------------------ There is nothing new under the sun. What will be has already been and what has been will be again. Daniel R. Perez Daniez Dzines Fresno, CA daniez2001@yahoo.com
[This message has been edited by Daniez (edited December 06, 2000).]
Posts: 299 | From: Fresno, CA, USA | Registered: Jun 2000
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A digital camera loads right into the computer into a program that is supplied with the camera. The program Olympus supplied is like a "lite" version of Corel PhotoPaint
I took the mask tool and drew around Jason's mouth and then "cut" it and that turned the mouth area black. The "cut" command deletes that area but also saves it on the clip board.
Next I "pasted" the mouth over each eye! and saved the picture.
You can do the same thing with any picture in any photo paint program.
------------------ Draper The Signmaker Bloomington Illinois USA Stop in and visit a while! 309-828-7110
Posts: 2883 | From: Bloomington Illinois USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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HA!....I smell trouble......If I had one'a those I'd never get anything done. I have a fellow sign maker who uses his to create his own personal "digital library" for vehicle lettering. He measure the tip to tip points on the center of the wheels for reference when resizing.
I just bought the real deal for $350 at the atlantic city ussc show. Does anyone use this ? any tips? troubles?
Mike
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Posts: 1328 | From: Centreville, VA | Registered: Oct 2000
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Dave! I can relate! I've got an Olympus digital and a 5 month old son! I go from child (take picture) to computer ("enhance" in photoshop) back to child! I wonder why I'm "working" all the time but not making any money!! =) I noticed the other lil monster on the right in your photo. Is that the original Edge or the second edition? I have the opportunity to pick up the Original. I wasn't sure if it would end up being cheaper in the end than waiting and getting a new one. Can you give me some feedback on what you're using and how its working for you? Thanks and.... get back to "work"!!
DD
------------------ Dan Donnelly www.DonnellyArt.com Atlanta donnelly@bellsouth.net
Posts: 139 | From: Atlanta | Registered: Jan 1999
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Hey Mike, We use our camera all the time for reference and layout on trucks, buildings etc. Have a limited version of digital auto library but use our camera a lot more. I went to USSC show in Atlantic City too, to check out shopbot router system.
------------------ Wright Signs Wyandotte, Michigan Since 1978 http://www.wrightsigns.bigstep.com
Posts: 2787 | From: Wyandotte, MI USA | Registered: Jan 1999
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We have the "middle" Edge. Not the bulky first one, but the next one in the series. We would like to move up to the Edge 2, Geber's latest, but mine works just fine.
I use 2 cameras now. My favorite way to take pictures is with my $300 Cannon 35mm EOS Rebel X. You can shoot 10 rolls of film and get them 1 hour developed for total cost of $100.00 (Thats 240 pictures.) I have a 4 yr. old HP Scanjet 4C to scan the pictures in very high resolution using HP Deskcan software. For Edge printing we can achieve very clear prints up to 34 inches
The new camera is the OLYMPUS Digital C-3000 3.3 Megapixel. The pictures load right into the computer, no scanning, and they are extremely high resolution already. The pictures printed on the Edge come out as well or better than with the 35mm Cannon and high resolution scan combination.
Now the Bad news I had to spend an additional $85.00 for a 32MB Smartmedia chip (which the camera records the infomation on).
In high resolution mode I can take a womping 3 pictures ONLY On the lowest resolution I can take 331 pictures...worthless, grainy, ugly pictures. So, If go on vacation and set the resolution to "NORMAL" I can take a womping 32 pictures and then I have to download them into a computer or put in another $85.00 chip!
So, 3.3megapixel digital is great for 1 instant hi-resolution picture to Edge print and place on an outdoor sign. Once its in the computer, of course you can save it and then erase the Smartmedia chip and take 1 more picture.
This is not as bad a taking a whole roll of film to get 1 picture to Edge print, and risking the 1 hour development people to get it "right."
------------------ Draper The Signmaker Bloomington Illinois USA Stop in and visit a while! 309-828-7110
Posts: 2883 | From: Bloomington Illinois USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Dave you're not gonna believe how many times you're gonna use that camera, but only 3 shots at the highest resolution? Wow! my smart card is 15 megs and I can get 16 shots but is'nt it great how you can edge print those shots? Have Fun... Neil
------------------ "Keep Positive"
SIGNS1st. Neil Butler Paradise, NF
Posts: 6277 | From: St. John's NF Canada | Registered: Mar 1999
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I just bought one also last week.... I bartered mine though .. made a few bannermax banners and got it for $200. I love mine. It works great for the image cut feature in signlab.. I took a picture of the local police departments new german shepherd and put it on their new k-9 unit in bandwidths .... it looks great ... i'll post it as soon as my website is functional
------------------ Ryan Ursta Ursta Graphics 27 West Shenango St. Sharpsville Pa. 16150 Call: 724•962•2206 "letters of Recommendation"
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I'm wondering if you can take a photo of a truck door and do your autotrace to get something almost clean enough to cut from it? And will Auto Trace work on boats?
------------------ The SignShop Mendocino, California "Where the Redwoods meet the Surf"
Posts: 6806 | From: Mendocino, CA. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Dave, Fun to manipulate photos, ain't it? Your new Olympus is great tool, I've had two digitals, the Olympus 600L and the 2500L and am 'supposed' to have my new Olympus E-10 in by tomorrow. Digitals are a long way from replacing film cameras, they're getting better all the time but still have a few drawbacks. The memory cards (SmartMedia) are still quite expensive and are limited to so many megs for certain cameras. My first 600L only accepted up to an 8 meg card, the 2500L up to a 32 meg and the new E-10 a 64 meg and with some headache you can use the 340meg drive packs fom 3rd-party mfgs. Batteries are the next problem, be sure to use the NiMh type they'll last about 3-4 times as long as the regular NiCads, and always have an extra set with you, viewing your shots on the LCD monitor eats batteries like candy as does using the zoom and flash. Downloading with the cable to the computer is also a battery drainer, if you can, get a USB card reader, they're fast and inexpensive ($50). Now to resolutions, you can hardly tell (if any) the difference between your uncompressed 'high resolution' TIFF mode than the SHQ mode for JPG's. Set your camera up and shoot a pic of the same object at both settings, download and zoom in to see. You should be able to get 10-12 SHQ JPG's on a 32 meg card and around 50 HQ and about 300 SQ's. The HQ mode will give great prints (photo quality) at up to 5x7 and this is uaually good enough for general snapshot pics. Enjoy, you've got a fine piece of equipment for fun and profit. I've used mine in business and created over $10 grand just in photography work this past year. Most of our use is for product shots for catalogs but I also use it for compositing sign layouts onto pics of buildings and vehicles. Impresses clients when you can show them EXACTLY what their sign will look like.
------------------ Larry
Elliott Design McLemoresville, Tn.
If you can't find the time to do it right, where gonna find the time to do it over?
Posts: 486 | From: McLemoresville, TN. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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