Current News Articles Submitted by CALPA Members:
Using Pictures in publications and websites
by Steve A. Thomas, CALPA President 2006-07, 2008-09
This issue I would like to share some ideas on pictures. Of course we all know pictures really enhance news articles and websites. However not all pictures come out the way we expected them to. So what happened between the picture and the article or website.
Sometimes it has to do with size. Whether you take pictures with a digital camera or scan photos into your computer, most come out between 500kb to 3mb. This is definitely to large for what we are doing. So when they are put into the newsletter they take up the whole page. Next take the corner of the picture and shrink it down to fit it in the place it goes on the page. Print out the page and the picture looks a mess. What happened? Well most word processors and publishing software do not handle picture editing very well. I found the best way is to process the picture with a picture editing program first. I use CompuShow to reduce the size if I need it fast, otherwise I’ll use Photodraw or Digital Image Suite for improved results. I like to take the Image down from 2160 by 1440 to 320 by 240 or a best fit measurement. Note: Always make sure the ‘keep proportional’ box is checked. Not only does this reduce the size but it translates the colors better than word processors. They come out about 30kb in size, on websites this allows them to download faster and doesn’t take up all your web space.
The next point I would like to make is about color. Never use a color picture when you are going to make black and white copies. The copy machines do lousy jobs. Again use photo processing software to convert the picture to either black and white or grayscale. The choice you make between Black and white or grayscale depends on the color in picture. Experiment by checking out both to see which looks better. Also don’t forget the contrast function can improve the picture. This can also help reduce the amount of memory it takes for the picture.
Lastly, we have all seen pictures on the internet and even on TV which were modified to make a point. This is a no-no for respectable writers and publishers. That said, go ahead and crop a picture to emphasize the subject and get rid of clutter. If it’s a portrait of one of your officers, go ahead and give it a nice background. Get rid of red eye and blemishes and even clean up the background if it looks like a lamp is coming out of the subject’s head. The point is, if you change a picture for humor or editorial make sure you say so.
I hope some of these ideas help. If you have additional thoughts drop me an email or letter and we’ll try to share your ideas with all our CALPA member. My Email is calegionpost14@earthlink.net.
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The California Legionnaire, the official publication of the Department of California, wishes to provide you with information about the American Legion in the California Military Community. We know that many veterans may not be California Legionnaires and we want to make the California Legionnaire available for you to read and enjoy. There is some very good general information that you may need to know. I'm soliciting your comments and suggestions to make this newspaper readily available to you. The Department of California may be the largest veteran service organization in California with more that 125,500 Veterans as members of the American Legion. Our Auxiliary and The Sons of the American Legion doubles the number of Legionnaires in California. We like to be known as an American Legion Family because included in our family membership are the veterans, spouses, daughters and granddaughters, and the sons and grandsons of Legionnaires. Also, our local post officers welcome the opportunity to provide services to all veterans. It our privilege to make available for you to now read the current issue of the California Legionnaire by download at the following URLs:
The current edition: http://www.calegion.org/html/legionnaire.html
or ALL back issues: http://www.calegion.org/html/back-issues.html
California Legionnaire files are in Adobe Acrobat that Acrobat Reader version 5 and up can easily open for free. Our Editor and Webmaster David Eby takes pride to the two links that make it EASY to download and read the California Legionnaire. The main California American Legion organization URL is www.calegion.org.
We welcome your comments and suggestion either go to abelisable@comcast.net or to our Webmaster: calegion@pacific.net or Editor: editor@calegion.org
Thank you... Abel Quinones, California American Legion Press Association member |
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How we received the Veterans Memorial Space at
Moss Landing to put up a Veterans Memorial I got this rumor from an old vet who I promised never to reveal.
Apparently there was a small piece of property, if you can imagine, just a little over two acres of property being small in California that was unused. Someone had planted shrubs, flowers and a U.S. Flag.
It may have been done by JS Surplus people or possibly a homeless veteran, but no one knows or cares to admit it. After a while it became a nice sight, it lasted a while, then came hard times for the piece of land and soon it was abused. Then some vets remember seeing the earlier sight and got the idea of a little memorial that aroused the interest of the Rolling Thunder, American Legion Riders and others, now we have a small little Veterans Memorial in Moss Landing... end of story!
I don't have all the facts and it may be just fiction except that I believe there is a small monument put there now by a bunch of dedicated patriotic vets. I haven't been out there to see it... yet! Abel Quinones, CALPA Area Two Vice-President |
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