NGS-L Archives

From: "" <>
Subject: [UpFront: NGS] Vol. 1 no. 13, 05 December 2002
Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 17:12:42 -0800

UpFront with NGS
The Online Newsletter of the National Genealogical Society
Volume 1, Number 13 -- 05 December 2002
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Co-editors: Dennis and Carla Ridenour

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Quote of the Day -- 05 December 2002
"In all of us there is a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage--to
know who we are and where we have come from." --Alex Haley
(quote from "Black Roots" by Tony Burroughs)

Contributed by Curt Witcher
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Today In UpFront
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NGS Tea Scheduled
--Join the NGS Executive Director for Tea
NGS Conference in the States
--Conference Highlights
NGS Regional Conference
--Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
NGS eBay Auctions
--First eBay Auction a Success!
Santa's Mailbag
Software Review
--Photo Collector from LifeStory Productions, Inc
Research Tools and Techniques
--The Digital Darkroom, Part 3: Editing Photos Captured from a
Microfilm Reader Display
News Items, Announcements, and Press Releases
--Monmouth County (NJ) Genealogy Society Annual Workshop
--101 Holiday Family History Gift Ideas
Previous Issues of UpFront with NGS
Family Reunion Calendar
How to Submit Items for Publication in UpFront with NGS
How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe
NGS Contact Information

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"UpFront with NGS" is a publication of the National Genealogical
Society, a nonprofit service organization that leads and educates
the national genealogical community. To learn more about the goals,
publications, conferences, services and members benefits of the
National Genealogical Society, visit the NGS Web site:
http://www.NGSgenealogy.org

© 2002 National Genealogical Society

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NGS Tea Scheduled
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Join the NGS Executive Director for Tea
8 January 2003, 2:30-4:00 pm.

All friends, past volunteers and current volunteers, and other
supporters of the National Genealogical Society are cordially invited
to tea on January 8, 2003 at the Glebe Headquarters, Arlington, VA.

The tea will be from 2:30 pm until 4:00 pm. Wendy W. Herr, Executive
Director will serve as host. "Since starting my duties on October 1, I
have been privileged to meet many of the fine volunteers and
supporters that hold a warm place in their hearts for the NGS. I am
looking forward to hosting this event to thank them for their efforts
and to meet those individuals that I haven't had the pleasure of
meeting yet."

If you are in the area on Wednesday, January 8th, please feel welcome
to attend. RSVPs are being taken at 1-(800) 473-0060 Ext. 116 or
<mailto:>

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NGS Conference in the States
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28-31 May 2003
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Conference Highlights

The NGS 2003 Conference to be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania will
feature a number of first time events and will offer family historians
many exciting learning opportunities.

For starters the 2003 event will be the first conference where family
historians will have an opportunity to explore in depth problems
associated with colonial American research. Significant differences
existed between the colonies---no two were the same. Diverse forms of
colonial government created records at variance from one colony to the
next. Ethnic traditions existed that were still rooted in the culture
of 'the old world.' Throw in the wilderness environment and
researchers have a situation that makes researching colonial ancestors
rather difficult. Five nationally recognized speakers will furnish
insights into methods that can be used to reconstruct families for
four colonies and one region. They include: Virginia, North Carolina,
New York, Pennsylvania and New England.

The NGS 2003 Conference in the States will be the first to showcase
several NGS GENTECH events. On Wednesday evening genealogical software
developers and others who have an interest in the technical aspects of
genealogical computing will have an opportunity to attend a
presentation given by Hans Fugal that explores a data model that was
elaborated under the auspices of GENTECH in the late 1990s. The NGS
luncheon to be held on Thursday will be a joint event with GENTECH.
Each day of the conference attendees will have an opportunity to
attend a NGS GENTECH sponsored lecture. Developers of genealogical
software will offer 'hands on' experience in the NGS GENTECH computer
labs.

Another first on this year's program will be the three-hour workshop
that will show researchers how to abstract documents. The Education
Fund of the Board for Certification of Genealogists will sponsor this
particular workshop.

