Digital Imaging

New Services, New Products, New Ideas... Lots of Confusion!

What is Digital Imaging?

Digital Imaging is the computerized creation, manipulation or enhancement of an image. Though technically complex, digital imaging is simply a process by which an image is translated into digital language for use by a computer. Digital Photographs can be created with a traditional camera using film or with a Digital Camera that uses a form of magnetic medium (a floppy disk, Smart Media Card or Compact Flash Card).

Images are also "digitized" via a scanning device that creates a computer file. Using special imaging software, the computer operator then accesses the file and proceeds to change or enhance the image as desired. Images can also be sent to computers that create CDs or Floppies or perhaps some other type of "digital output."

Through digital imaging, photographs from conventional film can be restored, retouched, and made to look very different from the original: People and things can be moved or removed, backgrounds added or changed, and black-and-white shots can be colored according to the customer's wishes. Alternatively, if an image is needed but a photo is not available, an entirely new digital image can be created from pieces of other photographs, which resembles a photo, but is not. Of course any image can be digitized, whether a work of art, a crayon picture, or even three-dimensional objects such as jewelry, flowers and just about any item you can think of. Photos can be "digitized" in such a number of usable formats and returned to the customer on CD, floppy or even a Zip Drive. Customers can then use the photos on their home or office computers for creating presentations, brochures, greeting cards, websites and dozens of other uses. Since digitized images are "electronic" they can also be sent over the Internet. A customer can receive e-mailed images for downloading to their computer or they may opt to get a CD or floppy disk.

The application for digital images seem endless and every day new and better equipment and techniques are created to make digital imaging easier to provide as well as more affordable.