Choose An Entry Level DSLR

People who own a point and shoot camera eventually want to move to having a DSLR. Other reasons could be you want clearer images, you want more control over your camera or you want to become a professional photographer.
Whatever your reason, you can start with having an entry level DSLR. This is lighter than the real DSLR and is more affordable as well.
So first things first. Consider the brand and you have many to choose from - Canon, Fujifilm, Kodak, Nikon, Pentax, Panasonic, Olympus and Sony. Most share the same features but if you often travel and take photos during special occasions, you need to pick a model that's easy to operate but at the same time one that can ensure image quality.

• The brand

For those who are serious in getting into photography, the two famous brand names you should consider are Nikon and Canon. Most, if not all, professional photographers use these brands.

• The sensor

As for the digital camera components, the camera sensor is an important consideration if quality images are your priority. Basically, there are two types of sensors - the CCD and the CMOS. The CMOS is present in the latest cameras today owing to its lower production cost while the older models utilized the CCD which provides better quality photos.

• The body

Consider as well the camera body. This is essential particularly if you have plans of purchasing high-end accessories in the future and because you will need to get accessories such as the lens that match the body.
Most entry level DSLR cameras today have quality plastic bodies. Weather sealing, however, is what gives the higher type or the professional DSLR the edge. Hopefully, this will be made available for the entry level models in the future.

• The material

When it comes to material, you have a choice between getting a metal and a plastic body. There's no doubt that the metal body is more durable and allows for better heat conduction notably while shooting videos. Nikon and Canon manufactures both metal and plastic bodied digital cameras.

• The resolution

Some people often prefer cameras that have bigger megapixels thinking that it will give them better quality images. But this is a misconception.
Do understand that you need a higher megapixel camera only if you would like to print large photos. This is because printing a large size image requires more megapixels to produce clearer and crisper photos. A higher resolution is also ideal if you do extensive post processing of your images such as cropping without affecting the quality.
But if you just want to snap and store photos on your computer and share them online, then a 3.5 to 5 megapixel camera will do.

• The price

The camera's affordability should be an important consideration. Know that you will not only be spending for the camera body alone but for other necessary accessories as well so make sure that you get only what you can afford. Calculating your expenses will help you choose the right entry DSLR camera that fits your lifestyle.

Web Designer and Web Designer Premium

Xara Web Designer is unlike any web design software you will have seen before; an easy template based solution that gives you total page design freedom, no HTML skills required. It comes in 2 versions, Web Designer and Web Designer Premium; Premium offers advanced web and graphic design features - find out more below

• There's no easier solution

The Web Designer approach is simple: You can either create your own page and site designs from scratch with the powerful page layout and design tools or simply:
1) pick your design from the templates
2) customize it with complete freedom
3) publish.
Absolutely no HTML or Javascript skills are required!
Templates include individual web graphics, complete pages and even pre-built multi-page sites.

• A one tool solution

ou only need one program for creating graphical websites - from design to publishing - and that's Web Designer or Web Designer Premium.

Web Designer includes customizable web graphic, webpage and website template designs plus tools for creating your own designs, for photo editing (an integrated ultra-fast, non-destructive photo tool), and for advanced text layout. The Designs Gallery also includes a collection of Widgets. Site upload is covered too and there's even a free web hosting offer!

• Flash & GIF animation

Web Designer Premium is one of the easiest tools for creating truly efficient Flash animations, which you can export as .swf or add to any page being created in Web Designer.

•  Extra Widgets

Web Designer Premium includes a larger selection of Widgets in the Designs Gallery, including the new, resizeable photo and content slideshow Widgets that can help give your website an edge, making them more interesting and dynamic. Plus there's a selection of interactive chart and graph widgets.
Premium also includes a choice of e-commerce Widgets and a neat 'embed a website' Widget - perfect for embedding blogs, microsites and other sites within your page.

•  Website and remote presentations

With Web Designer Premium you can easily create web-based 'slide-show' style presentations, that your website visitors can step through using the keyboard arrow keys. Plus you can apply animated transition effects as each step and page is displayed.
You can also easily remotely host a web meeting (a 'Webinar') to showcase your presentation, step by step and page by page, to a group of invited participants.

