With Technically Easy I try to write posts that are both informational as well as helpful. I am a more serious blog as compared to other blogs. There are many types of blogs that people have authored, informational, personal, witty, or funny, as is the case with Web Mash.
It is nice to just get away from the pressures of life and just kick back and laugh and just have fun, and that is just what this blog provides.
For those who like to edit and print your pictures with the same colours you see on a computer monitor, then learning how to manage colours is very important. Although the colours may look similar between a printed photo and how it is displayed on a computer monitor, chances are that there is some colour differences.
In this post I will discuss what colour management is, and how best to use it to reproduce the colours in the photos you see on your monitor.
If you were to show a thousand people various shades of red and ask each one to point to the true red colour, you will probably get a thousand different answers. Each person has their own opinion on what the colour red looks like. Devices to some degree are no different.
There are many devices that deal with colours: scanners, printers, digital cameras and monitors. If they all displayed the same colour the same way, then there wouldn’t be a problem. Unfortunately, each device displays colours differently so if you were to transfer a picture between two devices, chances are the colours won’t be the same. This is where colour management comes in.
The goal of colour management is to obtain a match of a colour between devices, provided the device is capable of displaying the necessary colour.
In order to get the same colour to display on a device you would first need to calibrate the device. A search on Google for monitor calibration will result in almost two million pages in the search results. There is much discussion on calibrating your monitor. Once you have calibrated a device, you will then have a colour profile that can be associated with that device.
Once you calibrate your monitor you can save the information in a file called a colour profile. This file contains information about mapping the colours for that device. Some mappings may provide information about the closest possible colour and remap the entire colour range to allow for different gamuts.
Many of the devices that are used to present specific colours to the user include an ICC colour profile that may be installed along with the drivers and applications. The colour profiles may also be available on the vendor’s Web site or through a third party.
You may need several colour profiles for a particular device to ensure that your colours are as accurate as possible. For example, a photo printer can print a photograph on many different types of paper: glossy, matte, normal printer paper. Each of the paper types reproduce colours differently, and as such will require a separate colour profile for the printer. You may be able to get a profile from the paper manufacturer, or they may suggest a profile to use. Either way, it is best to use a profile specific to that paper type.
In photo editors, there is an option to define the various colour profiles to use for the devices. Make sure you select the colour profile that is associated with each device that you will be using to ensure that your get accurate colours.
When saving your photos, you can embed the ICC colour profile so if someone were to open that photo on a computer without the profile, the colours will still be displayed accurately because the profile information is embedded inside the file. The downside to this is that it makes your image file larger.
Each device that is used with photographs can display colours differently. To get accurate colours, it is important to use a colour profile for that device. The device’s vendor, or a third party vendor, can provide you with the necessary colour profile for the device. Some devices, such as printers, may require different colour profiles depending on the target output, such as glossy or matter paper.
I have written several posts in the past regarding regular computer maintenance. Keeping a regular maintenance schedule is important if you would like to protect yourself against viruses and spyware, as well as maintaining the computer performance. My latest post title Regular Computer Maintenance provided a tutorial on performing some standard maintenance on your computer.
In addition to the information provided in that post, there is an automated way of virus and spyware scanning as well as defragging your hard drive, all without you having to worry about it in the future. This post explains how to accomplish this.
There is much information on various Web sites devoted to SEO, WordPress or blogging in general. Many simply display the same information that is provided on other sites, while others provide the information in a badly designed Web site.
This week I look at Matts Nutts which is focused on SEO, WordPress and blogging. The blog provides original posts with a nice clean design that will help others succeed in the world of blogging.
When I first looked at Matts Nutts I was immediately impressed with the look of the blog. I found it very easy on the eyes with a nice selection of colours. All colours on the blog seem to fit together nicely with none of the colours feeling out of place. I thought even the search bar with an completely different colour than the rest of the blog was a nice touch. It made the search bar stand out with is a nice plus if you would like to find specific information.
