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Preserving Your Digital Photos for the Long Term

Question: Is one file type better than another, if I want to keep my digital image files for a long time? Answer: Yes. Graphics and animation should be saved as a GIF. Digitized photographs should be saved as JPGs (JPEGs). Other recommendations for long-term preservation: For important images you scan, save a back-up master copy as a TIFF in addition to your JPEG. TIFFs are often required by publishers for publication of graphics or photography. For important Web graphics and design work, save a master PSD file. This is especially useful, if you are using Photoshop to create/edit graphics with many layers for your website. Retouching and restoring old photography Manuals provided in the Scanner Area provide instructions on how to improve and restore old photography (as well as other documents). Suggested training Use Photoshop manuals from Scanner Station Reference Shelf to learn more about: Flash and burn tools Unsharp mask Sharpen and Gaussian blur filters Digital Photography Tasks for the Long Term - Resources on the Web Photoshopsupport.com This is an attractive site with excellent advice on how to accomplish certain tasks in Photoshop. The examples use screenshots from a Mac, but may still be used to learn fixes for Photoshop on the PC. How to fix overexposed images in Photoshop http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/jennifer/fix-overexposed.html How to fix underexposed images in Photoshop http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/jennifer/fix-underexposed.html Red eye reduction in Photoshop http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/cb/remove-red-eye.html Adobeevangelists.com This site offers a range of informative PDFs about Retouching and Photographic Restoration. An index to Photoshop content authored by Julieanne Kost, a graphic design educator from Adobe Systems, makers of Photoshop, is available at: http://www.adobeevangelists.com/photoshop/index.html Photographic Restoration - Parts 1-3 http://www.adobeevangelists.com/pdfs/photoshop/tipsandtricks/PhotoRestoration1.pdf http://www.adobeevangelists.com/pdfs/photoshop/tipsandtricks/PhotoRestoration2.pdf http://www.adobeevangelists.com/pdfs/photoshop/tipsandtricks/PhotoRestoration3.pdf Portrait retouching http://www.adobeevangelists.com/pdfs/photoshop/neworupdatedfor6PS6/portrait_retouching.pdf Improving tone and removing dust and mold http://www.digitalretouch.org/samples.html Blogs about Photoshop PhotoshopSupport.com's Photoshop Blog http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/ Photoshop911 http://photoshop911.typepad.com/links/ The Unofficial Photoshop Blog http://photoshop.weblogsinc.com/ Web discussion boards Purephotoshop Forums http://www.purephotoshop.net/ Books Check the Library Catalog or click the title links below to see if these titles are available. Unlike the manuals from our Reference Shelf, these can be checked out. Milburn, Ken, 1935- Digital photography bible / Foster City, CA : IDG Books Worldwide, c2000. Undergraduate Library - TR267 .M56 2000 Milburn, Ken, 1935- Digital photography : expert techniques / 1st ed. Sebastopol, Calif. : O'Reilly, 2004. Undergraduate Library - TR267 .M57 2004 Cope, Peter, 1958- Secrets of the digital darkroom / 1st ed. New York : AmPhoto Books, Watson-Guptill Publications, c2003. School of Library and Information Science Library - TR267 .C674 2003 Huss, David. How to do everything with digital photography / New York ; Emeryville, Calif. : McGraw-Hill/Osborne, c2004. Undergraduate Library - TR267 .H849 2004 Weinmann, Elaine. Photoshop 7 for Windows and Macintosh / Berkeley, Calif. : Peachpit, c2003. Undergraduate Library - T385 .W453 2003

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