I read somewhere during the past month that some 50% of Mac-users surveyed own digital cameras. Unfortunately , I'm not one of them. I'd like to have a digital camera, but it's generally been a case of waiting for the technological advance in digital imaging to slow down a bit. There are some attractively priced digital cameras these days, but their resolution capability pales by comparison to the bleeding edge stuff, even though these units *were* the bleeding edge a disconcertingly short time ago.

I've made my peace with the inevitable necessity of upgrading my workhorse computer system every 2 1/2 - 3 years, but I'm not inclined to get on the same upgrade treadmill with non-essential items like digital cameras, especially when I already own a couple of excellent film cameras.

Of course with film you don't get the instant gratification that you do with a digital camera, but you do get high quality images. My old Olympus OM 1 single lens reflex rig with its several high quality lenses still takes just as good photos as it did when I bought it new in May 1974 for Can$329.00, which is pause for reflection on how quickly today's expensive electronic stuff becomes obsolete.

Film still has an image quality edge too, although it has been rapidly shrinking. A good-quality digital camera will resolve, say, 4 to 6 million pixels, while good-quality ASA 100 35mm film will resolve the rough equivalent of 7 million pixels. I expect that as the price of digital cameras continues to drop and the technology matures and improves, digital imaging will eventually displace film for most non-professional photography, and a large proportion of professional work too. It eventually will be cheaper as well as quicker. But as one who used to spend quite a bit of time in photographic darkrooms, I think something will be missing as well.

That said, I would love to have a digital camera, but with PhotoWorks' photo digitalization services, I can get photos onto my hard drive and/or Web pages fairly easily when I need to, albeit with a time delay.

I've used PhotoWorks (formerly Seattle FilmWorks) for virtually all of my personal photo finishing needs since the early '80s. In those days, and indeed until recently, their "house brand" film was Eastman 52xx 35mm negative movie film packaged in standard 35mm still camera cassettes, the idea being that you could get prints and slides from the same negative. However, for years PhotoWorks has been offering the same service from any brand of regular C-41 negative film such as Kodak, Fuji, etc. , so the movie film thing was partly economics. Repackaged movie film was cheap.

I was reasonably satisfied with the respooled 35mm movie film stock, but last year PhotoWorks switched their house brand film to standard C-41 negative film as well (for both prints and slides) and the new PhotoWorks film is really quite good. It is available in ASA 100, 200, 400, and 800 speeds. For all-round use, I like the ASA 200 stuff.

PhotoWorks also has certain photofinishing services to offer users of digital cameras, which I'll get to in a moment.

When you mail exposed film to PhotoWorks, a few days later they email you with a URL at which you can view the developed photos on the Web. The physical prints and/or slides are returned to you by mail. You can also forward the photo archive URL to several family members and friends so they can enjoy your snapshots too.

PhotoWorks will store your photos on its server indefinitely for free so long as you send them film for processing at least twice a year. Your PhotoWorks photo archive is password-protected and PhotoWorks claims that they archive more personal images than any other company in the world, currently with over 170 million images stored. They also offer higher-resolution scans on CD-ROM for customers who want to include their photos in online documents, greeting cards, or to print with their computer printer.

At a 1.5 megapixel (1536 x 1024 pixels) scanning resolution, SFW's Hi-Res Pictures On Disk are suitable for printing low-grain images from your computer. You can also order SFW's standard 768 x 512 pixel resolution Standard Pictures On Disk on a floppy disk, although this option will likely be of little interest to Mac users. If you order prints and/or slides but do not purchase a Pictures on Disk CD or pay a surcharge for high-resolution, your Website images will be scanned at the lower 768 x 512 resolution. Both versions provide a color depth of 24-bits (16,777,215 colors).

Here are a couple of PhotoWorks high-res scans:

And here's a standard resolution shot of yr hmbl srvt:

Resolution (pixels) = dpi x image size (inches) For example, an 8x10 print scanned into a flatbed scanner at 300 dpi, would be 2400 x 3000 pixels in size. (8 x 300=2400; 10 x 300=3000). By contrast a 35mm slide scanned at 300 dpi would only be 405 x 270 pixels.