I like the fact that the header wasn’t too big and allowed at least one full post to appear above the fold. Many web sites have such a large header that a visitor would need to scroll down to find any of the content. The author has created a good size header to prevent any scrolling for content.
I like how the author shows only a few paragraphs of each post on the main page and then a link to the full post. This allowed me to quickly scan through the posts and click on any that I was interested in reading.
There really wasn’t any downsides to the design of the blog. I didn’t, however, like how the “Categories” section in the navigation bar was to the far right, and on my display, below the fold. I always like the categories to be more accessible as I can then easily view posts for a particular category.
One other issue I found with the design was on the “Contact Us” page. I found the headings in the form to be a little hard to read. The text is too small and light for the background colour. Besides these two design issues, the design of the entire blog was really well done.
The focus of the blog is mainly on SEO, WordPress and blogging in general. When reading the posts you can easily determine the main focus of the blog.
I noticed that WordPress is covered in more detail than the other two focus points of the blog. The author definitely has much experience with using WordPress and provides great information on using it to create better blogs.
As for SEO, there are several posts relating to this topic, albeit, not as many as WordPress. The author provides some useful tips to optimizing your blog for search engines, especially if you use WordPress.
As for blogging in general, the author provides information on how to mnage blogs and tools that you can use. Many of his WordPress posts can also be used for other blogging engines, so don’t shy away from the blog just because you don’t use WordPress.
The focus of Matts Nutts is well defined and narrowed down to specific topics. Simply reading the blog without knowing the main focus will allow you to determine the focus yourself.
The content of Matts Nutts is well focussed. The posts are detailed and provide information on the various tools and tips on creating and maintaing a blog. Although blogging in general is discussed at times, the main target audience are those bloggers that use WordPress.
The author publishes posts to the blog on a regular basis, which is a good indication of how much time and effort the author puts into the blog. Subscibers to the blog will be rewarded with at least 3 posts a week.
Unfortunately, at times the spelling and grammar mistakes can take away from the readability of the posts. If there were less mistakes, then the content would be top notch. These mistakes are discussed in the next section.
The one downside to this blog is the spelling and grammar. There are various grammar mistakes that may cause visitors to re-read a sentence a second time to understand the point the author is trying to make.
Many of the spelling mistakes are simple mistakes such as forgetting punctuation or the space between words. A simple text editor that includes a spell checker can easily identify the spelling mistakes within the posts. Most of the mistakes, however, don’t make the posts unreadable as they are usually just simple ones that you can easily identify the word the author intended to use.
The one mistake that appears throughout the blog is that of not capitalizing names. There are several posts that list the names of companies or products and the names are all in lower case. Once again, however, a visitor can easily understand the name of the company or product since the spelling is correct.
The look of Matts Nutts is very easy to read and navigate around. The colours are easy on the eyes and blend well together, with the exception of the some of the headings on the “Contact Us” page.
The posts in the blog are detailed and provide much information with regards to blogging. The blog indicates that it discusses SEO, however, there aren’t too many posts dedicated to the section, at least not yet.
The one downside to this blog is the spelling and grammar mistakes. Many of the spelling mistakes are simple and can easily be correct with a spellchecker in a text editor. Some of the grammar mistakes could cause visitors to re-read the same sentence over again to understand the point of the author.
Overall, the blog is well designed and very informative, and could help many soon-to-be bloggers understand the world of blogging.
I have began archiving the photos and negatives that are conveniently stored away in boxes. It is a great undertaking, but one that I’m sure I’ll enjoy. I describe my organizing method in my post titled Data Archiving Method. The one issue I have had, however, is determining the resolutions I will use for the digital archives.
There are many questions about resolution with regards to scanning. I haven’t found any conclusive evidence on which resolutions to use, but I have made up my mind as to which ones I will use.
