2. Digital Cameras

2.1. Configuring Your Digital Photo Camera

Even if there are still serial ( RS-232) digital cameras around, virtually all recent digital cameras use USB, so we assume that you have a USB camera.

GNU/Linux software uses the Gphoto2 library to communicate with your digital camera. Check GPhoto2's supported cameras list for more information on camera support. If your camera uses the Picture Transfer Protocol ( PTP), it may be supported even if it's not in Gphoto2 list.

[Tip] Tip

You can also consult the very complete Digital Camera Support for UN*X web page.

 Plug your camera in a free USB slot, turn it on into “play” mode [2], and choose Multimedia+GraphicsdigiKam from the main menu to launch digiKam. If your camera is not listed in the Camera menu, then choose Add Camera and click on Auto-Detect. If detection fails, click on Add and look for your camera in the list, or fill the parameters corresponding to your camera, and accept your settings.

2.1.1. Handling Digital Camera Storage Media

If your digital camera is not recognized you can still try to use a USBcard reader” which lets you plug in the camera's memory and usually appear mounted under /mnt/removable or /mnt/memory_card, so you can access it like you would any other storage device. There are many card readers that support multiple memory card types: Compact Flash, Secure Digital, etc.

If you have a laptop computer with a PCMCIA slot, you can use the ATA photo memory PCMCIA card adapters. They are mounted just like any other ATA device ( CD-ROM, hard disk, etc.) in order to access your pictures. This is the fastest method to access photo cards. It also means the camera's batteries may last longer.

[Note] Note

Actually, any file can be accessed this way, not only pictures. You can put whatever file you want on your memory card.

2.2. Transferring and Manipulating Pictures

Choose the CameraYour_Digital_Camera_Model menu and select the photos you want to transfer in the digiKam camera import window (see Figure 5.8, “Selecting Pictures to Transfer”) and then click on Download and select the Download Selected option. Then choose (or create) the album to store photos into and click OK: the pictures will be transferred to that album [3].

[Tip] Tip

New in-camera images will be marked with a star on a border.

Figure 5.8. Selecting Pictures to Transfer

Selecting Pictures to Transfer

2.2.1. Deleting Pictures

Select a set of pictures and choose ImageMove to Trash from the menu. You are not asked for confirmation, the images are moved to the desktop's Trash immediately. Keyboard shortcut: Shift+Delete.

2.2.2. Rotating Pictures

Create a set of pictures and choose one of the entries (90º, 180º or 270º) of the Image+Rotate menu.

Many digital cameras store rotation information within the image file. In this case you can choose ImageAuto Rotate/Flip Using Exif Information from the menu to have the picture rotated automatically in the correct direction.

[Warning] Warning

All transformations on pictures (such as rotation) are done on the on-disk file. digiKam doesn't make a backup of the transformed pictures. Also bear in mind that all transformations are, when possible, loss-less.

2.2.3. Touching-Up Pictures

Double click on a picture to open the image edit window. Note that all touch-up operations affect the quality of the picture's on-disk file. Also bear in mind that on-screen rendering is quite different from printing your digital pictures on photographic paper. So if you intend to both print and publish your pictures for online viewing, it might be wise to treat both copies differently from the beginning.

[Tip] Tip

Press Ctrl+Z to undo the last transformation operation. However, once you have saved the image, changes cannot be undone.

Brightness, Contrast and Gamma

 Choose Fix+ColorsBrightness/Contrast/Gamma from the menu and use the sliders to adjust the brightness, contrast and gamma of the picture using the picture copy as a guide.

Sharpen

 Choose FixSharpen from the menu, drag the square to the part of the image to be used as a guide, and use the slider to sharpen the picture.

Red-Eye Reduction

 Select the pupil of the eye to fix, choose FixRed Eye Reduction from the menu, and then select the aggressive (only part of the eye selected) or mild (more than the eye selected) option to reduce the red-eye flash effect. Repeat for the other eye, if needed.

Image Resizing and Cropping

 Multi-megapixel images are excellent for photographic paper print-ups, but are far from adequate for e-mailing or publishing on the web. Choose TransformResize from the menu, then select the desired size, either in pixels or in percentage, and whether to keep (recommended) or not aspect ratio.

 You can also crop an image to a desired size while keeping aspect ratio. Choose TransformAspect Ratio Crop from the menu, drag the square to frame the part of the image you are interested on and select the aspect ratio, orientation, width and height (one follows the other according to the aspect ratio selected).

[Tip] Tip

For electronic publication, the usual aspect ratio is 4:3, while for printing the usual aspect ratio is 3:2.

Usually a size of 640x480 is enough for e-mailing a photo, while 800x600 is enough for web publishing.

2.3. EXIF: Digital Camera Photographic Settings

Most digital cameras produce EXIF(Exchangeable Image File Format) files. EXIF provides extra tags containing information about the image such as the date, the camera model, the exposure time, the ISO speed setting, the aperture, etc.

 Select the picture, choose ImageProperties from the menu, and select the EXIF tab. Then, select the level of information detail: either Simple(shows the most important settings only) or Full(shows all EXIF information).

To add a comment to a picture select it and press the F3 key, then fill your Comments(see Figure 5.9, “Adding an EXIF Comment to a Picture”).

Figure 5.9. Adding an EXIF Comment to a Picture

Adding an EXIF Comment to a Picture

2.4. Web Albums

If you want to share your pictures with your family and friends, you can easily create a “Web Album” of your pictures. Choose Album+ExportHTML Gallery from the menu, select the album options (theme, picture and thumbnails size and format, etc.), finally provide a Destination folder to store the album and click Finish to create it: the album is then opened inside the browser for you to preview it (see Figure 5.10, “Previewing a Web Album”). You are ready to upload the album to the web.

Figure 5.10. Previewing a Web Album

Previewing a Web Album



[2] As opposed to “record” mode, which is the mode used to take pictures.

[3] Albums are stored under the /home/user_name/Pictures folder.