Entries from June 2007 ↓
June 18th, 2007 — Photography, Tech, Tutorials
As an amateur photographer, I’m always looking for the perfect application that will allow me to manage my photo collection. By perfect, I mean an application that allows easy (or detailed) adjustment tools, a way to organize my photos by keyword, and good print support. I like to print two photos per page if possible, since that reduces paper usage and allows me to stick the sheet in a portfolio or binder very easily.
Since taking possession of my MacBook Pro, I’ve had the opportunity to try the trial versions of Apple Aperture and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, but this article will focus on the printing functionality of Lightroom alone. I will detail Aperture’s functionality in another post.
Lightroom has a very flexible print module. It allows you to create templates for various print layouts. You an do the same with the Web module, defining your own web templates to upload to your web site. By default, Lightroom has a very limited set of print templates - mostly contact sheet and full sheet-specific. But with a little customization, you can define your own template for printing photos at home.
Click below to follow along with a short tutorial on setting up a simple Lightroom print template.
Update: I just checked the settings again on LR 1.4.1 and it does not accept 0.13 as right/left values. Try setting the values at left 0.25, right 0.25, top 0.25, bottom 0.56, and make sure to set the cell size height to 5 and the cell size width to 7. This will produce the correct template. Thanks Julia!
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June 8th, 2007 — Gmail, Tech, Tutorials
I rely on Gmail quite heavily. It’s my primary email client, and my primary email address is an @gmail.com address. I remember getting an invite way back in the day when Gmail was invite only. It was cool to have a Gmail account! Now they are free for anyone, and it makes sense to have one for various reasons (2+ GB of space, 20MB attachments, Gmail Drive, web-based, etc).
One great feature of Gmail is labels. 
Labels allow you to assign words to your email messages that help describe them, and make searching through your email very easy. You can have as many labels as you can imagine.
After the jump, see an example of using a label in Gmail.
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June 7th, 2007 — Parenting
From time to time I’ll be posting about my experiences being a parent. We have two amazing kids, and we have learned a great deal since they arrived. With summer here, we have learned that in addition to constant outdoor activity, little ones need adequate protection from the elements. Benjamin, who is almost 2 years old, loves being outdoors. If he could be outside 24/7 he would love it. His skin soaks up the sun like Daddy’s, so we need to slather on sunscreen to keep him from burning. He doesn’t seem to care…in fact he usually tries to help put it on. Not that he gets any of it gets on his skin. At least his shoes and shirt are well protected from the sun’s harmful rays :)It’s said that kids acquire up to 80% of their lifetime sun exposure before they are 18 years old. Knowing that, here are some links related to sun protection for kids:
June 6th, 2007 — Tech, Tutorials, Wordpress
Since I’ve set up this blog, I’ve wondered how other blogging sites include the “Continue reading…” link at the end of some posts. It’s a great way to shorten the amount of text on the main page, and allows you to create longer posts that users have the option of reading.
After downloading and installing plugins for Wordpress that I didn’t need, and reading many Google search results, I figured it out. Windows Live Writer provides a quick and easy way to create a logical break in your post text.
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June 5th, 2007 — Tech
Apple today announced an update to their MacBook Pro laptop models. Faster processors, LED backlit displays, 2GB ram standard and a nice bump in video cards makes for an attractive upgrade! I’m happy with my MBP, as it suits our needs perfectly well. But one can dream, right?
See details here: Apple MacBook Pro
June 5th, 2007 — Uncategorized
I’m posting this via Windows Live Writer. It has a nice, clean interface and simple ways of doing things like adding images, links, etc.
To the left you can see an inline image of my kids. Normally this kind of alignment is a pain to accomplish, but with Windows Live Writer, it seems to be very easy. We’ll see how this post looks once it’s live - that is the true test! The photo should link to the original sized image, and if all goes well, you’ll be able to click on the image to see a larger version.
June 5th, 2007 — Uncategorized
