Canon 400D (Rebel Xti, Kiss X)

[jann1033]

I'm trying to reduce the size of my jpegs. They are about 3-4 MB each and that's too big to upload to Imagestation. Even uploading one at a time is too much for the program to handle.

So I downloaded Picasa2 but haven't figured out how to reduce the picture size without damaging the integrity of the photo. Have you used Picasa or any other program (besides photoshop) to do this?

On another note, I want to make some photo flipbooks and want excellent quality (and decent price - no cheapy sites please). If you know of a good place for this, I'd love recs (especially if the website can handle this size picture).

TIA!

i got one made at tabblo..they have a tiny one( hard cover bound in black cloth) 4x4 for about $10, a larger( 8x10 i think) for about $30. i have an xt and save everything large as i can and downloaded to there with no problems

 

[AbbysFamily]

I love picassa for browsing pictures, but if you want to resize in batch (or singular) I prefer Irfanview. Its free, but when you convert, you can do things with much more control, including destination folder for converts, etc so you know you aren't messing with the original.

 

[pisco]

When exporting from Picassa you will be presented with a window to set all of the export options (export location, image size, etc.).

Once of the options is Image Quality. I find that the Automatic settings normally does well enough for online viewing. But if you are looking for more control, choose the Custom option. This will give you a slider where you can set the image quality as a percentage (like Photoshop). A little experimenting shold give you exactly the quality and file size that you need.

 

[photo_chick]

WHile not a picasa user....

Normally if I am uploading pictures that are strictly for online viewing I just resize them to 600x900 @72dpi. For some things 400x600. I save them at the least amount of compression to avoid artifacting.

 

[treynolds]

Just returned from a week in WDW!!! So excited---took my new Rebel xti w/me and took wonderful pictures! NOW DISASTER!!!! My first card downloaded great! Pictures are wonderful. I put my other cf card in to download rest of pictures---nothing!!! When I connect the camera and turn it on the LCD display reads BUSY!!! the manual says NOTHING about what this means. How was I able to download one set and not another. I am so frustrated. Can anyone please help me figure this out?!?

 

[WillCAD]

1) Check the cable to make sure it is firmly in both the camera and the computer.

2) Turn off the camera, unplug it from the computer, plug it back in, and turn it back on.

3) Reboot the computer with the camera unplugged, then plug the camera back in and turn it on normally.

4) No matter how this turns out, get yourself a USB Compact Flash card reader from Best Buy or Office Depot; they work better and faster than plugging the camera directly into the computer.

 

[gruZ]

Agree with the card reader comment. Get one as soon as you can. Also, look at this link - it sounds like a corrupt card is giving you grief. I haven't used Photo Rescue myself, but have read some very good things about it, from trusted sources like The Luminous Landscape.

Good luck!

 

[ukcatfan]

It will not help you now, but I suggest that you download to CD or DVD every day. That way, there are no surprises when you get home.

Kevin

 

[allyn]

i can recommend photorescue. i have used it myself many times (usually to help out other people).

 

[Lachesis00]

Try a card reader. We saved photos from Disneyland other wise unable to get off the card with a card reader!

 

[photo_chick]

I second (or third or whatever) the card reader. I know more than a few people who have had trouble getting images from the Rebel XTi (and other cameras for that matter) to the pc. But then they tried a card reader and had no problems. Before you freak out, try that.

My card reader was $6, it works great.

 

[treynolds]

Ok! You have sold me on a card reader. Will be heading out to buy one. However, I did not most of pictures to download. It downloaded only half of the 800 pictures on my CF card? Any ideas why only half? Also, I need some suggestions on how to go through all my pictures and how to go about printing. I will be taking them to get them printed, probably Wal-Mart or Walgreens. I figured I would burn them to a disk then take them to print? Good idea? What programs do you use to work with your photos? This newbie needs some suggestions!