The highly successful Master Lecture Series, first introduced in
Milwaukee, will be continued in Pittsburgh. Four scholars and master
presenters will demonstrate the methods they used to reconstruct
difficult families under seemingly impossible circumstances. Each
family will represent different types of research
predicaments/problems associated with familiar family names, problems
connected with the frontier or problems tied with a well-known family
steeped in controversy.

Genealogists looking for forebears in England will want to attend all
four presentations to be given by Stella Colwell. Stella, who works
for the Public Record Office in London, will be giving attendees a lot
of inside information on how to go about finding records in Great
Britain's National Archives.

On Thursday, 29 May 2003 Michael Hammer, PhD will give a presentation
on genetics. Professor Hammer is a geneticist, biotechnology scientist
and director of the Genomic Analysis and Technology Core Facility at
the University of Arizona. In 1997 he co-authored the paper that
showed present-day hereditary Jewish priests, who by tradition are
descendants of Moses' brother Aaron, are descended from a single male
ancestor.

Digital Records Service: NGS will be digitally copying your
records-primarily we will gather your family Bible records for the
Bible Record Archive; although any
records that you bring we be digitized for you.

Additional NGS Conference information is available at
http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/conf.htm

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NGS Regional Conferences
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14-16 February 2003
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

This upcoming regional conference will be hosted by the Heritage
Library, a not-for-profit institution devoted to the study and
preservation of history and genealogy. The speakers are Cyndi Howells
and Sheila Benedict. Pre-conference speakers include Brent Holcomb,
Steve Tuttle, and Alexia Jones Helsley.

You might consider combining the Hilton Head Island conference with a
family vacation as there are over 250 restaurants, 27 golf courses,
shopping, tennis, 20 miles of beach, boating, history and eco-tours on
the island to keep the rest of the family busy while you attend the
conference or do genealogy research at the Heritage Library.

The registration brochure should be available at the NGS Website,
http://www.NGSgenealogy.org within the next few days. In the meantime
readers interested in attending this conference are encouraged to view
the Agenda posted at http://www.heritagelib.org/NGS.htm

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NGS eBay Auctions
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First eBay Auction a Success!

The first item auctioned off on eBay for the purpose of building the
Second Century Endowment Fund was super success! Buyers, often
reluctant to bid on an item where the seller is new---and indicated by
a pair of sunglasses by eBay---were not deterred by the shades and bid
anyway. The item was a traveling church minute, dated 17 Oct 1864,
from York County, Pennsylvania with the surnames SHELLY, CHARLTON, and
HIESTER.

"More important than the money raised, approximately twenty dollars,
was the over 250 people that visited the site and learned more about
NGS at the same time they we viewing the item", said Wendy Herr,
Executive Director of the NGS. There was a noticeable change in the
number of new members joining NGS and in the number of visits to the
newly redesigned NGS website.

Another auction will be up and running within the week, and the
Society is actively seeking donations of items to sell to raise funds
and awareness. All items are tax deductible to the donor, and greatly
appreciated by NGS.

Please contact Wendy Herr at NGS if you have an item at
<mailto:>

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Santa's Mailbag
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Dear Santa,

I have been a good genealogist all year. I have proven all new bits
of information and I have cited all my sources. I haven't fallen for
any of those silly genealogical myths. I have shared what I know with
my family and I have helped new genealogists to get started in the
right direction. I have labeled all of my family photographs and I
have backed up all of my computer files once every week.

I have been a really good genealogist, Santa! So please, please,
please give me a trip to the NGS Conference in Pittsburgh for my
Christmas gift this year. All of my friends will be going to
Pittsburgh next May and I really want to go with them. I hear that
they will have a lot of fun, learn a lot and have the time of their
life at the 100th birthday celebration for the National Genealogical
Society.

Santa, take a look at the NGS web site and see how easy it would be
for you to wrap up an NGS conference registration to put under my
Christmas tree this year: http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/conf.htm

Please say "Hi" to Rudolph and Mrs. Claus for me.

