We’re going to call this fixture a SPIDER, you’ll see why in just a moment.

Here is my original collection of parts.

A 3” clean-out plug serves as a hub for the sockets.  My original idea was to attach the clean out plug to a 3” bushing that would be attached to the front of the 2” tee fitting.  The power cord would run out the back of the tee and the light stand would attach to the base of the tee.

I measured and marked the clean-out plug and drilled it with a 5/16” bit.  I made a simple jig from scrap wood to hold the fitting in place.

Using a 2” lamp nipple and a pair of channel locks, I carefully cut the threads for the shorter nipples.  This is where the working characteristics of PVC came into play.  You can cut threads into PVC with a bolt and a little patience, instead of using a tap and die.  I chased the threads all the way through the side of the fitting.

Here is the clean-out plug with all of the lamp nipples fitted.  I chose a clean-out plug as opposed to a regular cap so that I could access the wires more easily.

Each socket was wired and the wires passed through the hole of the mounting bracket.  The design of the bracket and the lamp nipples allowed me to keep all of the wires hidden.

Above is the front of the SPIDER WITH the wiring in place.

Above is the back of the SPIDER with the wiring in place. The sockets were wired in pairs, then the pairs were wired together.  I used wire connectors instead of soldering so that a socket could easily be replaced if it failed.

LOOK; it works! 

At this point I realized that my original design was way too front-heavy.  I needed to move the center of gravity farther back.  So, I’m off to Home Depot yet again.

I found a 3”-3”-2” tee fitting that solved my problem of balance nicely.  I added a 3” to 2” reducer to the back of the tee fitting and a 2” to1.25” threaded reducer to that.  A 4” circle of plywood and a 1.25” male fitting is attached to the reducer and this holds the speedring to my Paul C Buff OCTOBOX™ firmly in place.  A 2” to .75” threaded reducer is mounted at the bottom of the tee for the light stand fitting.

Here’s the light inside the OCTOBOX™.  It throws a very even lighting pattern, even without the diffusion panel.  It’s well balanced and easy to handle in the studio.  I’m working on an improved version for my still photography.  Stay tuned…

Kirk Draut
Director of Design
Aarthun Performance Group, Ltd.
281.580.5705

So here is one I tried DeNoise with; it was shot with a 3.1 megapixel point-and-shoot camera in Morocco in the summer of 2000. Look at the color artifacts in the shadow under the palm leaves and in the shadow on the floor on the right.

Going to Filter > Topaz > DeNoise we get the panel below.

The default in the Main>Noise Suppression is 1.0 when it opens.  You can use the Reset button on the bottom right to force Noise Suppression to open at 0 if you choose.  We’ll take a look at all the adjustments possible before we make corrections.

The Advanced panel allows us to make adjustments in (1) Color Noise, (2) JPEG Fixer, (3) Smoothness, and (4) Add Grain.  It opened with a default of 0.05 in Color Noise.

The third panel, Presets, gives us the options of settings for (1) SRAW Normal, (2) JEPG High Quality, (3) Large Grain Noise, and (4) Supersmooth. Choosing and Applying one of these presets will make adjustments in the Main and Advanced panels.

Finally, the About panel will allow us to reach (1) Tech Support, (2) On-Line Resources, (3) Check for an update, and (4) enter our registration Key if we have not already done so.

Now, we’ll go back to the original image and the noise in the shadow and brick areas.

In the following image the Noise Suppression was set at 2.88.  Remember, the default was 1.0.

A slight amount of curves was applied to lighten the shadow area.

Now, here’s the detail close-up so you can see the original grain in all its gruesome glory.

Here’s the example with the Noise Suppression at 2.88.

Now here is a completely different means of removing the Color Noise. 

Pretend you ignored all the steps under the Main  panel and went directly to the Advanced Panel and chose to make your corrections through the Color Noise and Smoothness adjustments. You will get results similar to the ones below, which are not identical to the answer you received working with the Main panel and Smoothness.  But this simply shows that there are more than one way to reach an acceptable answer to the noise problem.

On the left side we can see an area corrected only by Color Noise and Smoothness sliders.  The original, grainy, image is the right side of the image.

Here we have the image totally corrected by using the Advanced panel and the Color Noise and Smoothness sliders.

I think we have another winner here. I’m going to use Topaz BeNoise to save many of the photographs I took with the 3.1 Megapixel  point-and-shoot camera while we were traveling in Morocco.
 

