newbie questions about compatibility of digital photo software
 

I just purchased my first digital camera (Canon A85) and, while I am
anticipating much pleasure taking pictures of my 2 grandsons, I am
concerened about one issue. I plan to begin with Adobe Photoshop SE as
my digital photo software, but it's possible I may decide at a later
time to switch to a different software package. Is the information
stored when transferring images from the camera to the computer
(date/time picture was taken, etc) transferable betwen most of these
software programs? Once I have deleted the images from the camera's
memory, the only place that information will exist is within the
digital software program.

Any and all comments/suggestions/information would be greatly
appreciated.

P.S. Any recommendations as to what I should read to expand my
knowledge of digital photography? Should I start with something like
"Digital Photography for Dummies" or is there a better book out there
for a newbie like me? I DO know quite a bit about computers, if that's
relevant.

The files from your camera are like your negatives. The first step in the
workflow is to Save As in PS to the native format .PSD in regular PS...I
suppose its the same in your SE. Always work on that copy so that if you
have to go back your "negative" is in pristine condition....and that
includes your information.

"Tom Gordon" wrote in message
om...
I just purchased my first digital camera (Canon A85) and, while I am
anticipating much pleasure taking pictures of my 2 grandsons, I am
concerened about one issue. I plan to begin with Adobe Photoshop SE as
my digital photo software, but it's possible I may decide at a later
time to switch to a different software package. Is the information
stored when transferring images from the camera to the computer
(date/time picture was taken, etc) transferable betwen most of these
software programs? Once I have deleted the images from the camera's
memory, the only place that information will exist is within the
digital software program.

Any and all comments/suggestions/information would be greatly
appreciated.

P.S. Any recommendations as to what I should read to expand my
knowledge of digital photography? Should I start with something like
"Digital Photography for Dummies" or is there a better book out there
for a newbie like me? I DO know quite a bit about computers, if that's
relevant.

The files from your camera are like your negatives. The first step in the
workflow is to Save As in PS to the native format .PSD in regular PS...I
suppose its the same in your SE. Always work on that copy so that if you
have to go back your "negative" is in pristine condition....and that
includes your information.

"Tom Gordon" wrote in message
om...
I just purchased my first digital camera (Canon A85) and, while I am
anticipating much pleasure taking pictures of my 2 grandsons, I am
concerened about one issue. I plan to begin with Adobe Photoshop SE as
my digital photo software, but it's possible I may decide at a later
time to switch to a different software package. Is the information
stored when transferring images from the camera to the computer
(date/time picture was taken, etc) transferable betwen most of these
software programs? Once I have deleted the images from the camera's
memory, the only place that information will exist is within the
digital software program.

Any and all comments/suggestions/information would be greatly
appreciated.

P.S. Any recommendations as to what I should read to expand my
knowledge of digital photography? Should I start with something like
"Digital Photography for Dummies" or is there a better book out there
for a newbie like me? I DO know quite a bit about computers, if that's
relevant.

Hi Tom,

EXIF metadata (contains all the shooting information) actually resides
within the JPEG image files themselves, and you should be fine as long
as it was embedded correctly in the first place, and as long as further
editing retains the data.

Some older versions of image editors discard the EXIF data when
resaving, so best to keep originals whenever editing photos.

In terms of learning more, books are good, also perhaps joining a
friendly discussion forum (such as http://www.shuttertalk.com) and
posting questions there will also get you a lot of helpful feedback.

All the best!

Regards,
Julian
-----
Shuttertalk Forums Member
http://www.shuttertalk.com

Hi Tom,

EXIF metadata (contains all the shooting information) actually resides
within the JPEG image files themselves, and you should be fine as long
as it was embedded correctly in the first place, and as long as further
editing retains the data.

Some older versions of image editors discard the EXIF data when
resaving, so best to keep originals whenever editing photos.

In terms of learning more, books are good, also perhaps joining a
friendly discussion forum (such as http://www.shuttertalk.com) and
posting questions there will also get you a lot of helpful feedback.

All the best!

Regards,
Julian
-----
Shuttertalk Forums Member
http://www.shuttertalk.com

Julian, thanks for the information.

I have a follow up question. I just imported my first picture from my
Canon in Photoshop Album SE. For some reason I don't understand, it
got loaded as a .bmp file, which I think means it treated it as a RAW
file instead of a jpg. I'm not sure if this is because of the
resolution/compression settings I used (1600x1200/fine) or the way I
imported it into PSA, or something else. Any ideas?

Julian, thanks for the information.

I have a follow up question. I just imported my first picture from my
Canon in Photoshop Album SE. For some reason I don't understand, it
got loaded as a .bmp file, which I think means it treated it as a RAW
file instead of a jpg. I'm not sure if this is because of the
resolution/compression settings I used (1600x1200/fine) or the way I
imported it into PSA, or something else. Any ideas?

Julian, thanks for the information.

I have a follow up question. I just imported my first picture from my
Canon in Photoshop Album SE. For some reason I don't understand, it
got loaded as a .bmp file, which I think means it treated it as a RAW
file instead of a jpg. I'm not sure if this is because of the
resolution/compression settings I used (1600x1200/fine) or the way I
imported it into PSA, or something else. Any ideas?

Hi Tom,

That sounds like a very wierd problem... I've got Photoshop Album 2.0
SE, but I must admit that I haven't imported directly from my camera
into Album... I've just loaded photos on disk which i had previously
transferred from my camera using the camera transfer software. They
seem to appear fine as Jpeg files.
Julian
-----
Shuttertalk Forums Member
http://www.shuttertalk.com

Hi Tom,

That sounds like a very wierd problem... I've got Photoshop Album 2.0
SE, but I must admit that I haven't imported directly from my camera
into Album... I've just loaded photos on disk which i had previously
transferred from my camera using the camera transfer software. They
seem to appear fine as Jpeg files.
Julian
-----
Shuttertalk Forums Member
http://www.shuttertalk.com