Re: (GWL) PowerPoint?

**"Charlie Bowers" c*@gardengate.net**

Internet files are too small to look good in PowerPoint if you stretch them
and make them larger than they are on the Internet. If you leave them small
they will look okay. Web files are very small in pixel dimensions so they
will download quickly enough to a modem connection.

PowerPoint needs .jpg image files that are at least 800 x 600 pixels and if
you have a new projector with XGA resolution, the resolution of the .jpg
files needs to be 1024 x 768. PP only cares about pixels just like the Web
and the pixels per inch need only be 72 ppi just like your monitor. So you
can resize any digital captures or scanned slides down versus using full
resolution files. And you should do this or the PP presentation file will
become huge.

If you have you own projector you might be able to tweak the color to make
image slides look as good in PP compared to regular slides. I have been able
to do this to a limited degree with my Kodak digital projector, but I cannot
match a real slide projector's color fidelity to my liking. If you are using
other people's projectors for each talk, good luck, they will all be
different! And if the digital projector is more than a few years old you
will probably get lousy color for your images. However, the color will be
fine for graphics (vector art versus bitmap images) and text. This
technology is still very new and you cannot get the color fidelity for
garden images in PP that you can with slides unless you control your
environment and you color correct you digital images in Photoshop (or other
image program) to "show" color fidelity in PP.

There is a new alternative. Gregtag Macbeth has a new product that will
profile a digital projector so you can tweak your output to look great
(supposedly)... like a real slide show. I have the software and unit but
have not had time to try it. It's not cheap... around $500 I think.
Additionally digital projectors have now broken the $1000 barrier and a few
new ones now only weigh 2 pounds and are tiny.

This is where it's all headed but the water is full of alligators and you
will have to spend the time to learn how to use this new technology if you
choose to use it. Slide projectors aren't going away for a few years or
decades, but I'd buy up a few now with extra lamps if this is your chosen
tool.

There are great benefits for a mixed text and image presentation that you
can produce in PP. There are also benefits for just a "slide" presentation
of your garden images. You don't have to carry around the slides and risk
loosing or damaging them. You don't have to be concerned about making
duplicate slides so you won't destroy your originals with continued light
exposure. However, you will not get the color fidelity with a digital
projector unless you deal with the problems. Of course if you are not
concerned about the color fidelity then you won't have to be concerned at
all. But as a photographer, not a writer, I want my images to look like what
I saw in the view finder. Digital projectors are balanced to the same color
temperature as your "normal" monitor which is cold and bright, not nice an
warm like Velvia or Ektachrome VS, etc.

BTW you will be better off using a Mac with OSX Panther since you can truly
manage color via ColorSync, at least for color correction of your images.
Windows XP is catching up but not there. I use both systems. However, I've
not seen a digital projector yet that can be color managed, thus Gretag's
solution is the rage with presenters. Yesterday I went to and Apple, and
partners, presentation showing off Panther, the new Adobe Creative Suite,
Gregtag's stuff, etc. Adobe has nailed it with InDesign, Quark beware. And
the new Photoshop is incredible!

I'll be happy to address technical questions on or off line.

Charles W. Bowers
Garden Gate Landscaping, Inc.
821 Norwood Road
Silver Spring MD 20905

Washington: 301-924-4131
Baltimore: 410-869-7710
Northern Virginia: 703-531-1303

Direct Line: 301-924-4131
Home Office: 410-203-2130

Email: charlie@gardengate.net
Website: www.gardengate.net

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <FRIELSTER@aol.com>
To: <gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 10:15 PM
Subject: Re: [GWL] (GWL) PowerPoint?

> Forgot this: I get good results with picture clarity except if I use
bitmap
> files; they seem to end up looking pixellated. jpg. files work better for
some
> reason. And pics you steal from the internet will usually -- but not
always -- 
> look pretty lousy.
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