Check out DeNoise at http://topazlabs.com where it is priced at US $79.95 as a download.  A CD with the program can be ordered at extra charge, but saving the download with a copy of the key which is emailed to you after purchase can be done in only a few minutes.  After all, the DMG file is only 5.2 megabytes and is a quick download even on dial-up.  DeNoise is another good additon to your toolkit and workflow.

Step 1. Using the circle shape tool from the tool bar make a circle holding the “shift” key which will help constrain proportions.

Step 2. Using the gradient tool and the default gradient blend drag from the center and get close to the edge, but don’t go past it, that is very important in this process.

Step 3. With the circle shape still selected use the gradient tool and just touch the area that you want the highlight to pinch toward. You can aim it in any direction you want but for this project you will need it to aim at the top. Once you get this correct you can remove the stroke from the shape if yours has one.

Step 4. With the shape selected go ahead and drag whatever two colors you want to use, one at a time, and replace the black and white colors already in place. We will be adding a third color to the gradient shortly.

Step 5. You can make nearly any shape you want but the more simple you keep it the cleaner the glossy look will appear. Try to keep the shape you make with the pen tool move away from the center like the shape above shows. Keep your color choice in the same color family and a bit darker, but not much darker than your darkest color in your shape for this exercise. Unless you’re very aware of color harmonies, just stick to this for now.

Step 6. Using the shape tool make an oval and place it near the top of the circle shape and color it white. This is where we will get into gradient transparency blends available in CS4 that does not require transparency masking.  Make sure your shape is centered with the background circle for this.

Step 7. Apply a gradient to the new oval shape and make both colors white. Using other colors, such as black, will have some odd coloring effects when blending to a Zero (0) opacity over another color. So for the highlight just keep it white. Go ahead and set one of the white swatches to an opacity of 0. As you can see in the screenshot provided for this I’ve circled the important areas. Be sure to have the blend direct face downward.

Step 8. At this stage you will need to add a third color to help with the reflection. You can also do this at Step 4 but you can choose for yourself. Using the Direct selection tool move the darker color over to the left a bit and add a lighter swatch of your choice by dragging a swatch color from the swatch palette and dropping it on the gradient bar. At this point you can experiment a bit with color if you choose. Just keep in mind that your reflection shape on the lower part of the ball will need to blend into what ever color you choose.

Step 9. I’ve adjusted my main gradient a bit so the lighter reflection would be closer to the edge of the ball. Also, I’ve applied my gradient to the reflective shape on the ball to achieve a better and cleaner color transition. This helps convey more depth. At this stage you can add an oval shape behind your shape and set up for the shadow. This will help with the appearance of 3D.  Try to make the center of the shadow touch the bottom circle. By lowering it you can also give the appearance that it’s floating.

Step 10. In CS4 there is a new tool for gradient call “ Gradient Annotator ” which will pop up when you use the gradient tool. If it doesn’t show up when using look for it under View> Show Gradient Annotator. The handle on this tool will function a few of ways. As you can see in the screenshot the anchor area on the right, also showing my direction of the gradient, will expand the gradient proportionally either in or out. The anchor on top will compress the gradient downward to for an oval gradient. Using this tool and saving it to a legacy file can sometimes have some unwanted effects such as stepped shape gradients or rasterizing. If you choose to save it down it’s best to close the file then reopen it and check on any visual or structural changes. Be sure to check the file in “outline” mode which can be found under the view menu.

Step 11. In this step you can see the finished result of the use of the Gradient Annotator.

Step 12. Adding the details. You can see that I’ve added two minor light reflections at the top and I’m in the process of making the finger holes. Using the Shape tool make a two circles, one offset a bit from the other. The angle will be your choice depending on where you want the holes to be placed.

Step 13. Using the Pathfinder palette. By selecting both circles and clicking on the “divide” button in the Pathfinder palette I was able to cut and remove the unnecessary part of the finger hole.

Step 14. After copying and pasting two more finger holes, I used the same gradient that is in the ball and converted in to a linear gradient then applied it to the shapes. Select the three holes and get ready to tweak the perspective using the Free Transform tool.

Step 15. Finished piece. After playing with the Free Transform tool a bit you should be able to get the correct angle you need to finish this piece out nicely. Keep in mind that this is a simple shape to do this with so I hope to add a few more complex versions of this example soon.

For more information about these new features, visit Adobe’s Illustrator page for an introductory video.

All the basic features are documented, the information easily accessible and very well organized. Most of the tools are self-explanatory so I didn’t feel the need to read the 1st chapter: The Working Environment.