One of the most debated points with regards to scanning pictures, negatives, and slides is the resolution to use. The general consensus is to print at 300dpi (dots per inch), so what should we be scanning the original in at? The answer to that question is it depends. Let’s take a look at how resolution plays a roll in the printing of a picture.
Suppose you have a 4×6 photo that you want to scan in and eventually print. You scan the document in at 300dpi with the size in pixels of the picture at 1200×1800. The size is calculate by taking the size of the photo, in this case 4 inches by 6 inches, and multiplying each number by 300, since you are scanning in at 300dpi.
Now if you want to print the photo at 300dpi you would get a 4×6 photo, which is the same size as the original. If you want to make a larger print of the photo, you can do one of two things: either print at the current resolution by decreasing the 300dpi to something like 180dpi, or rescan the original at a higher resolution.
If you were to rescan the original at a higher resolution, say 600dpi, you will now have a photo that is 2400×3600 pixels. Dividing both numbers by the print resolution of 300, you can now enlarge the photo to an 8×12.
Keep in mind, however, that because you are scanning a photo, and not the original negative, you won’t gain much if you continue to increase the resolution. That only helps to enlarge the photo, and not increase the clarity.
I read somewhere that some think the resolution of a negative is equivalent to a 20-megapixel digital camera. I’m not sure how accurate this statement is, but I can tell you one thing: you can get scan at a much higher resolution and get better prints from scanning negatives than an actual photo. When you do scan negatives, you will definitely need a higher resolution, unless you like really small photos.
The size of a single 35mm negative is 1.42×0.94 inches. If you scan a negative at 300dpi, you will get an image size of 426×282. Printing this image at 300 will give you a picture the same size as the original negative: 1.42×0.94 inches. That is a really small photo. You will need to scan in the negative at a much higher resolution.
Many scanners can now scan above 3000dpi. If you plan on scanning hundreds or even thousands of negatives you may want to go with a scan dedicated to slide and negative scanning. I didn’t have the money for one, so I have invested in a flatbed scanner. Dedicated slide and negative scanners can go as high as 4000dpi, or possibly higher, while my flatbed can go up to 4800dpi, although with results not as good as a dedicated scanner.
If you were to scan a negative in at 3000dpi, you would end up with an image that is 4260×2820 pixels in size. This is equivalent to a 12-megapixel camera. This allows you to print 9×14 inch photograph at 300dpi (4260 divided by 300, and 2820 divided by 300). For most people this will more than suffice for printing.
If I were to scan at the full 4800dpi, the image size would be 6816×4512, or 31 megapixels. The file size would be monstrous to the point where I wouldn’t be able to easily save many photos because the larger the image files, the more space you are going to need to store it. If you do scan at a high resolution, make sure you have the storage space to accommodate all of your files.
To help you determine what resolution to use, please check out Scanning and Printing Resolution Calculator. The Web site also provides great tips on scanning for both photos and negatives.
I have read many posts regarding scanning resolution online, and everyone seems to have there own opinion. For me, when I’m archiving my photographs, I’ll scan them in at 600dpi to leave a little room for enlarging. For negatives I will scan them in at 3200 since it is a nice compromise between file size and resolution. I probably won’t be printing any large photos, but it would be nice to have enough overhead just in case I would like to many years in the future.
In the end, however, scanning resolution will be decided by your requirements, needs and capacity.
I have seen many posts in various forums regarding where to get Web site statistics. There are many statistics package that can be purchased and installed on a Web server, but many Web site authors are on a host that they don’t own.
The two most common online statistics packages available are Google Analytics and StatCounter. I have used both in the past and will be reviewing them in this post.
Many people recommend this as their choice for keeping track of their Web site statistics. It provides a very detailed look at the visitors to your site, and is completely free to use.
The statistics are organized into different sections: Dashboard, Visitors, Traffic Sources, Content and Goals. With the exception of Dashboard, the remaining sections all have subsections that provide more detailed information.
