Digital photos explained, writing numbers in text

Riches Communications Newsletter

Issue 2, December 2002

In this issue:

- Digital photos explained
- Using numbers in written text
- Other web sites of interest

Digital photos explained

With digital cameras becoming more affordable, many of us are now taking digital photographs and enjoying the instant feedback that traditional film-based cameras don’t provide. Most digital cameras use a CCD (charge coupled device) that converts light into electrical charges. In simple terms, the processor in the camera then converts these signals into an image, which is then saved onto a memory card. Digital images vary in their dimensions (physical size in pixels) and their quality (degree of compression).

A digital image is comprised of pixels. Each ‘dot’ on your monitor is also a pixel, so an image 2048 pixels wide will not fit on a 17 inch monitor that is set at 1024 pixels across. You can either use the zoom feature of your viewing software or reduce the actual file dimensions to view the full image on your screen. In general, larger prints can be made from images with more pixels.

Digital photos on consumer-model cameras are usually stored as compressed JPEGs, a file format that uses a compression algorithm to reduce the file size. The compression ratio can be increased on the camera or on the computer, but the quality of the image will decrease accordingly. Repeatedly saving a JPEG can also affect the image quality.

You should try and take photos at the highest quality setting (least compression) that your camera allows, in case you want to make enlargements later on. It’s a good idea also to make copies of your originals and use the copies for resizing and image manipulation in case you make a mistake.

In the next issue we will look at software for managing and manipulating digital photos on your computer.

Other links:

How stuff works: digital cameras - technical details on digital cameras

Using numbers in written text

There are two different ways to use numbers in written text; they can either be written in words or in numerical form. The decision to use words or numerals will vary depending on the publication or required writing style. A general guide is:

• for most general text where numbers are infrequent, numbers up to one hundred should be written in words
• for statistical or technical text, numbers up to nine should be written in words

Other conventions to follow include:

• use a numeral for numbers with a symbol e.g. 7 kg, 45 seconds
• large numbers should be written as a combination of both e.g. 3.9 million
• never start a sentence with a number expressed as numerals
• when comparing numbers in a sentence it is acceptable to write all occurrences as numerals for ease of reading

More detail and examples on the correct use of numbers can be found in the 'Style manual: for authors, editors and printers' published by the Australian Government.

Other web sites of interest

Microsoft Word MVP site – a good resource if you are having problems with Word

EBroadcast – online TV guide

Christchurch Library 'If you like...' – if you’ve read all the books by your favourite author, try this site