•  Animated page and layer transition effects

Web Designer Premium makes it easy to add a wide range of animated effects to the layers and page links in your website. You can add animated transitions to any page link or pop-up layer in your web pages.

• Advanced graphics tools

Web Designer includes many customizable graphic templates of course, and a good set of basic drawing tools, but Premium includes a range of additional graphic creation tools for those who wish to create their own graphics from scratch. These include freehand and quickshape drawing tools, bevel, mould and 3D extrude. Plus additional photo features such as content aware scaling and zooming, and masking, and the Live Effects tool which provides support for Photoshop plugins.

• Download

You can download or buy this product from xara website.

Three Ways to Select Your Image in Photoshop

This tutorial will introduce you to three very different and very simple ways to help select your image. Selection is the basis to running it all in Photoshop.

Method No.1. "Edit in Quick Mask Mode"

1. Open an image in Photoshop.

2. Select brush tool and set its size according to what you select on your image. For example, set the brush size to 8 pixels when you select something really tiny.

3. Foreground color must be black.

4. Before applying the brush to your image for selection, click on Edit in Quick Mask Mode. Now your brush is ready for selection. Notice that the areas you apply your brush to turn pink. If your selection goes out, you can fix it by first setting the foreground to white, and then using your brush tool to ‘erase off’ the unwanted selection. To continue your work, ensure that you reset the foreground color to black. To make it easier on your nerves, you might want to try zooming in and out on your image. It really helps.

5. To zoom in press CTRL +

6. To zoom out press CTRL -

  
7. When you’re satisfied with the selection you’ve made, click on Edit in Quick Mask Mode again.

8. Press CTRL+SHIFT+ I

  
9. Now press CTRL + J. A new layer consisting of only what you’d selected will be created.

That’s method 1.

Method No. 2. "Quick Selection Tool"

1. Open an image in Photoshop.

2. Select Quick Selection Tool.

3. You can change the size of the selection tool according to what you select on your image. Also, you must take note of two more important features. These are the angle and the roundness of the selection tool. You can change these depending on your selection needs.


4. To fix a selection, or to deselect a selection, use the Subtract from selection tool.

5. Press CTRL + J

That’s method 2.

Method No. 3. "Color Range"


1. Open an image in Photoshop.
Now I am going to select all flowers. For this image the best way of selection is Color Range.

2. Go to Select > Color Range.

3.  Pick the Eyedropper tool and click on the red color on your image. To select the different shades of red on your image, make use of the Add to Sample tool.

When you’re done, just click OK.

4. Press CTRL + J.

That’s method 3.

Now, to change the background of your layer with another image, you can simply load a new image and drag and drop it onto the selection layer.

Taking Memorable Photos of Children

By Nancy Hill

Children are a favorite subject for many photographers. Advertisers know a photo of an adorable child will grab people’s attention. Fundraisers know an image of a sick, wounded, or sad child will bring in donations. And parents cannot imagine a better subject than their child. Parents take cameras to sporting events, school functions, and parties. It seems like every moment of a child’s life is documented either in a still photograph or in a video. But how many photos of children are truly memorable?
Here are some tips on getting shots that draw total strangers into your photographs of children.

Take Time to Get to Know the Child
Most children let you into their world quickly. Before you start taking a picture, spend at least 10 minutes talking to the child. Ask questions about things that interest the child. Good openers include:
“Do you like bugs?”
“Would you rather be a giraffe or a butterfly?”
“What’s your favorite game?
Pay attention to how the child responds. Does he/she make eye contact? Capture that confidence when you take his/her picture. Does the child laugh at the questions or seriously contemplate them? Look for that sense of whimsy or pensive side when you take the picture. Does the child doodle when he/she responds? Then look for ways to show the child is creative. Does the child twist her hair while she’s thinking? Great. Include that in a photo.
If you’re taking photos of your own child, you already know your child’s personality traits, his/her habits, his/her facial expressions. Capture those instead of (or in addition to) a posed in-front-of-the-camera smile.

Observe, Observe, Observe
After you talk to the child, explain you’re going to get your camera ready and back away. The child will soon lose interest in you, giving you a chance to observe the child relating to the world. Inquisitive? Intent? Distracted? Capture that in your images.
If you’re taking photos of your own child, try observing your child as if you don’t know him/her at all. You’ll probably see some things you haven’t noticed before.

