Image-Capture

Using Captured Images

Visual images (pictures, charts, or maps) are used in verbal texts as part of the exposition; the enhancement provided is not merely decorative. A map can enhance the specificity of geographical and historical references; the reproduction of a painting, and especially of a detail, can focus attention for analysis.

This tutorial is intended to provide basic instruction in capturing, placing, and importing of images into texts to be printed or used in websites.  The tools used and referred to in this tutorial are Microsoft Word® and Netscape Composer®, but the instructions will be sufficiently generic so that they can be adapted to Word Perfect® and Microsoft Front Page®.

 All material used from copyrighted sources, including websites, must be properly documented. See Copyright and Fair Use section.

Note:  unless special paper is used, digital images, even relatively high-resolution color images, will not yield high-quality print copies, although black-and-white maps and line-drawings generally work well.  Paintings and photographs display best on a color monitor, so you may be required to submit your project on a floppy or a Zip® disk.
 

Digital Photographs and Scanned Images

Before an image can be incorporated into any project, it must be acquired (captured) by scanning, downloading from digital cameras, or captured from websites; these images must then be saved in an appropriate digital format. For a discussion of these processes, see the section on Image Importing and Editing in "Images: Creating and Formatting."
 

Images Captured from Websites

The images on websites are already digitized, and, with a few exceptions, they are already properly sized for use.  The procedure for capture is simple as long as the image is part of the document.  Images that reside on separate servers cannot be captured.  Always check the copyright statements on any website.  Print a copy of the document so that there is an accurate record of the URL and time of access.  Check Copyright and Fair Use for restrictions on the use of digital material in on-line projects.

Place the cursor on the image and right-click.  Select "save image as":

Saving a captured image

Select a directory and a filename and save the image.  It can then be inserted into a web page or the text of a hard-copy document. 

Selecting captured image

 

The next section will offer suggestions for controlling the placement of images.