Chapter 2: Creating, Opening & Placing Images

While most of us can skip the part about opening a file, or placing an image, I do suggest you browse page 16 where the  Photo Browser Palette is explained. Pixelmator makes it easy to integrate your iPhoto library.

Don’t miss the explanation of iSight integration on page 17.

If you are new to image editing or you are unfamiliar with standard Photoshop-style tools, skim through Chapter 3: Selection which describes all the tools involved in selecting sections of an image and how to create quick masks from your selection.

Chapter 4: Painting and Retouching

Page 29 has  a very description of Blending Modes. The blending of layers is the foundation of most intermediate and advanced image manipulation techniques so a clear understanding of mode is helpful.

A quick tip I learned while browsing thru the manual is the use of the Caps Lock key to toggle between the brush cursor and the actual shape and size of the brush.

Chapter 8: Color Adjustments
This chapter offers quick options for color correcting and enhancing images. I particularly like the "Colorize" options which allows you colorize the image or selection according to the foreground color.

Chapter 10: Distortion Filters
This chapter is jam-packed with a solid description of the effects and options of all the available filters. My three favorites so far are: Hole (on pg 54), Kaleidescope (on pg 62), and Color Monochrome (pg 63).

The Transition filters (pg 66) are also a great deal of fun and they offer effects I really didn’t expect to find in an inexpensive image editor.

Next: A Tour of The Gradient Palette. Really.
 

_{*** Caveat: The Developers of Pixelmator have a new version of The app due at the end of February AND they are re-writing the manual. As soon as the new manual is available I will update this post.}

The advantage of this method is simple: edit the base layer and you edit the shape of the composite image.

The Basics

1. Create or choose your base layer.  By default, any new layer is called "untitled". I have renamed mine "base layer" for the sake of clarity.

Keep in mind that the visible content of the base layer becomes the visible shape of the content above it. Any areas in this layer that are transparent will remain transparent  in the composite image as well.

2. Create a new layer  above the base layer or  or drag a layer from another image onto the base layer. as seen here,  i have dragged a layer from another file onto my example file.

3. Create the "clipping mask" .
select your new layer then Layer > Create Clipping Mask (alternately, you can Option + Apple+G)

Add additional layers as needed by repeating this step. Drag and drop the overlying layers in any order that best suits your design.

As an additional refinement, note that any of the layers involved can have its opacity adjusted and the blending mode as a number of  choices.

(I do miss the layers menu that Photoshop offers with the layer palette but that is more habit than anything else..)

Familiarity with Photoshop is helpful in learning Pixelmator. Once you get over the look of the UI, it is very easy to adjust to Pixelmator. See the quicktime movie of  My First Attempt to Create a Clipping Mask with Pixelmator. After a couple of false starts, i was able to find all the relevant tools quickly. It was very easy, making Pixelmator an cheap and reliable substitute for Adobe Photoshop.

My first real attempts at using Pixelmator were to create composite images for a client (Toy-TMA.com) without reading the manual.

A Quick Composite (8.64)

An 3 Image Composite (14mb)

But why would you need that?  It is due to the adage of while you can shrink a low-res image, you can’t enlarge it.  That’s because a bitmapped image is made up of pixels.  Blowing them up only creates larger pixel areas creating that all-too-familiar crappy Youtube video look.  With vector graphics an image is drawn through points and calculated lines.  I like to tell my classes that it is like the computer is drawing with math by playing connect-the-dots.  The downside to vector graphics is that if an image is too complex, this creates more and more areas which become clunky for the computer to redraw.  Simplistically, if it’s complicated image and you want photographic detail it is best to go with bitmap.  For images which are simpler in terms of line and color such as type, web graphics, or logos then vector-based artwork is usually the way to go.  With programs such as Illustrator, you could always export to bitmap.  With Adobe Streamline, you could take an image and convert it to a vector-graphic.  It was clunky, and the interface sometimes left much to be desired, but it did the job.  Unfortunately, it dropped off my personal radar around the mid-90s, although it’s last incarnation was 4.0 released back in 1997.  Around Adobe CS2’s release, a function in Illustrator called Livetrace turned up.  It turned out to be the same functionality of Streamline, but in a much more elegant execution.

Let’s say you want to make a logo that you just placed into Illustrator out of this stock photo for your studio "Baker Street Design."  You want the image simplified for use in black & white, grayscale, and color.  Right now in its bitmapped form it would be tedious to go in and redraw and recolor it only to have something that would be as equally tedious to re-size without it aliasing all over the place.  But, it’s got the basic elements and look you want.