Converting DPI Measurements to Pixels and Vice Versa:
• Resolution (pixels) / Image Size (inches) = DPI
• DPI x Image Size (Inches) = Resolution (pixels)

Original Shot

72 DPI

150 DPI

250 DPI

For example, if you have a 1500x1000 pixel image and print it at 6 inches by 4 inches, it will work out to be 250 dpi when you print the image.

PhotoWorks Pictures On Disk CD-ROMS are now provided in JPEG (.JPG) format, and not the former proprietary SFW format, allowing them to be opened directly from the CD in almost any graphics program or using a browser. JPEG images are also compact (small file size), making them ideal for use on the Internet and reducing the amount of disk space the images take up if you copy them to your hard drive.

Since Macs will read Windows formatted disks. If you order Windows format Pictures On Disk CD-ROMs you can use them on both Windows and Macintosh systems.

PhotoWorks also has recently added a photos on DVD service, which can be orderd for photos that are currently stored in a PhotoWorks Online Album or uploaded digital images. With PhotoDVD, you can enjoy your photos in a multi-media, movie-like presentation, complete with a theme, background music, credits and other effects. A PhotoDVD can range from 10 to 200 photos, and the base price of $24.95 covers up to 50 photos. After that, the cost is $0.10 for each additional photo, plus shipping.

Image files downloaded from SFW's PhotoMail are compressed in a single file using the company's proprietary PWP file format. This way, you can download your entire roll at once (although it is also possible to download single images or a selection). Once you download a PWP file, you will need PhotoWorks' free PhotoWorks Desktop software, which can be downloaded from their Website, to decompress it into individual images. No browser plug-ins are required for downloading PhotoMail.

PhotoWorks Desktop is not the most polished or user-intuitive graphics software, but it does the job it's intended to do, and can export photos in compatible formats so that you can work with them in your favorite Mac image editing program. It comes free with every Pictures On Disk order.

PhotoWorks PhotoSuite Platinum is a more sophisticated photo editing application with the tools you need for more advanced image editing such as color manipulation, red eye reduction, cropping, even a cloning tool as well as a wide array of special effects, including filters, photo tapestry, templates, multimedia features and so much more. It includes color and brightness manipulation, red eye reduction, cropping, and rotating. It also has a great organizational feature that allows you to see all of the photos technical information, captions, and notes on mouse-over.

Unfortunately, the Mac version does not read SFW files, so will still need to decompress the PWP files using the PhotoWorks Desktop application.

Minimum requirements for the Mac version include OS 8.6 or greater, with the Quick Time extension installed, a 150 MHz 604 PowerPC processor or higher, 16 MB of available RAM (64 MB or greater recommended), 100 MB of available hard disk space, and color or grayscale monitor.

Other PhotoWorks services:

Besides previewing and downloading your photos, at the SFW PhotoWorks Website you can also email selected photos to friends and family, attaching a voice message if you wish; order reprints in your choice of color, black and white, or antique tone; order photo gifts; and create your own photo greeting cards. To turn a photo into a greeting card, log into your online photo archive, select an image, and click on "Create a Card" from the Photo View page. You can choose from a selection of holiday and occasion icons, add a caption underneath the photo, and type a message. SFW will then send you a box of 8" x 4" cards complete with matching envelopes.Ê

In addition to online services, PhotoWorks offers traditional film processing services, using PhotoWorks' pre-addressed, postage-paid, return envelopes including:
á prints, slides and negatives all available from a single roll of PhotoWorks or other brand 35mm or APS film (C-41, E-6, or ECN processing).
á traditional reprints from your negatives.
á 5x7", 8x12", 11x14", and 12x18" enlargements.
á 35mm panoramic processing

You can also upload images from your digital camera, scanner, or a CD, from which you can order prints, make photo gifts and cards.

If this sounds like I'm a PhotoWorks fan, I am. I've been getting good service from the company for nearly 20 years, and their reasonably priced photo digitalization services are helping me get more useful life out of my antiquarian but still very capable 35mm photography equipment.

If you're a professional photographer, PhotoWorks is probably not for you, but for amateur shutterbugs looking for a full range of photography services, I've found PhotoWorks tough to beat.

You can check them out at:
http://www.photoworks.com/

Charles W. Moore