a different purpose later, you still have your original available.

IMPORTANT!

Why edit photos?The pictures I took with my new digital camera at the family reunion look great! Why would I need to edit them?

We will be primarily covering

editing photos for SIZE, so they are easier to use with your family history software, or other applications.

These techniques apply to ALL digital images, not just photos; i.e., Census images, scanned photos or documents, etc.

All words in BOLD are defined in the glossary at the end.

What is a digital image made of?A digital image is made up of pixels, tiny blocks, or dots, of data that make up the image itself. More pixels results in higher resolution, fewer pixels can result in good resolution and a smaller file size, too few pixels results in a blocky, or blurry image.

Can you have too many pixels?

This depends on how you will use the image. The amount of pixels determines the amount of data in the image file, the size of the file, and the dimensions and visual quality of the image.

Not enough pixels = pixelated

Digital ImagesThere are countless types of digital cameras. They all produce the same result – a digital image made up of a varying number of pixels. A scan of a printed photo is also a digital image, also with a varying number of pixels.

Image creation & dimensions are measured in megapixels.

One megapixel (MP)= ONE MILLION PIXELS

What is the capability of your digital camera? Is it adjustable?

If you try to enlarge a photo that was not taken with a high MP setting, your print may turn out “blocky” or pixelated.

Why edit images?Image files that are too large will bog down your genealogical software, making it slow to work with, as well as creating HUGE files to store and back up.

Clicking & dragging to change size does NOT change the file

size, only the appearance.

The same or different?Original image straight from the camera.

Same image, edited for file size.

Original image = 1,597KB (kilobytes)

Edited image = 65KB

Photo editing softwareYour digital camera may have come with photo editing software, but there are many EASY & FREE websites you can use to tame your images.

Today we will use FotoFlexer.com to edit images. There are many

other sites available if this one does not appeal to you.

(See list at end.)

Edit your image in easy steps

How To

Upload your image (step 1)

When you click the grey Upload button, it allows you to search your computer for the desired image file.

Upload your image (step 2)

Browse for the image file you want to edit, click on the file name, then click the Open button. This will open

the image in FotoFlexer, where you can start editing.

You will see this…Tools

Zoom level

This is the original flower image, unedited, in its original size. It looks fine on the screen, but note the zoom level.

What you see on the screen is NOT the picture’s full size.

Edit your image

There are many useful & fun things you can do with your images in FotoFlexer.

We will focus on resizing.

Resizing

When you click the Resize button, you will get a new set of “tools” to work with.

This is where you will adjust the size of the image. The numbers shown are the current number of pixels making up the photo.

By changing these numbers, you change the size of the image.

NOTE: Always leave the “Keep Proportions” box checked, or your photo will come out too long, or too tall, etc.

After choosing a new size for your photo by entering new numbers in the box(es), or selecting one of the “Preset Sizes” from the pull-down menu, click the Apply button. Note that using the preset sizes may distort the proportions of your image.

You will then be returned to the original tool bar.

Adjust size (number of pixels) here.

When you are done, click Apply.

1) Adjust. 2) Apply.

Note: now the image is at 100% on the screen.

When you are back at the main screen, and satisfied with your image, click Save at the top FotoFlexer bar.

This will save the image to YOUR COMPUTER, not to FotoFlexer, or anywhere online.

Leave the Format set to JPG, and click the Save To My Computer button.

Save

Give your photo a new, recognizable name & type it in the Filename box. DO NOT use the same name as the original. Click Save Now.

Browse to the location where you would like to save your newlyedited image, and click Save.

YOU DID IT!

That’s all there is to it! You now have an image that looks good, but takes up less space when inserted into your software.

When you are done working in FotoFlexer, click Quit at the top. You will exit the FotoFlexer website, and none of your personal data or images will be left behind online.

Quit

Add images to your family history software

Now what?

Family Tree Maker’s “Media” screen. If all your images are properly sized, your software will run faster and better with

less data to process.

What can your software do with those images?

Make your family history come to life with photos! Support your facts with images of documents!

REMINDERS!