Here I’ve brought the image in Illustrator CS4 (although the commands and look are basically the same in CS 2 & 3.)  It is a good strong contrast image to start with.  I select the image and hit "Livetrace" at the top: 

Below left is the original image, and below right is one with the default settings which is a "Simple Trace." 

It’s not quite the look I’m going for, so I go to the Livetrace options menu in the top left area of the menu bar at the top.   I select "Photo Low Fidelity" which knocks it into what looks like a posterized image in Photoshop: 

Right now there are still too many colors.  So I adjust the Threshold slider to reduce the amount of colors to taste. 

Here, after some experimentation, I knocked it down to 11 colors.

However, I don’t like the color of the lamp glass, and would like to play with it.  I select the image and then hit "LivePaint" at the top. 

As you can see, there are a lot of areas of color shapes, including the background.  All the individual color areas now have been converted into a vector shape which can be painted with the LivePaint Paint bucket tool in the toolbar menu.  I select a bright yellow for the color version of our logo and paint the glass areas.  Notice the red line which indicates the vector shape you are painting.

tip:  It’s worth your while to examine your image zoomed in to make sure you do not miss a tiny vectorized area.

So, it is looking pretty good, but ideally we would like just the lamp and not have this big off-white area around it getting in the way of our future logo plans. 

To do this, select the white arrow tool from the toolbar.  This allows you to select points and areas instead of the entire piece.  I draw around the spots I want to eliminate and hit delete, careful not to hit any areas that I want to keep.  To check your work, hit the black arrow selection tool and select your piece to find areas where you may have missed.  You may have to go back and forth several times. 

Voila!  After cleanup you have a finished vectorized graphic which you can further manipulate in Illustrator and/or recolor as needed with LivePaint.

With 3D scanning, modeling, and rapid prototyping acting as the new hammer and saw in the metalworking and jewelry field, I often find myself questioning all the tools we use and how we can use them collectively.  The computer designers have access to so many new programs and novel technologies, but I would argue that they never completely forget their paper, pencil and individual human creativity that originally offered up these advances.  In order to rediscover the beginning of our inspired innovations, I have rummaged through the vaults of religion, anthropology, history, philosophy and frankly anything else that will prove my point.  “And what is your point?” you ask.  Keep reading.

    There has been much discussion about the changes in the arts due to computer usage.  In all respect to the importance of computers, I am simply giving a friendly reminder for those of you who have forgotten about the element that has helped spark most of modern technology…fire.  Why is the discussion of fire important in modern days?  It is important simply because it is a reminder of our human abilities, and gives us hope in our responsibility of creating and exploring future technologies. 

    Fire is one of the most celebrated and technologically advanced pillars of our human existence.  Religions, philosophies, wiener roasts, and birthday cakes all over the world hold fire in esteem difficult to match.  The earth diligently worked to maintain the correct mixture of atmospheric gases and offer combustible materials to allow fire to be possible.  The oceans prove that life can exist without fire, but fire would not exist without the living world.  Although we can harness the power of water and wind, we still must wait for a wave or gust.  But fire, the bringer of warmth, light, protection, purification, and the start of most technologies can be created, harnessed, and lost by man.  This utilization of a “wild” unpredictable but maintainable element divides humanity from the rest of creation. 

    “Fire was a god, or at least theophany; fire was myth; fire was science; fire was power.”¹ Social relationships are affected by its entrancing ability to give light in the dark, provide warmth, allow conversation for questioning the world’s other wonders, and provide safe food and drink.  Without fire, we would be a scared and helpless being, digging holes for food and hiding at night from predators with no means to care for ourselves.  Just as we can’t imagine our world without computers, cell phones, and Wal-Mart (just kidding), man and fire have lived together from the beginning, and man carried fire into most applications of basic and advanced human needs. 

    To explore fire and its uses, I recently hosted a workshop for numerous college students that explored a low tech casting process called cuttlebone casting.  Cuttlebone is from the squid-like mollusk that is commonly referred to as a cuttlefish.  The bones are frequently used today at pet stores as a dietary calcium supplement and for beak sharpening for parakeets.²  In a moment of genius or insanity (they generally go together), someone discovered that this bone could withstand temperatures up to around 2000°F and was soft enough to carve into with a wooden stick, fingernail or dental tools. 

The dense outer shell makes it strong enough to hold metals ranging from pewter to gold.  After cutting the tips off the cuttlebone and rubbing two bone fragments together until they are perfectly flat, the maker carves or presses their design into the piece.  There are considerations to be made when designing to avoid areas that the metal would be forced to “back-flow” against gravity.  Generally, adding sprues or channels to connect certain areas of the design can solve these problems.