Be Unobtrusive
Use a telephoto lens. The best photographs of children are those when a kid is acting like a kid. To capture that and all the emotions that go with it, you need to be an unobtrusive as possible. Use a telephoto lens so you can have some real distance between you and the child. This will help the child tune you out and do whatever he or she does best, whether it’s play, dream, run around, make up stories. Capture that.
Alternately, move in close to the child to capture a curve of the cheek, curls tumbling down a forehead, eyes deep in thought.

Show the Child’s Environment
Try to take your photographs in a place that means something to the child. A bedroom, playroom, playground, field – all of these say something about how the child relates to the world. Does the child run freely across the open field or sit quietly reading a book? Does the child see how high he or she can climb a tree or does he/she prefer to lean against it and pet his/her dog? Is the child’s room spotless, showing the child’s organizational bent, or is it a wild jumble of clothes and toys?

Look for the Extraordinary in the Ordinary
Take photos of the child doing everyday things like eating breakfast, elbows on the table, hair not yet combed; sleeping, curled up with a favorite animals or spread eagle, blankets off, bold even in sleep; doing homework, scowling over a difficult problem or with one eye on the TV. These say a whole lot about who the child is, which is way more moving than a posed photo with perfectly combed hair and a brand new outfit.

Try Shooting in Black and White
This really adds drama. Check it out. You can have black and white prints made from color negatives. You can also turn digital prints into black and white either in your camera (depending on which camera you use) or in a photo software program.

Above all, respect the child’s world. It is complex, compelling, and very, very deep.

Why Colors are King | Color Theory

Author: Brian McGregor

You may not realize it, but many of your website visitors form an immediate opinion about you and your website. The opinion that is formed in this instantaneous way is done so subconsciously. You might wonder why this happens. It has absolutely nothing to do with the text on your website. And yet your visitor will still form their instant opinion without even reading a single word of your costly copy.

It doesn't matter either, whether the quality of the images on your website are of the highest. Nor does your offer matter. You could be promoting a sensational deal, like selling dollars for dimes. But this too, will be overlooked by the site visitor. This is because the instant opinion is made when your web page is displayed to your visitor. You may have guessed there is something subliminal at work here. In a way, that is right. Immediate opinions are formed by visitors to every single website. This may surprise you, but the answer is colors. Your visitor's instant opinion of your website is primarily due to the color scheme which you have used.

This is because colors are psychological. They engender an intuitive reaction which we can't control. We can't help ourselves. Colors bring us these emotions and feelings whether we want them or not! As you will know, millions are spent by big companies in deciding the correct colors of new products and in their marketing campaigns. Big companies realize that colors are a psychological feature, and they can influence our reception of their marketing. In their business propositions, the big companies understand that the use of appropriate colors is a key element. What webmasters have to realize, and this can be very important, is that the same color psychology applies to our web pages.

By the psychological power you could encourage your website visitors to leave your page the instant they see it. No matter what your website is about, it may simply be unsuccessful due to the colors you're using. Forget the text, it might never be read! The good news, however, is that you can use colors to engender a really positive reaction. This color psychology is nothing new. In fact, it's been with us for years and years. Whatever our role in life, colors convey emotions to our subconscious mind.

For example, a particular color scheme could convey a good feeling in each of us. However, a different color scheme might convey not so good feelings. In essence, you might send a sense trust, warmth and belonging. Conversely, the feeling sent may be one of distrust, coolness and rejection. The following list gives an idea of the emotions associated with their respective colors:

Red Excitement, energy, danger, love, leadership, sense of power, strength etc

Orange Comfort, steadfastness, cheerfulness, courage, confidence, playfulness, friendliness etc

Yellow Curiosity, brightness, organization, intelligence, joy, amusement, caution etc

Green Harmony, nature, money, healing, health, life, food etc

Blue Trustworthiness, stability, peace, tranquility, love, acceptance, patience etc

Purple Nobility, dignity, independence, royalty, luxury, ambition, wisdom etc

Brown Reliability, nature, comfort, tribal, earthiness, durability, primitive etc

Black Sophistication, dramatic, power, formality, style, health, elegance etc

White Innocence, cleanliness, fresh, goodness, easy, simplicity, purity etc

When designing your web pages, you ideally need to ensure that the color scheme you use is consistent with your offering. The reason is that your visitors' subconscious minds will look to reconcile the color with the message. If they are irreconcilable, you will find your visitors click away from your page very quickly. Which means, your visitor will be lost. The important issue therefore is that it is essential the right color scheme is used on your website. If you do this, your website will produce the results you're looking for. In summary, the difference between the right and wrong color scheme on your website can be the difference between profit and loss.

