Digital photography has been around for decades, and it is only now that the digital process transformation has been adopted widely. This change, though huge, is a slow evolution, and is yet to impact upon all aspects of photographic reproduction. The reason for this is because the film was so much better and more versatile back in the days. It also cost less, which meant that professional photographers had no need for advanced and expensive equipment.
Nowadays, with all the advancements in digital photography, it is possible to reproduce your images on a variety of media including CD’s, DVD’s and LCD’s, all at low cost, with high quality. Film cannot reproduce the exact same image as a digital photograph. So if you want to print your digital photographs, the results will always be different!
A typical example of a digital process transformation is called Silverstein imaging, and it involves the separation of a digital photograph from its original file. In the past, printing has always involved the separation of the film into the various colors and toning. These steps are referred to as toning or silver lining. But with the progress of digital photography, the printing process no longer needs this step and can produce a seamless digital file that can be reproduced on paper, cloth, and other materials.
One technique used in this conversion process is known as LCD Recycling. This is a form of conversion where instead of directly reproducing the image, an image of another digital image is superimposed on top of the original. For example, if you take a hundred thousand images of a landscape and put them together on a CD, you will have produced one CD’s worth of image. However, this technique is very sensitive to image sharpening and can make the final result overly flat. To solve this problem many digital artists to use an image blurring tool, or an image-masking tool to soften the edge areas of the original image.
Another common technique for digital image processing is called Layer 2 Conversion. The second technique is sometimes called, Digital Interpolation or DIC. Digital Interpolation is another way of transforming the image, which enables the same photograph to be changed from one format to another. It can be done by cropping the image or manipulating it with different widths, heights, and formats. Often, the same technique is used to change a black and white image from grayscale to sepia or from color to monochrome.
Image Procession involves the creation of a new image from a series of digital images. Digital image processing techniques such as digital grain removal, lens corrections, noise reduction, or anti-aliasing are examples of process transformation. Image processing is often used in graphics editing software and in web design. There are three main categories of image processing: digital signal processing, computer-aided image processing, and non-conventional digital image processing. Digital signal processing techniques include, image processing on slides, graphic illustrations, or scanned items, image processing on imaging plates, computer generated images, and imaging with digital cameras.
Computer Aided Image Processing (CAD) is an application that can be used for a variety of tasks. It includes, automatic calculation of angles; extraction of images from 3D data; generation of measurements and images from photographic data; correction of camera lens flaws; and production of color maps. Computer Aided Image Processing techniques are widely used in the architectural and engineering industry. It is also used by artists in the print media, publishing industry, and computer graphics.
Non-conventional digital image processing methods include, image enhancement, digital photography, digital video post-production, image stabilization, image restoration, and image display. There are four key components involved in non-conventional digital processing: the hardware, software, the media, and the creative ideas. The four components are hardware: Digital cameras, processors, memory devices, and personal computers. Software includes video, image processing languages, and design and communication softwares. Media includes CD-ROMs, DVD disks, cable or satellite TV, and the Internet. Creative ideas include novel formats and/or methods for digital image processing.
Deepak Wadhwani has over 20 years experience in software/wireless technologies. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies including Intuit, ESRI, Qualcomm, Sprint, Verizon, Vodafone, Nortel, Microsoft and Oracle in over 60 countries. Deepak has worked on Internet marketing projects in San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange Country, Denver, Nashville, Kansas City, New York, San Francisco and Huntsville. Deepak has been a founder of technology Startups for one of the first Cityguides, yellow pages online and web based enterprise solutions. He is an internet marketing and technology expert & co-founder for a San Diego Internet marketing company.