ALWAYS save your ORIGINAL images—the ones straight out of the camera, or scanner. Save them in a SEPARATE folder in your computer,

NOT within your genealogical software. Make COPIES of your images to edit and work with.

If you don’t like the results, you still have your original to copy again and start over.

Use the smaller file, edited, images in your software, to email to friends & family, or to use on various websites.

ALWAYS BACK UP ALL YOUR INFORMATION! Back up your ORIGINAL images.

Store them on CDs, DVDs, or an external hard drive or flash drive – AWAY from your computer.

ALWAYS BACK UP ALL YOUR INFORMATION! ALWAYS BACK UP ALL YOUR INFORMATION!

Glossary

Data – electronic information which makes up a computer file. Anything in your computer, text files, photos, documents, etc., are all made up of data.

Digital Image – an image that is stored on your computer or other digital device, a digital image is usually created by taking a picture with a digital camera, or scanning a photograph or document.

File size – items stored on your computer take up varying amounts of space. Text files are very small. Photo files can be quite large, and take up lots of space in your computer. Smaller files (like digital images) used in software (like your genealogy software), allow the software to run faster and back up easier. Simply storing items with large file sizes is fine.

Format – in terms of digital images, there are different formats in which they may be saved. This is the way the computer uses the data to create, or render, an image. JPG (pronounced J-Peg) is a common and favored way to store digital images. Using the JPG format allows for shrinking the file size while maintaining the visual quality of the image.

Glossary

FotoFlexer – http://www.fotoflexer.com is an online digital photo editor. The website is free to use, and you do not need to register for an account, or give the website any personal information. The photos you work with in FotoFlexer are not saved on the website, or anywhere online. This protects your privacy. You do have the option of signing up for a free account to store image files there if you wish. There are many other free sites which are similar. See list of websites following this Glossary.

Image File – a digital item stored in your computer which is a picture of something. It could be a photograph, or a scanned image of a document like a Census page, etc.

JPG – a type of format for digital images. JPG (pronounced J-Peg) is a favorite, highly used format, as it allows for manipulation of an image creating a small, workable file which retains much of the original’s quality.

Kilobytes (kB)– a unit of digital measurement describing your file size. A digital image which has a size listed in kilobytes will be easier to work with. A byte is a piece of data in your file. 1 kilobyte (KB) = 1000 bytes. (See also Megabytes.)

Glossary

Megabytes – a larger unit of digital measurement describing your file size. Digital images with sizes in the megabyte range will slow down your software, and create huge, cumbersome back up files. 1 megabyte (MB) = 1000 kilobytes (kB).

Megapixel – digital images are composed of pixels, a tiny dot, or square of data (i.e. color), which make up the image. 1 pixel = one million megapixels. The more megapixels you have in an image, the better the resolution, but the larger the file size.

Pixel – see Megapixel, above. Pixelated – the name for the effect when an image has too few

pixels for good resolution. The image will look blurry, or boxy. Resize – changing the number of pixels in a digital image,

usually to make the file size smaller, and thusly easier to use in software, etc.

Resolution – the amount of detail seen in a digital image. Resolution is determined by the number of pixels in the image, and suggested numbers of pixels to result in a particular resolution depends on your use of the image. An image inserted into a piece of software, like Family Tree Maker, requires less resolution than an image like a photo being printed.

Glossary

Scan – when a physical document or photograph is made digital with a scanner used with a computer. The scanner essentially takes a picture of your item (photos, documents, etc.).

Upload – transferring a file from your computer, flash drive, CD, etc., into a piece of software like FotoFlexer or Family Tree Maker.

Zoom Level – the way an image looks on a computer screen may not be its actual size. Zooming out makes the image look smaller, zooming in makes it look bigger. If you zoom in far enough, you may get to the pixel level to see the squares composing the image.

Other image editing websites – There are many other websites which work in a similar manner as FotoFlexer. Try some of these & find a favorite!

• http://ipiccy.com/• http://pixlr.com/• http://drpic.com/• http://www.picmonkey.com/• http://www.befunky.com/

This slideshow may be viewed online at http://www.slideshare.net/illustratedlibrarian

Thank you!