Do you Know About RSS Feed?

Author: Subhash Kumar


RSS is a format for syndicating content and metadata over the Internet. It is commonly used to share headlines and links to news articles. With news articles, the actual article isn't usually shared, but metadata about the article is; this metadata can include a headline, a URL, or a summary. RSS is an important tool for publishers because feeds can be used to syndicate content, and to integrate third-party content into your site.

Article about RSS Feeds; RSS is a form of eXtensible Markup Language or XML. Viewing an RSS feed in a web browser generally produces code that is not easy for website visitors to decipher. As a result, webmasters use tools to display the content contained in an RSS feed.

Benefit to the Webmaster:

As the web has become more crowded webmasters have been striving to provide fresh and up to date content for their website visitors. Many webmasters have discovered they can easily utilize the information in RSS feeds to provide fresh web content.

RSS Allows Webmasters:

• Provide fresh and relevant content on their website, which encourages users to return.

• Constantly changing content means that search engine spiders will visit more frequently.

• Automate content delivery.

Benefit to Web Surfers:

The beauty of RSS is that readers can quickly scan headlines (titles) and read articles of interest. Because the information is condensed and provided in a single location users can generally review more information in a shorter time frame. Additional information is only a click away. Best of all readers choose the feeds they wish to see, there is no spam with RSS. If you are not completely thrilled with the content appearing in a feed simply remove it from the newsreader.

RSS Allows for Users:

• Easily locate information.

• Read condensced information or 'soundbytes' with clearly marked and dated topic material.

• Classify and categorize information in an easy to navigate manner.

• Maximize their time without having to deal with spam.

RSS feeds can be viewed in a news aggregator or reader, which constantly updates and shows unread feeds. I found the functionality of the newsreaders to be similar to a simple email client. Consumers generally enter the URL of any RSS feeds that interest them.

RSS Allows for Content Developer:

• Increase exposure in niche markets.

• Communicate with user bases and reach potential customers via an alternate communication method.

• Disseminate relevant information.

• Define themselves as an industry expert.

• Automate content delivery.

RSS has effectively standardized the format for content delivery and has effectively defined the accepted standard for content distribution and syndication. RSS will likely rival email as a means of content distribution in another few years. The shear simplicity makes the technology very appealing.

How RSS is used:

• A publisher has some content that they want to publicize.

• They create an RSS channel for their content.

• In this channel, they include items for Web pages they want to promote.

• This channel can be read by remote applications, and converted to headlines and links. These links can be incorporated into new Web pages, or read in dedicated readers.

• People see the links on various sites, click on them, and go to the original publisher's site.

While headline syndication is the most common use for RSS, it is also used for many other purposes. RSS is a very popular format in the weblog community. It's also used for photo diaries, classified ad listings, recipes, reviews, and for tracking the status of software packages.

Benefit of Using RSS:

RSS is an easy way for you to be alerted when content that interests you appears on your favorite Web sites. Instead of visiting a particular Web site to browse for new articles and features, RSS automatically tells you when something new is posted online. Click on the section title link to obtain the RSS URL, which you will see in the "Address" field of your browser. Simply copy this URL and follow the instructions for your particular news reader to subscribe.

Hacking Preferences and Documents

Photoshop, ImageReady, and Bridge all use preference files to store application settings. For example, the Adobe Photoshop CS2 Prefs file contains all the options for general display; history logs; file saving; cursor; transparency and gamut; units and rulers; guides, grids, and slices; plug-ins and scratch disks; and memory allocation. The file lives in the Adobe Photoshop CS2 Settings folder, along with a host of other files that keep track of your Preferences and settings, such as Color Settings, New Doc Sizes, and so forth. Settings for Adobe Camera Raw, Save for Web, and paths are kept separately in the Registry by Windows, whereas the Mac OS keeps them in the Preferences folder, located in the user's Library folder.