Your friend,
Virginia, the Genealogist

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Santa's Reply

Hello Virginia,

Thanks for writing! I've been tugging at my beard for weeks, trying to
think of the perfect gift for Mrs. Claus. Your letter provided the
ideal solution! As soon as I finished reading it, I visited the
Website at http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/conf.htm

Hohoho...it sure looks as if the NGS elves have been just as busy as
our North Pole group. I explored every page and was so impressed with
the program topics listed on the "At-a-Glance" page that I decided to
purchase an NGS family membership
http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/Bookstore/ListMemberships.cfm and then
returned to the eShow site to wrap up three "Early Bird"
registrations; one for myself, one for the Mrs. Claus, and one for
Rudolph. I was delighted to discover that in addition to a substantial
NGS member discount, I also saved $30 on each registration by
registering before March 17, plus a $10 discount for each online
registration, leaving just enough funds in my checkbook to grant your
request. After all, anyone who cites all their sources and is wise to
those silly genealogical myths deserves a special gift.

Speaking of myths, Mrs. Claus and I have been helping Rudolph research
his family tree in hopes of discovering the source of his unique
facial features. Unfortunately, genealogical resources here at the
North Pole are somewhat limited and we've been unable to disprove all
those stories about Rudolph's ancestors that were tossed around during
those early reindeer games. I'm thinking program topics such as
sessions W102, Genealogy in a Heinz 57 World: Old Myths, Modern
Methods; W121, Oral History for Genealogists and Family Historians:
Separating Fact From Fiction; T207, The Internet for Genealogy:
Setting Straight the Myths and Misconceptions; and T247, Genetics and
Genealogy will help us discover the truth.

See you in May.

Your friend,
Santa, the Genealogist

PS -- Merry Research to All and to All a Good Conference!

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Software Review
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Photo Collector
A Photo Management Program Developed by LifeStory Productions, Inc.

Do you have a box of family photos sitting somewhere in your house
waiting for someone to bring them back into the realm of the living?
My wife and I do! Our box is a theoretical one filled with current
paper photos, negatives, antique photos, slides and digital camera
images. We have searched for years for some way to transform this
'hodge-podge box' into electronic files that can be manipulated into
the many uses that might be required now and in the future. We wanted
to be able to (1) presently enjoy these precious evidences of life and
(2) pass them on to our descendants in a form that is usable and of
interest to them.

To our surprise and delight we have found a new, comprehensive photo
management program that is just now being released by some friends I
had worked with several years ago. It is Photo Collector by LifeStory
Productions, Inc. of Orem, Utah. It was in development for more than
five years and has gone through a grueling beta test process to make
it solid. LifeStory is a group that has had a long term love for
genealogy and wanted to originate a program that would be simple
enough for the novice, yet robust enough for the very experienced both
of whom have their respective 'box of photos'.

This program is so well thought through and written that it is very
easy to use. The 35-page manual was so well written that we actually
read it first! Photo Collector was designed for a PC running Windows
98, ME, 2000 or XP. (It does not work on a MAC). The instructions
for installation and operation are very clear and the terms unique to
the program are logical and easy to understand. For example:

* Collection - a group of photos kept together in a folder.

* Hot Spots - labels that overlay a photo and can be hidden, shown on
screen or printed to explain photo details.

* Photo Info - a group of characteristics or words selected or entered
by the operator that are used to sort and find photos in your
collections.

* Gift CD - photo collections selected for sharing. It also contains
an automatic slide show that was a delightful surprise for us.

It was obvious to us that assisting the individual user was a clear
priority. We registered our copy on-line and were made members of the
'Photo Collector Club' which gave us access to free upgrades, hints,
tech support and announcements over the internet. We found a lot of
help by 'playing' the 'Show & Tell' training movies. You will
appreciate the many helps that are built into the program, just as we
did.