The first view that is shown when accessing Google Analytics is that of the Dashboard. This page provides an overview of your Web site statistics over the past month. Items such as traffic, visitors, popular content and traffic sources are summarized on this page.
The next sections are summarized as follows:
I find Google Analytics provides very detailed information regarding visitors to my Web site. I do, however, have trouble tracking how a visitor moves through my site. There may be a way of doing this, but I don’t it very easy to do. Google Analytics also takes some time to update its statistics. From my experience, it can be several hours before you see the data.
Overall, I use Google analytics because of the information that it provides, especially for past data as it seems to keep a lot of historical data.
Along with Google Analytics, the other big player in the free Web site statistics package is StatCounter. I have only recently used their service, and found that they offer a really nice, detailed statistical information.
StatCounter doesn’t have as many different reports as Google Analytics does, but it does have very detailed reports. They do provide the same information as Google Analytics, such as entry and exit pages, keyword analysis, and visitor system information.
The one thing that I like about StatCounter is the ability to easily see how a visitor navigated through your site by viewing a Visitor Paths report.
I have a lot more experience with using Google Analytics, than with StatCounter (actually I just signed up StatCounter about a month ago), but I find myself using StatCounter just a much because the reports are easier to understand. They provide charts with several reports including the data in a tabular form below the chart.
The one thing about StatCounter that you should know is that it will only keep track of the last 500 page loads for the free account. You will need to upgrade to a paid account if you would like to track more. Once the log is full, the next page load will be recorded and the oldest data will be deleted. For many people, such as myself, 500 may be a large enough value. I believe the log file contains information about the visitors, as I have been able to pull up my site stats for a month ago.
Both statistics packages mentioned in this post are great for providing information about the visitors to your Web site. Each package has a different look and feel, but both provide a lot of information that could help you manage your Web site. I currently use both packages as each one provides information that the other does not. If you would like to choose one, then I suggest you try both and see which one you like best.
I mentioned in my last post that I will post reviews of Web sites and blogs for free. This is my first review and I am very familiar with the parent Web site of the blog that I have reviewed. The blog is managed by someone I have conversed with on Website Babble and have witnessed the development of the Web site.
The focus of the Weight Loss Weapons blog is simply the author sharing his experience about losing weight, but without the pills and the programs. Does the blog provide enough information to help you with losing weight that is easy to read and follow? Read the review to find out.
The design of the Weight Loss Weapons blog is very similar to the parent Web site, although the blue colours seem to be a little darker on the blog. This may have been done to set the two apart. In general, the blues that the author chose are nice and are easy on the eyes. This allows you to read the content without being distracted.
The navigational bar is to the right, but the list items are really close together. More spacing between the individual items would make it easier to read each item. As many blogs have, the author has chose to include a MyBlogLog recent readers list. Unfortunately, the placement of the widget is above the Blogroll and Archives lists. The blogroll and archives should be above this widget, with the Archives list appearing just below the Recent Posts.
The blog does include a handy search option, which works nicely. The search, however, is in the upper-right hand corner and can be missed easily. It would be better if it were more prominent, such as beside the top menubar. I was happy with the speed and accuracy of the search and feel that it is a nice feature.
Once aspect of the blog that I like was the nice, large and easy to read font. I have visited many Web sites and blogs where the font is small. I can read small text without any trouble, but others may find it difficult. They don’t have to worry about this blog as the author has chosen a nice size.
In terms of the design of the blog, I found it neat and easy to read and navigate. The author has definitely spent a great deal of time in the design of the blog.
I mentioned in the introduction that the focus of the blog is on weight loss. He has gone into detail on such things as exercising and meal planning. There are many comments on each post where people have also provided good advice, which just adds to the focus of the blog.
Much of the advice that is given on the blog can be followed by anyone who just wants to get healthier, even if they don’t plan on losing weight.