Restoring Prefs

When you are satisfied with your customizing of Photoshop, it's a good idea to save the Adobe Photoshop CS2 Settings folder. You can find the folder in the following location for Windows and Mac OS, respectively:

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator or UserName\AdobePhotoshop9.0\Adobe Photoshop CS2 Settings.

Macintosh\HD\Users\UserName\Library\Preferences\Adobe Photoshop CS2\Settings

To understand the rationale behind the decision to save the settings folder, you have to know how Photoshop makes use of the files and that, occasionally, you have to delete them. Each time Photoshop closes in an orderly fashion, it updates the settings files that need updating, saving any modifications that you may have made; for example, you may have added new actions or made changes to the color settings, in which case the files relating to the Actions palette and Color Settings are updated. If Photoshop quits unexpectedly, any customized settings made since Photoshop was last closed are lost. However, occasionally, even if you quit in an orderly fashion, Photoshop may start to behave erratically. If that happens to you, you have two choices: either you can delete the settings files and let Photoshop create default settings files or you can replace the files with the saved files, hence the need to save the settings folder. To delete Prefs, take the following steps: Immediately after launching Photoshop or ImageReady, hold down Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows), Ф+Opt+Shift (Mac OS). You will be presented with a dialog box (Figure 5-1); make your choice and click the OK button.



Figure 5-1: The dialog box that appears when you use the modifier keys to launch Photoshop to replace the currents Prefs with factory default settings.

If the problem disappears, you can then replace the default Prefs with the saved files and reset any Preferences that were changed since you saved the Adobe Photoshop CS2 Settings folder. If the problem returns, as it can sometimes, revert to the default settings, customize them again and then resave the settings folder.

Changing Scratch Disks and Plug-Ins at Launch Time

To select an alternative scratch disk, press Ctrl+Alt (Windows), Ф+Opt (Mac OS) immediately after launching Photoshop.

If you have plug-ins installed in more than one folder, you can select an additional plug-ins folder by pressing Ctrl+Shift (Windows), Ф+Shift (Mac OS) immediately after launching Photoshop.

Specifying Update Prefs

If Bridge and Photoshop irritate you when they periodically check for the latest updates, chances are you have not clicked on the Preferences button in the Adobe Updater dialog box when it has finished checking. To do so, choose Help>Updates in either application and then, after the Adobe Updater has finished checking for new updates, click the Preferences button. Doing so opens the Adobe Updater Preferences dialog box (Figure 5-2). In the dialog box, you specify how you want to check for and where to download any available updates for Photoshop, Bridge, Help Center, and Stock Photos.



Figure 5-2: The Adobe Updater Preferences dialog box lets you control how and when it checks for updates, where it downloads the files to, and how it deals with the installation.

Installing Plug-Ins into a Safe Folder

Installing plug-ins into the default plug-ins folder in the Adobe Photoshop CS2 folder is quick and painless. Just point the installer to it and sit back. However, saving a little time when installing can cost a lot more time down the line. For example, when you need to reinstall Photoshop, it's easy to accidentally delete the plug-ins folder even though you had every intention of keeping it (especially on Mac OS, where dragging application folders to the Trash is a common practice).When you come to upgrade Photoshop to the next version, you may find that you have to reinstall some if not all the plug-ins because you cannot just copy them into the new version. If you do, some of them are sure to require a reinstall, owing to the name change of the top-level folder. It all adds up to a loss of time. To avoid reinstalls and save time, you can take advantage of a little known Photoshop functionality. If you drop a shortcut (Windows) or alias (Mac OS) into any of the folders within the application folder, Photoshop can see the path and find the folder at the end of it. Therefore, by installing the plug-ins once into a designated folder away from the main Photoshop folder, creating a shortcut/alias to it, and then dropping it into the plug-ins folder, you can do away with the need to reinstall and reduce the chance of accidentally deleting the folder. You can even create shortcuts/aliases from the individual plug-ins and drop those into the plug-ins folder one at a time. That way, you can control how many plug-ins load into memory each time you launch Photoshop. Furthermore, if you don't fancy making shortcuts/aliases, you can simply choose the designated folder in Preferences>Plug-Ins & Scratch Disks as the Additional Plug-Ins Folder and have Photoshop find it automatically at launch time.

