Photo Quality
We have just reworked all the photos in the Eastern Archives Web Photo presentation to a JPG format from a mix of GIF and JPG formats at various resolutions. This has resulted in a variable decrease in image quality on the web. Some of the older images that have been through up to three conversions have lost a good deal of image quality and it is our intent to find and replace these images. We are trying for an image of 350 pixels high for the main catalogue presentation and a smaller 150 pixel high image for our random introductory image on the front page.
A compromise between speed of loading, storage space requirements and image quality has driven this change. Our thinking is that the image displayed on the web is there to show what is available from the archive and that a low resolution image would be sufficient for this purpose, allowing us to display many more images and to bring them to everybody faster. Image size in terms of storage space required was reduced by a factor of 10. We have in the works a project to make available high-resolution images on CD-ROM in the near future, but for now and in the future contact prints are available from the archive.
Another issue is whether or not to dodge and otherwise improve the quality of the image presentation on the web. At the present time the images with only a very few experimental exceptions are pure scans of direct contact prints with no dodging or burning etc. This is due to two factors one the purposes of the image is to show what the image looks like with all its imperfections so you can get some feel for what is there. This also represents what you will get from a contact print from the archive unless arrangements are made to pay for custom dodging and burning in of the image. Then too my skill in this area is very weak and I have a long learning curve to go when I decide to try to improve the images by dodging etc. For The high-resolution images for the CD-ROM I would like to have burned and dodged as needed if I can develop the skill to due this at a high quality level.
An example of an image showing the various trade offs follows:
random2
image7.jpg
150 pixel high
random image for front page
sized to load fast (9744 bytes loading time 4-9 sec.)
000257P.jpg
350 pixels high
no dodging or burning (16668 bytes loading time 8-16 sec.)
000257.jpg
350 pixels high
light strike burned in (16787 bytes loading time 8-16 sec.)
000257H.jpg 800 dpi image 1/5th of the above image at CD-ROM resolution (109,755
bytes loading time 60-120 sec.) 