You will get a flavor of how this program can help you with your
'box of photos' by viewing a screen grab of Photo Collector's Main
Menu posted at
http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/upfront/120502/mainmenu.jpg

This Main Menu is used to access the eight major program functions.
These functions are:
(1) Welcome - plays a short movie
(2) How-to - displays a menu of training movies
(3) Support
(4) Photo Collections - for manipulating photo collections
(5) Working With Photos - for manipulating individual photos
(6) Finding Photos - that allows searches for certain photos
(7) Help
(8) Exit

My wife and I spent time trying each feature of the program.

(1) We created new Collections and then moved, copied and added photos
to them.

(2) We added and edited Collection names, photo captions, info
characteristics and the date photo was taken.

(3) We scanned photos directly into the program from our scanner.

(4) We imported photo files singly and in groups already on disk.

(5) We deleted photos and Collections.

(6) We printed 8 by 10 single photos and multiple thumbnails.

(7) We tried the photo editing which worked well. The
basic editing operations built into Photo Collector are: brightness,
contrast, hue, saturation, gamma, rotate, flip, mirror and crop.

(8) We did searches for photos using a word in the captions,
characteristic types and by dates.

(9) We added, deleted and edited 'Hot Spots' to photos and printed the
photos with and without them showing.

(10) We created Archive CD's of selected Collections.

(11) We imported Collections from these CD's. (12) We sent selected
photos directly to e-mail.

(13) We created Gift CD's for our children
detailing their lives.

(14) We played slide shows of our Collections.

When you use the program you will discover 'tricks' that help you.
Some tricks we learned were:

(1) Decide where to install the program - choose the drive that has
the most space.

(2) You must create a new Collection before trying to scan, import,
move or copy photos into it.

(3) Be sure and put the name of each person shown in the photo in the
'caption' in order to facilitate 'finding' those individuals later in
every photo in which they appear.

An additional trick a friend of ours shared with us was when he took
his notebook computer to a family reunion. During the meeting he
entertained the audience with the family collections he had created
with Photo Collector by using a projector and the Slide Show feature.
He had someone take pictures of the audience with his digital camera
during the reunion. He quickly imported these photos into a new
collection and showed the audience a slide show of themselves! The
report was that it astounded them and was the hit of the reunion! I
expect that he will create Gift CD's for the participating families so
they will have all that they experienced in a low cost, memorable
keepsake. Be sure you share the tricks you discover as they will help
us and others, by using the Internet site and e-mail.

So the question is, "Do you have a growing 'box of photos' at your
home waiting for something to happen?" We believe Photo Collector is
the answer to your dilemma as it has been for us. There is nothing on
the market like it. We have seen programs that have a few of it's
features that cost up to $300. Photo Collector, at $79.95, can not be
surpassed. To learn more about Photo Collector or to purchase and
register the program, visit the LifeStory Website at
http://www.PhotoCollector.net/IsTheBest

Reviewed by Floyd Nordin, Past president and founder of the Silicon
Valley PAF User Group. ()

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Research Tools and Techniques
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The Digital Darkroom, Part 3 --
Editing Photos Captured from a Microfilm Reader Display

This week we're going to discuss how to deal with some of the problems
you might encounter when editing documents photographed from a modern
microfilm reader. By "modern" I mean the type of reader that projects
an image onto a vertical screen, not the older type that projects onto
a horizontal surface.

* Typical Problems*

Although the setup for copying documents displayed by a microfilm
reader is quite simple, these photographs present some unavoidable
problems that will need to be corrected after the photo is captured.
When shooting flat paper documents, what you see is generally what you
get, however when shooting a modern film reader display, you soon
discover that the captured image looks quite different from what you
saw with your eyes. The first thing you'll notice is that your photo
has a "hot spot" right in the middle. See:
http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/hotspot.jpg

This "hot spot" is caused by the projection system. Light is shone
through the film, through a lens system, and then by the use of
mirrors and other lenses, the film image is reversed and projected
onto the rear of an etched translucent glass sheet, known as a Fresnel
screen. Since you view it from the front of the screen, the reversed
image looks correct. The problem with this projection system is that
as the light is focused, it tends to be brighter in the center of the
screen, and the brightness rolls off toward the edges. However, having
two eyes, set apart from each other, we actually look at the image
from two different angles. The brain then takes the two images and
meshes them together into one image, with averaged lighting. This
phenomenon reduces the appearance of the "hot spot."