 

[WillCAD]

Ok! You have sold me on a card reader. Will be heading out to buy one. However, I did not most of pictures to download. It downloaded only half of the 800 pictures on my CF card? Any ideas why only half? Also, I need some suggestions on how to go through all my pictures and how to go about printing. I will be taking them to get them printed, probably Wal-Mart or Walgreens. I figured I would burn them to a disk then take them to print? Good idea? What programs do you use to work with your photos? This newbie needs some suggestions!

Putting your pics on CD is the best way to take them to a place when printing.

Once you get a card reader, you will be able to change your entire approach to getting the pics off the card and on the computer. With a card reader, you will no longer use the Canon software that came with your camera; instead, the card reader will show up in My Computer as an additional drive letter - and all you will have to do is move the pics off the card onto your hard drive. This eliminates a level of complexity that can sometimes create problems and cause you to lose pics.

I use a program that came with my old Fuji camera for browsing and viewing. However, my Dad uses a program called ACDSee for browsing, viewing, and minor corrections. It's not very expensive, and I have tried it myself and like it a lot.

I use Photoshop CS2 or Photoshop Elements for editing, cropping, and color adjustments. Photoshop Elements is not very expensive, either, and is a light version of Photoshop, which is the best photo editing program ever made.

The best piece of advice I can give you, however, is to forget the prints. Yes, prints are nice - but the most important thing for you to concentrate on is organizing and backing up your picture files.

The more pics you take with your digital camera, the more difficult it will be for you to find what you want unless you come up with a simple but flexible system for organizing and storing them on your computer. Once you have such a system in place, you will also have an easier time backing them up to CD or DVD.

 

[Groucho]

Yes, if you're stuck using Canon's oddball software, you definitely need to get yourself a card reader! Someone said that some Canons can be configured to behave like a normal removable drive (like every other digital camera on the planet except Canon), if so, it's worth setting it that way. But a card reader's really the way to go. It will also transfer the files much, much faster.

Then, you can just use Windows Explorer to copy your photos, or even the "Scanner and Camera Wizard" that'll pop up when you plug in the reader.

For viewing, cropping, color adjustments, renaming, and a ton of other things, you will probably not find anything faster or more powerful than Irfanview, which is a free download. The only times I end up going into Photoshop are for real heavy-duty editing, like stuff with layers, or manual dust removal, etc.

 

[photo_chick]

I'll chime in on software here....

If you are interested in getting into shooting RAW with your camera Adobe release Lightroom not too long ago. It works with other image types as well but seems to me to be best suited for RAW. You can get a free trial from Adobe's site.

If you are just starting out Photoshop Elements is great for all around image editing in my book. It is not very expensive and not nearly as overwhelming as CS2.

If you don's want to spend any $$$ right now there is always Picasa (from google, free and VERY basic) and also Gimp.

The only other software I use regularly is Photoshop CS2 and Bibble Pro.

 

[Lizziejane]

I know there are several other XTi owners here... have any of you figured out how to set to bracket? I can't seem to find any auto setting for it Can anyone tell me where it is?

Thanks!

Jane

 

[mabas9395]

Are you asking about exposure bracketing or WB bracketing?

Either way, I'm sure it is not an "auto" feature.

 

[Lizziejane]

I was asking about exposure ... but now I'm curious... wb bracketing too?! Where is that?! And I'm assuming, same concept, just changes the wb? I wish I could find my manual!

Jane

 

[mabas9395]

You can find Canon Reble manual online at the canon website. I think this link should get you there, just click on Product/Software Manuals. http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=DownloadDetailAct&fcategoryid=314&modelid=14256

Exposure bracketing is on page 76 and WB bracketing is on page 88.

You don't need WB bracketing if you shoot RAW. But I find exposure bracketing to be useful at times (though honestly I forget about it sometimes).

 

[Lizziejane]

You can find Canon Reble manual online at the canon website. I think this link should get you there, just click on Product/Software Manuals. http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=DownloadDetailAct&fcategoryid=314&modelid=14256

Exposure bracketing is on page 76 and WB bracketing is on page 88.

You don't need WB bracketing if you shoot RAW. But I find exposure bracketing to be useful at times (though honestly I forget about it sometimes).

Got it!
Thanks mabas9395