If an intense line quality is desired, which is why most people use this process, the artist can lightly stroke the design with a small paintbrush to reveal more of the calcium rich line.  Gates and sprues are cut into the piece to give the metal routes to flow and a large opening (button) is created at the top to make pouring the metal effortless.  The two parts are fastened together with binding wire and placed in a dish of pumice stones or sand to keep the form upright and catch any spilled metal.  The fire comes back into play but is easily started with a small propane torch ignited with a striker that forcibly slides flint across a textured metal wheel.  The artist melts the metal in a crucible or cast iron ladle in this case, and pours the molten metal into the cuttlebone mold.  We used pewter in this workshop because it melts at such a low temperature (500°F) and the process would require less supplies.  The form is then opened to reveal a metal positive of the mold that was originally carved.  You simply cut off the excess metal, file, sand and finish accordingly. 

This process might not be useful for all, but I do contend that every human should use fire to make metal molten at some point in their life.  I remember that my former foundry Professor would get a “crazy look” (as her assistants called it) when she would participate in the large pours.  I understand that “look” after years of working myself.  It is the gaze the prehistoric man directed toward the fire that was caused by lightning striking. 

This is the moment of realization of an element of such promise and danger, and a force that you must possess, release, and learn from.  If melting metal is on your “Bucket List”, contact your local art center, art school, or helpful website (www.ganoskin.com/orchid/archive) immediately to fulfill an act that everyone needs in their life.  When you first control and contain fire to melt metal into liquid form, pour into a mold, and cool to result in a hard and lasting metal form, you truly feel that same “crazy look” that the original prehistoric caveman felt when using fire.  Every time I work with fire, I have a link with the past and every important development we have created.  If you don’t feel this soul-stirring link to humanity, meaning of life experience that I’ve described, you will at least have a nice new keychain out of the process.

¹Pyne, Stephen J., Fire:  A Brief History.  Seattle & London:  University of Washington Press, 2001.
²McCreight, Tim, Practical Casting:  A Studio Reference.  Maine:  Brynmorgen Press, 1994. 
 

First of all it’s available in fifteen different languages and…but what does it do, you ask?  and then take an image and (I’m paraphrasing):

•    Resize, Rotate, Crop and Flip an image,

•    Produce Drop Shadows with opacity and color controls (OS X 10.3 and higher),

•    Add Textural and Graphical Watermarks to your image,

•    Left, Right, Top, Bottom and Diagonal Label Positions for watermarks and font controls for text watermarks,

•    Frame the image with a shape and add borders with color and width adjustments,

•    Add talking balloons, thought clouds, or text labels,

•    Annotate the image with arrows, circles, squares or text,

•    Add other draw objects such as octagons, rounded squares, and ovals,

•    Layering and Transparency controls for images and draw objects,

•    Web preview and Quality/Size adjustment tool before uploading to the web,

•    Screen Grab features grab full screen, a selection on the screen, or window grab and automatically imports it into the well for instant editing and sending

•    A built-in font control panel lets you change the font size, color, and add a drop shadow to your text,

•    Ruler guides,

•    User specific options and settings,

•    PNG, JPG, and TIFF support.

In essence it is an all-in-one quick editing and mark-up tool that allows you to add all the marks onto an image you are using for training or editorial purposes.

Notice the ACTIVATE EXTRAS menu item below. For $19.95 you can activate BATCH PROCESSING and batch upload so that simply dragging and dropping images into the ImageWell window will allow you to do any of the above modifications to an entire folder at one time.  EXTRAS will allow you to apply a template to your images and add specific edits in one pass.

Let’s take a quick run-through of the toolbar menu and then I’ll show you what you’ll access and why.

Simply dragging an image from the desktop onto the ImageWell will open the image as you see in the second picture below.  Once the picture is shown in the ImageWell the Image, Watermark, and More windows will be live.

One of the things to note as we progress is that there is no specific order to the steps we follow with processing the image.  The analogy I like to use here is that processing an image in IMAGEWELL is a bit like swimming, in that the feet, legs, arms, neck head and mouth are all doing specific things at more or less the same time, but we can only discuss them one at a time.  We have to look at IMAGEWELL’s features in some sort of progressive order, but that order is purely the result of how I look at the features; you may make modifications in any order you desire that fits your workflow.

Here we have dropped an image onto the image well and after a brief moment, the image renders in the ImageWell window.  When it appears, the IMAGE window is live.