Your camera, on the other hand has only one eye, and it looks directly
at the center of the screen. As a result, you end up with only one
angle, no light averaging brain and a photo with an annoying "hot
spot." You probably didn't need to know any of that, because what we
are really interested in is dealing with the "hot spot."

In addition to the hot spot, you might notice that the vertical and
horizontal lines are not straight. Instead, they have a tendency to
curve out from the center. This problem gets worse the farther from
the center of the picture. See:
http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/curves.jpg

The curving lines are also caused by the projection system. In order
to project the image from the film, onto a screen, with the actual
distance from film to screen less than two feet, and the image
multiplied by 20 to 30 times, the lens system must use highly curved
lenses. The more curve to the lenses in the lens system, the harder
for the lens manufacturers to reduce curvature distortion. Therefore,
curved and distorted lines appear on the screen that is being
photographed.

If you zoom into your photo, you'll notice the third, and possibly the
most annoying problem. This is a phenomenon caused by the Fresnel
screen. The Fresnel screen is made translucent, by etching, or
placing microscopic "pits" in the glass. This process creates a
screen that allows a projected image on the rear to be visible from
the front. It is a wonderful process for most applications, however
when the light coming through the Fresnel screen is recorded
digitally, the angle of some of the pits in the Fresnel screen and the
color frequency of the light, create tiny areas of color separation in
the projected image. Viewed with the naked eye, these are not
noticeable, but what they do is create a gray appearance in the bright
areas. See:
http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/separation.jpg

So, let's attack these problems by learning a few new image-editing
skills and practicing some of the ones introduced in Vol. 1, No. 12

*Our Sample Image*

The image we'll work with today is of an obituary published in the
Beaver, Oklahoma Herald Democrat on April 4, 1935. This photo was
captured from a microfilm displayed on a film reader at the Beaver
County Pioneer Library. Our goal is to clean it up for use in a family
history project and/or to include as documentation in a genealogy
database.

Note: the following editing directions are for PhotoImpact 6.0. You
will need to look for similar commands and menu selections if you are
using a different program or download the trial version of PhotoImpact
8.0 from http://www.ulead.com/pi/trial.htm

*Today's Exercise*

Step 1: Transfer the sample image to your own computer: As we
mentioned last time, the exact steps for transferring an image to
your computer will depend on your browser. If you use Internet
Explorer, one of the quickest methods is to right click on the image
URL and select the "Save Target As..." command. If this doesn't work
with your browser or if you have problems transferring the image to
your computer and need additional help, please send a message to


The sample image (2.3 mb) used in today's exercise is posted at:
http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/charles-conner-obit.jpg

After opening the image in your editing program, you will notice that
it is rotated to the right and has a yellow line running through it.
This line was on the film reader screen as a guide, but when taking
pictures it presents another problem; anything you want to photograph
either has to have a yellow line through it or be off center [1]. I
chose off center, however, when you get away from center on the film
reader, you get distortion, and the column in this image is slightly
distorted. I also chose to photograph the image horizontally in order
to capture the entire obituary and less of the surrounding text.
[1] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/1.jpg

Step 2: Rotate the image so that it is upright. Select Edit, then
Rotate & Flip, then Left by 90 degrees. [2]
[2] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/2.jpg