What are Adjustment Layers?

Adjustment layers are special layers in Photoshop that will apply an "adjustment" onto its own layer. There are many adjustments you can make to a layer, such as: color balance, levels, hue/saturation, etc. You create an adjustment when you feel an image needs a deliberate change or modification to your choosing. Adjustments can quickly and easily enhance your digital or scanned-in photographs and are used all of the time in creating great, layer-based graphic design.



There are basically two ways to do things. Adjustments and adjustment layers.

1. You can create an adjustment on an actual layer itself (by going under Image: Adjustments: and then choosing an adjustment). Note: adjustments will not work on shape layers (vectors). In this case you'll want to make duplicate the original layer before you make any adjustments or changes.

2. You can create an adjustment layer on top of an original layer. This preserves the original layer, as you can easily discard the adjustment layer.

If you are a beginner, you'll want to be careful. Always make sure that if you are making an adjustment on a layer itself that you are certain you want to keep that adjustment. To play it safe you should always duplicate the original layer if you are going to make adjustments or try out some filters. But you can easily just create an adjustment layer instead by clicking on the adjustment layer icon on the bottom of the layers palette.

When you create an adjustment layer, it will apply to all of the layers beneath it. For example if you had 20 layers of a complex design and wanted to change the color balance of all of the layers (the entire document) you would select the top layer in the layers palette and then create an adjustment layer: color balance and then it will apply to all of your image. You can move that adjustment layer down and layers on top of it in the palette won't be affected. Remember that it applies to all of the layers beneath it.

What I have just talked about is creating an adjustment layer that will spread across the entire space of the document. Because you have not made a selection, an adjustment layer will spread across the document on its own special layer. If you make an adjustment ON a specific layer, it will just apply to that layer.

Now..if you want an adjustment layer to apply specifically to a certain layer (instead of the entire document) for the same effect as creating an adjustment on the layer itself; what you have to do is simply Ctrl or Cmd click on the layer icon and get the layer selected so you see the marching ants. Then what you do is simply create an adjustment layer of your choice (from the icon) and it will only apply to the selected areas of the layer immediately beneath it (because no other layers are in between it).

This is the same effect as creating an adjustment on the layer itself except more flexible because you can easily adjust the adjustment layer attributes (by double clicking on the adj. layer) or simply throw it away or hide it if you don't like it. You may want to consider trying different adjustment layers on a layer but remember you have to select the layer itself first otherwise the adjustment layer will apply across the entire document.

You may also have to do some layer masking as certain adjustments will create harsh and distinct differences from the rest of the document. Remember there are these two ways to do the same thing but if you can get comfortable with creating and using adjustment layers, they are going to save you some time. Consider putting several layers of adjustments in a layer set for better organization. I personally use adjustment layers all of the time and they are used religiously in designs such as movie posters and flyers.

5 Ways to Avoid the Worst Digital

It is not uncommon for beginners to make digital photography mistakes when they first venture into this hobby. I used to make those awful photography mistakes and my photos were terrible!

Below are five common photography mistakes. You can learn how to prevent them when you shoot and fix them. If you can avoid these mistakes, I can assure you that the quality of your photos will increase dramatically!



Red-Eye

Red-eye happens because the light from the digital camera's flash reflects off the retina of your subject's eyes. This is a problem that is so common that even the pros face it too! The fool-proof way is to turn off the flash when shooting. However, if it is really too dark and you must use the flash, remember to ask your subject to face towards your camera but do not look directly at the lens.

Subject is too far

Sometimes, if you subject is too far away, your photo will lack a focal point. You are trying to fit too much into your photo and it will not look great. This mistake is pretty easy to fix. Just get closer to your subject. If you really can't get close enough, use your digital camera's optical zoom. You will realized that your photo and subject will be nicer if they are closer.

Blurry Photos

If you shake your camera or if your subject is moving, you will get blurred photos. The best way is to use a tripod if your subject is still. But, if your subject is moving, you can use the "action" mode in your digital camera. Different cameras have different terms for this mode. Read your instruction manual. This "action" mode function will optimize the shutter speed to capture the action automatically.

