Notes from the November 8, 2001 meeting of the Rochester Genealogical Society, Computer Interest Group.

Roy Thurston, Rochester Genealogical Society Vice President/Computer Interest Group opened the meeting seeking introductions by visitors and new members. Some students in Roy's genealogy class at Webster Continuing Education were present. There were 47 attendees signed in the Guest Book.

Roy noted that the December 13th Computer Interest Group meeting will feature a panel of experts convened to answer questions from the attendees. The theme will be "What I wish I had known then, what I know now".

Bob Coomber, organizer of the May 6-11 to Salt Lake City told about the upcoming trip for any interested parties. The trip cost $350, including hotel and one banquet. Travel is additional.

Jim Hall noted that the membership renewal deadline of October 31st has passed, and 100+ reminders were sent to the "former members". About 60 responses have been received, and attendees were advised that the Membership List has not been closed, but probably will be in two weeks in order to meet the "HearYe, HearYe" deadline of 15 December. E-mail addresses with publication authorization will be included.

It was noted that the chief keyboarder of these notes, Gloria Church, had a severe accident and both feet are injured. A card or note would be appropriate. She continues the keyboarding at home. That's dedication!

Next, Larry Schongar described the presenter and topics for the 15 November Rochester Genealogical Society meeting. The joint meeting with Kodak Genealogical Society in April will feature Rochester Genealogical Society Life Member, Gordon Remington, of Salt Lake City. The May meeting will be changed from the 3rd Thursday to the 20th of the month, to take advantage of the presence of Colin Chapman,eminent English Genealogist who is planning to be in the United States at that time. The March meeting is also unresolved due to a conflict with chorus rehersals upstairs at Asbury Firts Church.

Acronyms:

1. PNG (Portable Network Graphics)

2. MOS (Metal oxide semi-conductor)

3. CMOS (Complementary MOS)

A sender of a GEDCOM file using the older version cannot transfer data into a current PAF file. It was suspected that the file is in MAC format, which requires conversion to a PC formated disk (MAC does this). A member using AOL 4 upgraded to version 6 and it will not run. Another member offered to send a copy of AOL version 5 to see if that will be usable.

Some problems with RoadRunner and firewalls were brought up, and several were recommended for solution by RR Tech Service, a very competent service. Zone Alarm Light was recommended.

The presenter was Bob Hesselberth of Rochester Genealogical Society, a long time genealogist and computerist. Contrary to the announced program on scanners, etc., the program was directed to preparing a digital picture collage. He used a Kodak DC290 digital camera which he used extensively to collect images. He transferred the images to 2 separate CDROMs for a working copy and a back-up. He used the flash cards ( 200 images at 1 megapixel per card), with the camera for first image to be preserved on the CDROMs, with lots of storage space, 1700 of one megapixel pictures. The process of building a collages was described, as he showed a finished collage from a group of Adirondack pictures. He used one image to connect a series of collages. Some image manipulating software, Adobe Photo Deluxe, can be used to transform pictures into sketches for variety of images. He started with a digital image (prepared at this meeting) on a flash card. The card was delivered to a laptop computer. The camera labels each picture, without repeating the file name (up to 10 million available). The camera compresses under JPEG from 1 megapixel down to about 300K bytes. A CDROM burner is recommended for storage of large numbers of pictures.

Starting, Bob searched the CDROM index on the hard drive for the desired photos. He opened a photo that needed touch-up, using Photo Deluxe, he shrunk the image using the SIZE command. He then trimmed and touched-up, using Extensive Intellipix to do major changes of brightness, contrast and clarity. This is often not saved, depending on the results. The change can be compared using UNDO. Removal of a shadow behind a person was demonstrated. A plain background is much easier to use. Using TOOLS, he selected COLORS for change, modifying various parts of the picture with a selected paint brush. A steady hand is needed to select the area to change. The picture was then resized using PHOTO SIZE by selecting the 150 pixels per inch as a usually suitable size. The picture can then be sized by either dimensions or file size. Changing the size will affect resolution by adding or losing pixels. The changed image can be identified and stored for future use by exporting to the staging area. For a collage, the images can be collected in one area for easy access. Bob had taken a photo of the Computer Interest Group presenter's area and stored it on a flash card. He extracted it for manipulation; sizing, trimming and selecting areas wanted. He continued the touch-up, using automatic changing. The image was moved to the assembly area and awaited additions.

An old photo of two persons was scanned on a Visioneer Scanner at 200 lines per inch and moved to sub folder for processed images. He noted the need to properly identify the subject, date, and location of the photo for future use. The software will put on a file name which can be renamed. He used Adobe software to change the file name/caption. Bob also described and demonstrated a slide-photo scanner which he needed to reproduce a large number of 35 mm slides. It scans at 1200 lines per inch, much more satisfactory than an accessory to a flat-bed scanner, at about 4 times the price of a moderate cost flat-bed scanner.

Next, he reviewed the images to be assembled, doing some minor changes, defect correction and brightness and contrast adjustments and color substitutions even to black and white. Hue and saturation are seldom changed.

A frame can be added, also available to be modified. The collage was then assembled, recognizing that each image is placed on a separate level for location and overlapping as desired. A border can also be used if desired, modifying location, and color. The background is then selected and adjusted for color. It was noted that the images should be placed at the same distance from the outside border. The layers should be displayed to confirm locations. A thumbnail image is displayed for each layer, at the lower tool bar. Each of the images can then be modified for background and foreground color and intensity, if desired. Bob continued modifying the images and collage, showing the effect of various color combinations. The total file size was 6 megabytes, but when saved as a JPEG file the size was reduced to 372K bytes. The JPEG file must be expanded back to the original size for additional manipulation.

Bob responded to several questions before closing the presentation. He received a well-deserved round of applause.

The need for duplication service at very low cost remains, as our current provider is likely to have his contract ended at the end of December. Please send/phone suggestions to:
at jhall2@rochester.rr.com or 265-9514.

The new membership list has had the non-renewing members deleted and will be attached to the Winter 2001 issue of HearYe HearYe.

Thanks to your continued support as we maintain our CIG membership above 200 to qualify for bulk mailing, at about one-half the cost of First Class. Please remember to send us a change of address or we get double cost by needing First Class postage on the return and again on remailing.

May you have a pleasant Holidays Season, with success in research you are able to do on your Family History.

Note that Soundbytes has moved from WXXI-AM to WHAM-AM, 1180, from 12:20 PM to 2:00 PM on Saturday afternoons. Nick Francesca moderates, with Dave Enright and another expert helping to answer computer questions. Nick continues his 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM Friday computer program on Channel 9 of Rochester Cablevision.

The next GENTECH Conference is planned for 25 - 26 January 2002 in Boston. Registration information is available on-line at www.gentech.org or e-mail at registrar02@gentech.org

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