Step 3: Note that the column of text is slightly distorted [3]. To
correct this distortion, move the image to the center of your
workspace [4] and eliminate any extraneous areas, by cropping only the
column of text you want to edit. Next, set the selection tool to
Shape, Rectangle. Then, starting at the top left of the column of
text, left click and drag down to the bottom right of the column [5].
Select Edit and Crop [6]. When you have just the column of text
selected [7], expand the canvas [8] by 100 pixels in all directions
[9]. Now, use the Rectangle Selection tool to select just the column
again [10].
[3] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/3.jpg
[4] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/4.jpg
[5] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/5.jpg
[6] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/6.jpg
[7] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/7.jpg
[8] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/8.jpg
[9] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/9.jpg
[10] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/10.jpg

Step 4: In order to use the transform tools, the selection must be an
object. Right click within the selection to bring up a menu window,
and then select Convert to Object. This converts the selection to an
object [11].
[11] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/11.jpg

Step 5: After you have converted the selection to an object, select
the Transform tool and choose the Distort attribute to transform the
objects shape. You can move any corner in any direction, and the
other corners remain stationary [12]. Click and drag the upper right
corner down to make the top line level. Take care not to move the
corner left or right or you will end up with a different distortion.
If you don't move enough, or if you move too much, you can grab the
corner again and re-adjust it. Move the corner so that the top line
is level, and then repeat for the bottom line [13]. When the image is
adjusted the way you want, Right Click inside the selection area and
select Merge from the menu that comes up [14].
[12] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/12.jpg
[13] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/13.jpg
[14] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/14.jpg

Step 6: When the column of text is straight, use the Rectangle
Selection tool to select just the column, and then select Edit and
Crop to remove all but the column [15 and 16].
[15] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/15.jpg
[16] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/16.jpg

Step 7: Our remaining image is brighter in the center and darker at
the top and bottom. We will correct this by using the Mask tool to
create a mask, and then use the Brightness and Contrast tools to
adjust just the dark areas. To create the mask, click on the mask
tool located in the lower right hand corner of the Photo Impact work
screen. This will place a red mask over the entire image [17]. We
want to modify the mask, by using the Liner Gradient tool with the
start color set to black, and the end color set to white [18].
[17] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/17.jpg
[18] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/18.jpg

Step 8: Left click and drag a line from the center of the image down
towards the bottom of the image [19]. Release the Left click to make a
part of the mask transparent. The brightness and contrast tools will
then affect this portion of the mask. [20]
[19] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/19.jpg
[20] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/20.jpg

Step 9: To make the mask active, click on the mask icon in the lower
right hand corner of the screen. The red area will disappear and a
selection area will remain on the bottom of the graphic [21]. Using
the Brightness and Contrast tools, make the necessary adjustments to
the graphic. Clicking on the + of the Brightness control makes the
area brighter, clicking on the - makes the area darker. Clicking on
the + of the Contrast tool, gives the area more contrast, and on the -
gives the area less contrast [22]. After you have adjusted the
brightness and contrast to your satisfaction, Right Click inside the
selection area and select Merge from the menu that appears [23].
[21] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/21.jpg
[22] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/22.jpg
[23] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/23.jpg

Step 10: To correct the top of the image, repeat steps 7-9 [24, 25,
26].
[24] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/24.jpg
[25] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/25.jpg
[26] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/26.jpg

Step 11: Its time to save our work to assure that the changes we have
made are not lost. Click on file, and Save As [27]. In the window
that comes up, select the location, file type (I like to use .BMP) and
name the file [28].
[27] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/27.jpg
[28] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/28.jpg

Step 12: We want to make the background white, and the text nice and
black. In Photo Impact, the method that I use is to make a two-color
adjustment. This takes several steps, but gives good results. To
begin we need to change the image from a true color image to a
grayscale image. To do this select Format from the menu bar, then
choose Data Type, and then Grayscale [29].
[29] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/29.jpg

