USING YOUR COMPACT DIGITAL CAMERA – SOME BASIC TIPS

It is becoming more and more common to find people who have a compact camera  tucked away somewhere in their luggage, or handbag when they are away on holidays or attending a special occasion. There are some very good tips to consider when using your camera to get the very best results. Particularly if you want to print your images or enlarge them on photo paper or even turn them into a photo print to canvas.

Set Your Camera to the Highest Resolution

One of the biggest problems we see when printing canvas print is great images with a low file size. Most people will set their camera  up to take the most number of photos possible for the card size or memory stick. The drawback with this is it produces the smallest file size for each image, this is o.k if you only want to preview them on a computer screen, digital photo frame or television. When you get that great photo of your family, dog, landscape, friends or whatever it is that is important to you, you become very limited as to what you can do with the image if it is a small file size.

Memory sticks and cards are so cheap these days, it is really worth your while setting you camera to the highest quality it can take, so on the chance you get that amazing photo you can enlarge it to whatever size you like. Normally the process of setting up you camera is fairly simple. It is just a case of going into the camera set up via the main menu, then looking for the largest image size and finest resolution. It is then a matter of setting it to the lowest possible number of pictures and the ‘fine’ setting. Have a look in the instruction book that should have come with you camera to figure out how. If all else falls go into your local photo shop and ask for help. I’m confident they would be more than willing to help you out and they may even give you a few other tips about your camera while you are there. If you are away on holidays go into the local printing store where you are staying and they may even be able tell you the best time of day and location to take great landscape shots of the region you are staying in.

It is important to always remember keep a few extra memory cards or sticks on hand, in case you fill the one you have.

Avoid Using Large Memory Cards

Memory cards and sticks can be corrupt and unfortunately you don’t usually find out until you try to download the images. We highly recommend not having cards larger than 1GB or 2GB, but always keep multiple on hand so. Another reason for having smaller cards is that you are more likely to download the images. When you download the images you can have a better look at them. Discard the ones that are no good, have a closer look at the better ones. Zoom in see how sharp they are and possibly consider getting them printed. If you keep your photos filed in a orderly manner you can easily go back and find them. It is very frustrating trying to find that ‘special’ shot on your camera or computer and having to go through hundreds of photos and still no being able to find the one you want. We also recommend that you back up all your files including your photo files.

If you find that you have a corrupt memory card or stick, there are programs available to help you recover the data, but this is not always possible. So keep several smaller cards at hand and download regularly.

Conclusion

We recommend that you always set your card to the best possible photo quality that your camera is able to produce. What ever you spent on your digital camera make sure you are recording the largest file size possible and therefore getting the highest quality image files it can produce. Use smaller memory cards or sticks on hand and download regularly. If you are looking for more tips on how to take photos and get the best out of your camera, please go to Canvas Prints Online.