Now select the WATERMARK menu and type your information for the watermark into the text window below.  Select where you want the information to appear—that is, left margin,  and centered, or right margin.  The two-color window at the bottom right indicates black lettering on a gray background.  Click on this window to change colors.

When the MORE menu is activated, eight additional menu items appear; they are rotate clockwise, open file, copy to clipboard, grab screen, rotate counter-clockwise, file save, paste from clipboard, and grab screen selection.

Choosing SEND below moves you to your selected website if a URL is shown in the (none) window.  Your iDisk location is defined and it asks for your username, password, and directory and whether it is a public or pictures location on the iDisk.

Locations are where your storage location is situated or parked for export.

Options will allow you to define the maximum height and width of the exported picture, and to make sure you are always sending .jpg images to the server.  You may define whether guides are at the center or edges of the image and whether or not to quit IMAGEWELL after sending.

History, like its name implies, allows you to keep track of what images you have exported to the server via IMAGEWELL.

As I mentioned earlier, our order to look at the parts of IMAGEWELL may be a bit convoluted.  Now lets look back at the image we so blithely sent off to the server and see what else we might do to it, or have done to it or will do to it.  Let’s look at our menus again from the top toolbar.  We’re most interested in those FONT and TOOL menus, so we’ll move to them rapidly.  I have to emphasize we are in PREVIEW MODE which is in the menu hidden under the first pull down menu.  We are looking at results–not at the process–which is the EDIT MODE preceding the PREVIEW Mode.  I’m talking about where we are going first, not how we are going to get there.

PREVIEW MODE

Our FILE MENU has  the same things we expect to see in all FILE MENUS.

Our EDIT MENU is equally normal.

Fonts for writing in the WATERMARK menu below can be accessed both by using the FONT menu or by clicking on the Aa menu below.  Once typing is initiated the type can be bold or italic, the point size increased or decreased, kerning can take place and ligatures can be chosen if available.

If we need a screen or selection grab for use elsewhere, this is where we can access it to choose an image that we may have annotated or otherwise marked up with text or balloons.

…and while we’re here we’ve got a way to update IMAGEWELL, report bugs, get help in general or get help sending files.

EDIT MENU

Once we have chosen the EDIT MENU from the top left of the menu bar in IMAGEWELL, we will be interested in the top right toolbar. The first tool on the top right toolbar is the MOVE tool that allows us to select and move or distort the selected image.

The second tool on the top right toolbar is the CROP TOOL that allows us to crop our selected image. The third tool allows us to move the image behind the selected crop areas to reposition it if necessary.  This tool only appears after you have selected a crop area.

Selecting the TEXT TOOL that is the normal third item in the top right menu allows you to select a text shape.  The first (outlined in blue) prints with no visible edges, the second and third balloons will print with those shapes.  The grayed-out balloons are those available with the purchase of the XTRAS.

The first shape of the balloons is the one selected to produce the text image in the second following frame.

Here is a text block based on a balloon made of a rectangle with rounded corners. The shape was selected as the second one from the shape menu above.

Arrow shapes as well as an oval and a rectangle can be selected from the fourth tool in the tool menu on the upper right.  Additional selections available with the paid XTRAS option are visible, but grayed out.  Last, the star-shaped menu item on the extreme right represents biomorphic shapes what would be part of the XTRAS package if it had been purchased.

Looking back at the WATERMARKING panel, you can see that other fonts can be selected from the menu defined Aa.  Fonts and font sizes are available when this menu is activated.

Just checking, the WATERMARK is moved to the left margin to see how it would look, but the idea is discarded and centering is chosen instead.

Now, from the WATERMARK menu on the bottom left, HORIZONTAL OVERLAY is selected, and the watermark appears across the image.

One of the things to note while we’re here is that the ImageWell image can be saved in the.tiff, .jpg or .png  formats.  Note the menu choices on the top right at the end of the image’s name.

I’ve skipped several small steps (for the sake of brevity) that seemed to be self-evident.

Now we’ve come full circle, and if you’ve stayed with me this far, you are really invited to make a comment(s) in the following comment section.  My debate with myself in writing about IMAGEWELL hinged on whether I should have approached it from the "how do we get there" step-by-step first or of writing about "where we are going" first and then following it with the process of getting there.  IMAGEWELL is truly intended to be a tool to export to the web images that have been (or may be) heavily marked up or annotated.  Both approaches seemed valid, but I had to choose one, and as I finished writing about IMAGEWELL I wondered which approach was the most logical, so I ask you, the reader.