Step 13: Changing the Data Type creates a new window with a grayscale
copy of our image [30]. Normally I would close the original image, and
just work with the grayscale window, but this time I will leave both
images open for comparison. If you decide to leave both images open,
make sure the image named Untitled is selected. Do this by clicking
anywhere on the image. Then, from the menu bar, select Effect,
Special, and then Two Color [31]. A color adjustment bar will come up
with a small preview window [32]. When you adjust the sliders on the
bar, the small preview changes in real time. Adjust the sliders to
give the best results, then click on Preview and check the full size
grayscale image to see if further adjustment is needed. If not, click
OK, however, if you think more adjustment is needed, click on Continue
to return to the slider bar window [33].
[30] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/30.jpg
[31] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/31.jpg
[32] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/32.jpg
[33] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/33.jpg

Step 14: If you look at the title bar of the grayscale image, you will
notice that it is being viewed at 24% of its actual size [34]. This
means that the image is much larger than it needs to be, and if viewed
at 100% of its size it would not fit on the screen. We want to reduce
the size so that storage space is saved, and it can be printed and
viewed more easily. To do this, we choose Format from the menu bar,
and select Dimension from the menu that appears [35]. In the entry
screen that comes up [36], we are able to adjust the size of the
graphic to fit the output we expect to use it on. I try to set it to
fit on one printer page. If you look at the center of this window,
you will see an area called Preview. There are several selections,
including Printer Portrait, Printer Landscape, and several Computer
screen sizes. I would select Printer Portrait for this column. In
this preview window, it should say "Exceeds page size." To the left of
the preview window is the New Image window. This is where you tell
the program, how you want to adjust the image. We will select User
Defined, Keep Aspect Ratio, and in the Unit window, select Percent.
Now when you enter a number in the width or height window, both are
changed to the same. Enter a number in one of the windows, and you
will see that the preview window changes to reflect what is entered.
If the preview window still says Exceeds page size, then enter a
smaller number. Keep trying smaller numbers until you arrive at the
number that is small enough to fit on the page, but if increased,
exceeds the page size. This should be around 30, and the preview
shows your full column on one page of paper. Click OK, and your column
should now say it is shown on the screen at about 80% [37].
[34] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/34.jpg
[35] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/35.jpg
[36] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/36.jpg
[37] http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/UpFront/120502/37.jpg

You should now be familiar with using the mask tool, and several other
tools for editing your document images. Next issue, we will look at
some of the updated cameras and other equipment that is being released
before Christmas. Until then, think digitally--Denny

Contributed by Dennis Ridenour, or


Note: To download previous issues of "UpFront with NGS" go to
http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/upfront/archives.

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News Item
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25 January 2002
Eatontown, New Jersey

"Putting the Pieces Together"
An Intermediate Genealogy Workshop

Beat the winter doldrums by joining the Monmouth County (NJ) Genealogy
Society's at their annual Intermediate Genealogy Workshop titled
"Putting the Pieces Together" on Saturday, January 25, 2002 at the
Eatontown Community Center, 68 Broad Street, Eatontown, New Jersey
from 9AM to 3:30PM. The day will include a choice of 10 lectures and a
Question & Answer session with the lecturers.

Topics to be presented:
* WWI & WWII Military Records
* Ethnic Research -- Irish, German, and Italian
* Maps, Atlases & Gazetteers
* Creating Timelines
* Genealogical Proof Standard
* Lineage Societies
* Researching Your Ancestor's Locality
* Monmouth County Research

For further details, including directions & registration form, please
visit the MCGS website:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~njmcgs/events.htm

Pre-Registration for MCGS Members: $20
Pre-Registration for non-members: $25
At the door: $30

Bring your own lunch; beverages and desserts will be provided.

Snow Date - February 8th

Contributed by Michelle Tucker Chubenko, MCGS Education Chair

Monmouth County Genealogy Society
http://www.rootsweb.com/~njmcgs/
NJGenWeb: Genealogical Calendar of Events
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/famhist/calendar.htm

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News Item
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101 Holiday Family History Gift Ideas

The holidays are a great time to share your love of family history.
Carol Harless has compiled a thoughtful and unique list of family
history gift suggestions, many of which can be completed before the
holidays and treasured for generations. You'll find Carol's list
posted at the Silicon Valley PAF User Group Website
http://www.svpafug.org/holiday.html