Underexposed Photos

Underexposed photos are also one of the very common photography mistakes. It means that there is not enough light and your photo is dark. If you are taking pictures indoor, you can get near a window or move closer to your subject. Besides that, you can also manually adjust the shutter speed of your digital camera.

Overexposed Photos

This means that your photos are too bright. Extreme sunlight or flash can cause overexposed photos. Your photos can have very light or very dark areas. Overexposed photos usually lack detail and can look very washed out. Find a shade when you are shooting your subject on a sunny day. If you are using a flash, do not stand too close to your subject as well.

The above digital photography mistakes are pretty common. The best way to overcome them is to learn from them. Shoot more photos and see how they turn out. If they turn out bad, recall how you took them and under what type of conditions. Try to avoid those mistakes in the future!

Which File Type is Best for Your Graphics?

Every time a graphic file is saved on the computer, the program saves the artwork with a specific file format. Some formats are high resolution, some are low; some are specific to the native application (like .doc files are MS Word), while others can be used by different computers and different applications.

Just as different software programs are good at performing different tasks, different file formats are good for different purposes. You wouldn't use MS Word to construct a large table of financial data; you'd use MS Excel. The same principle goes for file formats, some are suited for lower-resolution web graphics and email, and others are high-resolution graphics for printing.

Who cares? You should…

This can be down right confusing for a non-expert. In fact, it can be disastrous to spend hours working on a file and have it in the wrong format. Artwork in the wrong file format might be:

• Rejected by a printer
  
• Incompatible with a computer
  
• Result in slower download times
  
• Reproduce over the Internet or on print with unpredictable or awful results.

All of these will result in costing your more time and money. The good news is: experienced business designers will know from experience exactly which file type to use for each specific circumstance.

For those looking for a little extra knowledge, or gluttons for punishment, here is a quick synopsis of when to use which file type:

.jpg - "jay peg", great for web sites and email, this file format compresses continuous-tone images (like a picture with millions of colors) down to a size that can be downloaded of the Internet quickly. The downside to this format is that compressing the image too much will cause it to visibly degrade and look jagged.

.gif - "gifs", pronounced with a "G", not a "J", also a terrific file type for the Internet and emailing. Gifs do an incredible job of compressing images and making them suitable for fast downloads. In contrast to the .jpg, the .gif is not suited for non-continuous color images, but solid colored images (some cartoons or clip art is a good example of this). One added bonus is that the .gif images can be placed on a web page with an clear background, so you layer them on a web page. Sometimes the artwork has a sharp, unattractive border when the image's background invisible, when this happens, go with the next file type, the .png.

.png - "pings" or "p.n.g's:, this format can act as a hybrid between the .jpg and the .gif, it allows users to compress either non/continuous-tone color images, and allow you to put the on a web page with a clear background. .Pngs are usually larger in file size than the previous file formats but they allow people to save artwork to be layered on web pages or other artwork without any sharp or disruptive border. .Pngs are extremely versatile, but they usually result in larger files and longer download times.

.eps - "encapsulated postScript", these files can be vector or raster - which makes them extremely powerful, this goes beyond the scope of this article. Professional printers and printable advertising media, like a magazine, will typically ask that the artwork be saved as an .eps file or perhaps a .tif. Recently the .pdf document has made some headway into certain areas of printed media as well.

.tif - "tagged image file format", a versatile color space file format (CMYK, RGB, Grayscale) and cross-platform between Mac and PC. The .tif file format was originally intended for scanning, and a lot of scanned images are saved as tifs. Printers and advertisers will often request or permit final artwork to be designed in a tif.

.pdf - "portable document format", Adobe's native file format that is read by a program called Adobe Acrobat. Most computer users have Acrobat on their system, if they don't they can download Acrobat Reader for free. The .pdf has a wide range of uses, including a lot of usage on web, interactive forms and they can even be used for printing.

Top 5 Indications You've Used the Wrong File Format

The printer you are using starts to laugh at you
The printer you are using starts to cry in front of you
Colleagues complain that you are filling up her/his mailbox with large image files
Prospects visiting your web site indicate your company logo looked out of focus and more like a blob of mustard and relish
You've decided on which file format to use based on a novel magic 8 ball