Tip #2908 - Turning Bits Into Images
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Turning
Bits Into Images
We're going back to
the basics today! If you've ever wondered how to actually turn digital
photos into editable and transferable images, this tip is going to be
perfect for you. Keep going to find out more about this procedure. You
won't be disappointed!
People everywhere
are using their computers and the Internet to document their family vacations,
their artistic portfolio or just to exercise their creative muscles. However,
even the most creative or technologically savvy people may have problems
once they get their image online. With the use of certain digital cameras,
there is often the problem of using the camera maker’s photo editing
software as a default instead of utilizing your computer’s various
image editing software.
As well, it can be
difficult to use design software on one computer and create an image when
the file cannot be accessed some place else, because the image can only
be opened using its program of origin. There are two ways to solve this
problem: converting the image into the nearly universal file JPEG or converting
the image into a portable document format (PDF). With these tips, all
you need to know is how to turn on your computer. If you know how to do
that, you're good to go!
In order to convert
a digital image from a Bitmap or another image file type, a user should
first click on the Start menu, double click on My Photos
(or whatever folder was used to store the file) and open the image in
whatever program was used to create the image (i.e. Microsoft Photo Editor,
Dell Picture Studio, etc). If your photos are saved anywhere else, such
as under the My Computer icon, go ahead and get there before you go any
further.
After the image loads,
click on File on the toolbar (the first gray bar below
the file title at the top of the screen) and click on the Save
As option.
After clicking Save As, a screen
will pop up showing folders where the document can be saved.
The next step is to
click on the Save as Type pull down menu and find the
JPEG (or the shortened JPG) option in the list of available file types.
Click on JPEG,
then go to the Save window to find the folder where you
want to keep your JPEG image.
After choosing your
folder, click the Save icon and your digital image will
be ready for use in most image editing software.
Often, keeping it
in the My Pictures folder or on your desktop is the best option for easy
retrieval. From experience, I can tell you that putting it in an obscure
or rarely used folder will only lead to headaches down the road. As a
college student, I spent quite a bit of my study time trying to retrieve
a paper or a poster that I was making when I could have been done and
out of my dorm room.
Some images and digital
photos come out perfect or have already been edited and are ready to be
put in a publication or scrap book. In this case, turning the digital
image (whether JPEG or Bitmap) into a portable document format (or PDF)
may be the best option. A PDF is easy to transmit via e-mail. It offers
further compression of the file size for those who are space conscious
and it allows better formatting options for printing than an image editing
software program. The only issue with PDF conversion is that the computer
in use has to have Adobe
Acrobat software installed in order for the file to be converted.
After downloading
the PDF software, the next step in converting digital images to PDF is
to click on the Start menu, double click on the folder where the needed
image is stored and open the image using the software of origin for the
file.
Once the file has
been opened, click on File and then click on the Print
option.
From the Print screen,
click on the Name scroll down menu and click on Adobe
PDF.
After selecting the
printer name, click on Print.
A Save menu will pop
up after clicking Print and you can choose the name of the PDF file and
the folder where the PDF will be saved. Like any file, the key to naming
your PDF is to make it either part of your usual filing process (alphabetically,
by number, by topic) or make it unique (putting nicknames or clever puns
to catch your eye when you go searching for it in the future).
The document will print to
the PDF program and if the image looks good in PDF, it is ready for use!
That is all there
is to it. It's a simple way to turn your cherished photo, art project
or poster into a more mobile file. Enjoy!
~ Nick Katers
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