There are a few posts that are a little off topic in the blog. They usually provide updates about the blog itself. While they may be off topic, the author has nicely included them in a separate topic in the navigation on the right. This excludes them from other topics someone may use for weight-loss.
Overall the main focus of the blog is clear and easy to determine by simply reading several posts. The author obviously has had experience with losing weight and it shows within his posts.
I like to use long posts in my blog, mostly because I have a lot to say. For most bloggers, short and concise posts are what they favour. The author of the Weight Loss Weapons blog has chosen to write smaller posts, but they are not short on information.
The posts within the blog are well written and contain a lot of useful information. The author seems to publish several posts a week which is great for those looking for information. It also shows that the author spends the time and effort maintaining the blog, which adds to its quality.
With the exception of a few posts that provide a blog update, the posts pertain to weight loss, which the focus of the Web site and blog. His posts are well written with very few spelling and grammatical errors, which I discuss in the next section.
There were a few problems with some of the pages and links on the site. The About page link in the menu bar links to a standard WordPress template page that isn’t complete. A nice about page would add to the blog. The link to the parent site works correctly in the navigation bar on the right, but brings up a “Page Not Found” page from the link in the footer. If you do want to go to the parent Web site, simply remove the “/blog/” from the URL.
Besides those to issues, the content within the posts are nice and short and easy to read. For those looking to lose weight, you will find a lot of useful advice without the fluff.
The author has definitely taken the time to check for spelling and grammar on his blog, as it was difficult to find any mistakes. I did, however, find a few minor issues within some of the posts. There are a few times where the author includes a comment in parenthesis after a paragraph but doesn’t include an ending period. There are other times where words within a sentence are capitalized when they don’t need to be.
Besides those two minor issues, the blog did not have many mistakes, which made it nice to read. The issues described above did not affect the readability of the posts in any way.
As I mentioned, I know the author of the blog from Website Babble, and so I also know the amount of time and effort he has put into it, and it clearly shows. Overall I found the blog nicely organized, and easy to read and understand. With the exception of a few minor design and link issues, the Weight Loss Weapons blog is a great blog that anyone trying to lose weight should check out.
I have been thinking about how generating backlinks is a great way of getting exposure for your web site or blog. It takes time and effort to generate backlinks to your web site, and it is a never ending experience.
I have decided to help out those who have a web site but are having trouble getting others to link to them. I’ll even go one step further than providing a backlink, I’ll write a full review about the web site in a future post.
The details about getting a review of your web site can be found in this post.
To get a review done about your web site, you simply need to contact me in the e-mail address provided on Technically Easy. When you do send an e-mail to psalmon12@gmail.com, include the following:
I’m interested in relatively new web sites and blogs to help them out, but I do have my limits. I won’t review sites that only have a few pages (less than 10), or blogs that have few posts (less than 10). I will review sites only if they look like the owner has put some time and effort into the site, and not some quickie, spur of the moment site.
I can’t give a timeline on how quickly your site will get reviewed, but I’ll try to create a review on a regular basis. Depending on how many requests I get, it could take some time to post a review of your web site. I’ll send you an e-mail once the review is available.
I have decided to rate a web site on the following elements:
There may be other criteria in the future, but these are the main elements that I will be targeting. I will rate each element out of 5 stars, and then rate the entire site overall out of 5 stars.
I will be honest with my reviews but will mention both the positive and negative aspects of the web site. Don’t get angry with me if your site doesn’t receive a high rating. I am just one person, and another may have a different opinion about your web site. Keep in mind that I’m writing a review for free.
Generating backlinks to your web site is one of the best methods you can do to increase the exposure, and eventually traffic, to your web site. It takes time and effort to generate backlinks, but I can help to make it easier for you. I will write a free review for your web site and post it on Technically Easy.
I will review several elements of your web site and rate them out of 5 stars, and also rate your entire site out of 5 stars. If you would like a review, simply send me an e-mail that includes the information outlined in this post, and I’ll visit your web site and write a review.