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Previous Issues of UpFront with NGS
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Did you miss an issue of UpFront with NGS? Previous issues are located
at http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/upfront/archives/

Searchable issues of UpFront with NGS are on RootsWeb:
http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl?list=NGS

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Family Reunion Calendar
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To add your family reunion to this calendar, please send an
announcement to

To view a complete list of other coming events visit
http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/newscoming.htm

June 12-14, 2003
The BUNKER Family Association will hold its 90th annual meeting and
reunion in Portsmouth, NH on June 12-14, 2003. All Bunkers and
persons related to Bunkers are welcome. There will be visits to old
Bunker burial grounds and the Bunker Garrison House site built by
James Bunker c. 1660. Many Bunker artifacts, books and pictures will
be on display. For more information, contact Gil Bunker at
, 9 Sommerset Rd., Turnersville, NJ 08012-2122 or
check the website at http://www.bunkerfamilyassn.org

June 13-15, 2003
The descendants of Samuel SLADE will gather evening of June 13th, full
day on 14th, and those interested in staying for church on Sunday
June 15th, 2003. This event will be held at Fincher United Methodist
Church, Meansville, Pike County, Georgia. We are seeking names and
addresses of interested parties. For further information please
contact Barbara Slade Dayhuff,

June 21, 2003
The PINEGAR Family will be holding the annual PINEGAR family reunion
in the Des Moines, IA area on 21 June 2003. We are seeking names and
addresses of all relatives so we can contact each and every one
possible. We are planning a fun filled day for all and hoping to
exchange family pictures along with family history.
For further info contact :

June 28, 2003
Armand Allard DUPLANTIER: A Family Reunion and Celebration of Armand
Duplantier's 250th birthday will be held Saturday, June 28, 2003, at
Magnolia Mound Plantation in Baton Rouge, LA. All descendants of
Armand Duplantier are invited to attend. If you are a descendant of
Armand Duplantier, please mail or e-mail your name, address, phone
number and e-mail address to Margo Duplantier Rhinehart, 712
Carondelet St, Mandeville, LA 70448, e-mail:
We would also like to have the names and addresses of any other
descendants you might know. If possible, please let us know how you
are descended. Some of the other family names descended from Armand
are Favrot, Peniston, Reynaud, Toca, Hatkinson, Fortin, Laquier,
Aucoin, Meffre-Rouzan, Kleinpeter, Burke, Randolf, D'Armond, Hathorn,

Noland, Lamon, and others. If you think you might be a descendant but
aren't sure, let us know and we will try to help find out. We will
put you on our mailing list for this exciting event, and further
information will be sent out soon. In the meantime, please visit our
Website at http://www.duplantier.org.

July 4, 2003
The GIACOLETTI family of BISBEE, ARIZONA will be having their family
reunion on 04 July 2003 at the GIACOLETTI Ranch in Bisbee, Arizona.
If more information is needed please contact

July 18, 19, 20, 2003
"Mother Cumberland-A Harvest of Memories: Reunion 2003" will be hosted
by the Brady Family Heritage Association on July 18, 19, 20, 2003
at the Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, Cumberland County,
Pennsylvania. For more information contact Donna Cuillard at
or visit the Brady Family Heritage Association Web
site at http://bradyheritage.org/reunion2003.htm

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How to Submit Items for Publication in UpFront
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To submit an article, a helpful tip or news for publication,
please send e-mail to: Co-Editors: Carla and Dennis Ridenour,
or or

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How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe
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For technical help regarding the list, including how
to subscribe or unsubscribe, contact:
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NGS Contact Information
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

National Genealogical Society
4527 17th Street North
Arlington, Virginia 22207-2399
Phone: (703) 525-0050 or (800) 473-0060
Fax: (703) 525-0052
E-mail:
http://www.NGSgenealogy.org

Membership

http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/member.htm

Conferences

http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/conf.htm

Learning Center

http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/edu.htm

Member Resource Center

http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/libwelcome1.htm

Volunteers


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