I welcome your comments because for such a simple application, IMAGEWELL has so many facets that grabbing it firmly by any particular attribute is extremely difficult.  It does so many things and it does them so well that it is hard to know where to begin.

I welcome your input.

In the meantime, I recommend http://Xtralean.com and IMAGEWELL and I equally recommend their commercial version of an excellent Macintosh web-design program SHUTTERBUG.  Check them both out.

Intended to serve as a companion to other image management systems such as Aperture ™ and Lightroom ™, Photon is designed to serve as a fast-sort application in order to delete unacceptable images before a serious final sort is done. Photon allows you to import, view, sort, and convert and save images to other formats either individually or in a batch.

Photon will run on Mac OS X 10.4.10 or Leopard 10.5. It is a universal binary for Power PC and Intel and can function on the G4, G5 or Intel CPU. It requires 3.8 MB of hard drive space and a minimum of 1 GB of RAM.

It will open RAW and standard files and will batch convert images to .jpg, .png, .psd and many other formats. It automatically detects card readers and memory cards, has full drag and drop support, and supports multi-processor systems. Finally, it has customizable keyboard shortcuts.

Here’s a quick look at the four stages of processing: (1) Import images from a hard disk or a memory card. (2) View a full resolution detail at high speed. (3) Sort images by using keyboard shortcuts and stacks. (4) Convert images, either singly or in batches, or copy files in their original format.

Let’s walk through the four steps. Step One: We’ll import images.

Step Two: We’ll view the images.

Step Three: We’ll sort the images.

Step Four: We’ll convert and save the images.

Here is what the interface looks like. In this instance one stack has begun and one image has been loaded and appears both in the collective picture area on the left and in full picture view on the right. Remember, the image on the right can be blown up to 100% by holding down the mouse button while positioned in the center of the image, or the image can be enlarged by toggling on the switch below. In either instance the entire picture can be seen by holding down the mouse button and navigation left, right, up or down. This will allow a close up view of any part of the image.

Clicking on the Histogram window will bring up a quick histogram (and those paying attention will realize that the histogram below is not a match for the image above—thanks for understanding your histograms and knowing the difference).

Clicking on the Metadata window exposes Metadata including image EXIF, GPS, IPTC, JFIF and TIFF properties. The only data missing that is of interest to me is the shutter actuations for the camera used. This information is available from some EXIF viewers. Here’s the data from a shot done with the Nikon f 2.8 80-200 zoom lens on a Nikon D2X body.

So here is a neat, small program that takes up little disk space and provides a quick method of downloading, viewing and sorting your camera images whether in RAW or normal formats.

Available at the introductory pricing of $49.95 USD from the Green Volcano store.
The Photon product website is http://www.photon-app.com.
The Photon download directly is http://www.photon-app.com/downloads/download.php
The Photon Purchase option is at http://greenvolcanosoftware.com/photonorder.php

I like to watch TV in bed at night. Sometimes I like to record what I am watching, but this involves getting out of bed, putting a tape in the recorder and getting back in bed. Usually I have to open a new tape by somehow ripping off the cellophane that has been adhered to the tape pack by static electricity (a force often stronger than I am), and by the time I have the tape in the recorder I’ve missed the first few minutes of what I wanted to record anyway. In the meantime I’ve awakened my wife, disturbed the cat, and often stubbed my toe in the dark. My wife asked if there was not a better solution? She was insistent!

I found a better solution. I now watch TV in bed on my 17" laptop (MacBook Pro 2.33 C2D) connected to my Elgato Systems’ EyeTV Hybrid. A simple connection to a rectangular box smaller than my iPod attaches my laptop to the EyeTV, then RCA cables to my cable box completes the connection and enables me to watch TV full screen in bed.Earphones make the program silent as far as my sleeping wife is concerned. A quick selection from the dock opens myEyeTV control panel and allows me to begin to record; no time is lost, and I don’t miss any of the program. My wifedoes not wake up, turn over, or notice. No getting out of bed, no fumbling about for a new tape, nogetting cold feet,and the cat doesn’t wake up and decide an extra feeding is in order.

Here’s the control panel that pops up when I select EyeTV from the dock. Along with it I’ll get a window showing what is on the selected channel and all I have to do is hit the red button to RECORD.

