Photo Use Acronyms Explained

Ever wonder what exactly all those acronyms mean? You know the ones we use daily,such as PDF, GIF, JPEG and so on. Well here are a few most of us run across occasionally.

* BMP – Windows Bitmap files
* DNG – Digital Negative files
* EPS – Encapsulated PostScript files
* FAX – faxes
* FPX – FlashPix files
* GIF – Graphics Interchange Format files
* HDR – High Dynamic Range Image files
* ICNS - Apple Icon Image Files
* ICO – Windows icon files
* JPEG 2000 – JPEG 2000 files
* JPEG – Joint Photographic Experts Group files
* OpenEXR – OpenEXR files
* PS – Adobe PostScript files (after an automatic conversion to PDF)
* PSD – Adobe Photoshop files
* PICT – QuickTime image files
* PDF – Portable Document Format files
* PNG – Portable Network Graphics files
* PNTG – MacPaint Bitmap Graphic files
* QTIF – QuickTime image files
* RAD – Radience Scene Description files
* RAW – Raw image files
* SGI – Silicon Graphics Image files
* TGA – TARGA image files
* TIF, TIFF – Tagged Image File Format files
* XBM – X BitMap files

And if you really want more just link to each for an exhausting, if helpful explanation from Wiki volunteers.

Alternatives to Adobe Products, FREE alternatives

At the point this article was created, Adobe Photoshop CS3 still cost about USD $649 per copy. I think it’s safe to say that not everyone will afford to get a copy or willing to get a copy if all one need to do is just basic image editing stuff. That’s probably one of the main reason why there’s still a fairly large crowd out there actively looking for free alternatives to Photoshop to help them in their daily basic design jobs. If you are not going into advance image editing, you should know that there’s always free softwares out there capable to perform what Photoshop can.



Gimp works across several different platform (Linux, Mac, Windows, FreeBSD, Sun OpenSolaris) and is perhaps one of the best free alternatives out there so far. Gimp has a large user community, with great list of tutorials on the official sites.

Download Gimp



[Windows only] This photo editor runs on Windows. It has a large and growing community of users, with lots of tutorials and plugins.
Download Paint



[Windows only] This free photo editor originates from Japan, with English versions to download. Supports layers, masks, and some basic tools of Photoshop.

Download Pixia





[Mac only] Seashore is an open source image editor for Mac OS X’s Cocoa framework. It features gradients, textures and anti-aliasing for both text and brush strokes. It supports multiple layers and alpha channel editing. It is based around the GIMP’s technology and uses the same native file format.

Download Seashore



Inkscape is an open-source vector graphics editor similar to Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Freehand, or Xara X. What sets Inkscape apart is its use of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), an open XML-based W3C standard, as the native format.

Download Inkscape



Xara Xtreme for Linux is a powerful, general purpose graphics program for Unix platforms including Linux, FreeBSD and (in development) OS-X. Formely known as Xara LX, it is based on Xara Xtreme for Windows, which is the fastest graphics program available, period.

Download Xara Xtreme



[Mac only] ChocoFlop is an image editor for Mac OS X, based on the CoreImage technology. It is currently in beta stage and available freely.

Download ChocoFlop



[Windows only] PhotoPlus is the amazing photo editing software that enables you to fix and enhance digital photos, create stunning bitmap graphics and even web animations.

Download Photoplus



CinePaint is a deep paint image retouching tool that supports higher color fidelity than ordinary painting tools.

Download CinePaint



Download Krita



[Mac only] You may think this is just any normal image preview tool, but the fact is Mac’s Preview can perform more. Folks at Usingmac describe how you can use Mac’s Preview tool to perform basic image editing.

[Mac only] You may think this is just any normal image preview tool, but the fact is Mac’s Preview can perform more. Folks at Usingmac describe how you can use Mac’s Preview tool to perform basic image editing.

(I could not find the Download Preview link for this one)However if you want to spend hours looking through Apple's developer links At Apple's Imaging & 3D feel free



[Windows only] It allows you to do simple or advanced adjustments to an image and apply a vast range of filters on it. It is simple and intuitive to use, and has an easy learning curve.

Download PhotoFiltre

I'd like to give full credit to Honkiat Online Tips for Tech Users, Designer, Bloggers

Understanding Camera Lenses

The world of lenses can be astoundingly confusing when considering terms such as Prime, Telephoto or Zoom, Focal Length: short or long, Depth of Field, Wide Angle, Telephoto, Image Stabilization, Aperture, F-Number, Shutter Speed, and so on.

After considering writing an article explaining all of this I ran across one by Cambridge Color which is simply unbeatable. If you have the time to absorb this it will refresh your understanding or give you data you have long been wishing you had.

An example of the information within this article which is valuable is the following tutorial on how to estimate how exposure time is relative focal length.

"A common rule of thumb for estimating how fast the exposure needs to be for a given focal length is the one over focal length rule. This states that for a 35 mm camera, the exposure time needs to be at least as fast as one over the focal length in seconds. In other words, when using a 200 mm focal length on a 35 mm camera, the exposure time needs to be at least 1/200 seconds-- otherwise blurring may be hard to avoid. Keep in mind that this rule is just for rough guidance; some may be able to hand hold a shot for much longer or shorter times than this rule estimates. For users of digital cameras with cropped sensors, one needs to convert into a 35 mm equivalent focal length".

The site has an About page as a start
And if you have further questions Sean invites you to join their new Digital Forum here

Enjoy the read and the site. It is a wealth of information and resources.

Which New Camera to buy?

There are simply too many choices to make picking a new camera, an easy task. In the past we could simply walk into our local camera store, and see most all of the new cameras available. We could pick one up, take it outside with a suitable lens attached by the store rep and shoot a few shots just to get the feel. And in some cases we could come back next day to view the pictures we had taken. I'll assume many of us knew a couple of the store reps well enough to get this done.



Today whenever I walk into a store the cameras are either cabled down to a security board or the rep you are asking knows more about their cell phone features than the cameras they are supposed to be selling. So where does one start? Well to make things a little easier dpreview.com gives you all of the latest new camera reviews with a few simple clicks.

But here's a second choice if you want to see a website doing reviews using an Editor who has a physics major from the University of Kent. I don't know if that means he is using that knowledge base in a review but he certainly has the ability to research. That website you'll find at Camera Labs.

And yet a third review place is called Trusted Reviews.

You may find other reviews at places such as CNET.

Imaging Resources.

Or Digital Camera Review.

But no matter where you go, slow down and take your time if you are relatively new to DSLR's. Their is a lot to cover and in order to make the right purchase without going through a half dozen different ones before you land on one you are comfortable with and does the work you want it to do. Even if you have had a number of cameras, read the whole review.



Yah I know some of this stuff is boring, but trust that it all is relative and meaningful. Hey I hope this helps. Let us know what you think of the different sites I've listed above. One of them has a lot of flashing ads going on, but the rest are quite tame. Good luck and enjoy the reviews.