Let’s look at what can be done:

• You can watch analog and digital TV on your Mac.
• You can rewind, fast forward, and pause digital TV.
• You can record TV and edit out the unwanted content.
• You can Search programs and schedule recordings with the built-in program guide from TitanTV (sorry,that’s for the USA only).
• You can export recordings automatically to your iPod.
• You can connect a game console to your Mac.
• You can burn to DVD with Toast 8 Titanium (sorry, not included).
• You don’t need an external power supply; the USB connection does it all.

System Requirements:

• Mac® with a Power PC® G4, G5 or Intel Core® processor,
• 256 MB of RAM (512 is recommended),
• a built-in USB 2.0 port,
• Mac OS X v10.4 or later.
• An Internet connection is needed for downloading Program Guide Data if that feature is used.

This two-in-one system receives free-to-air digital HDTV (ATSC) and analog television (NTSC). It can be connected to a standard cable (more about this later) or an antenna that is not included. EyeTV Hybrid comes with a break outcable for composite video and S-Video; this enables you to connect a set top box for premium channels, digital cable,or satellite.

One note: 720p or 1080i HD require a Dual Power PC G5 or an Intel Core Duo processor. Analog TV is recorded via software encoder, and the quality depends on your processor speed and computer capabilities.

Here’s the EyeTV Setup Assistant initial window.

Naturally, there are the license requirements.

Select the country in which you are going to use the EyeTV.

Now choose the particular Elgato EyeTV that you are using.

Register and activate your product.

Now choose how you are going to physically connect your EyeTV to your particular television, DVD player, VHSplayer, and (in my case) the cable television box.

Here, to me, is the magic. The EyeTV box is about the size of two packages of chewing gum laid side by side. That’s all there is to it. I set mine to start up the EyeTV software whenever I plug in the small EyeTV box.

You can, if you desire, register with TitanTV and set up a programming guide. In my case, however, it would be futile.I live in the country where the electric service is interrupted at least twice a week. This means that any programming ofmicrowaves, alarm clocks, television recording or any circuit-dependant device will be lost on a regular basis. So, the ability to set up EyeTV to record programs while I am away is blocked. I passed on opening an account andincorporating the programming capability into my daily life.

Now comes the physical set up. In my case it is a digital cable receiver.

Give your set up a name and choose whether you are connecting by composite (RCA), S-Video, or an Antenna. In mycase, the combination of an older TV set with no S-Video or RCA out, and the separate cable box, VHS recorder/playerand the DVD player, meant that I had to connect to the cable box as it was the only unit with an extra composite (RCA)video out. There was nowhere else to attach my EyeTV cables. I’ve blanked out my Zip and the name of my particular service.

That’s all there really is to it. Now I watch TV in bed using the earphones attached to my laptop with the TV on mute.My wife doesn’t even stir.

Now let’s look at the control’s available. We’ll start with the Preferences.

Notice that in addition to the usual set up items you might expect, there is also the option to export to iPod and iPhoneformat.

You have to create a location to save your recorded movies if you intend to do more than simply enjoy TV on yourcomputer. In this case I created a folder on my desktop simply entitled EYETV RECORDING. I also set a buffer size for my live TV.

These are the default forward and back second adjustments to shift backwards and forwards through recorded TV material.

If you are using the TitanTV guide, here is where you insert your account.

Display allows you to choose whether overscan is on or off, and whether to allow full screen imaging or whether youwant to stretch your image horizontally. Deinterlace allows you to balance your picture quality and CPU usage.

The Full Screen option allows you to utilize your full screen from the beginning rather than having to increase fullscreen image after you have started watching or recording TV.

If you intend to access your network recordings on a Wi-Fi device you will need additional disk space for the reduced size copy.

Choose how your sound is to be played (remember, I’m using earphones).

With Devices choose ENCODING and choose your Live Quality and your Recording Quality.

If you are not happy with the Brightness, Contrast, Color, and Hue of your image, it can be adjusted.

Finally, here is the description of your EyeTV unit if you need to know any of the information about it.

The remainder of your controls will resemble those that normally appear when you are playing a DVD on your computer.

There you have it.

With Elgato’s EyeTV Hybrid selling for roughly $135 at many retailers. Some dealers I have seen it have it priced at just below $100. It has been one of the best investments for household harmony that I have encountered in a long time. I’ve described the set up in more detail than possibly is needed, but there are two ways of looking at it. One could assume that the new user could find his way through the set up with minimal difficulty and there would be no reason to explain the process. The other way of looking at it, which was what I chose, was to display a straightforward process that I think is a good model for the way set up should be for many devices. In short, I liked the process and I liked the product. Now I can watch and record late TV without disturbing either my wife or the cats.

Harmony is restored!