 |
LULA DAWSON BLILEY'S FAMILY PHOTO ALBUM CD"READ ME" PAGEDeveloped
and produced by Charles Arthur Bliley, her grandson. |
||
|
LULA DAWSON BLILEY'S FAMILY PHOTO ALBUM CD"READ ME" PAGEDeveloped
and produced by Charles Arthur Bliley, her grandson. |
||
Introduction
The CD-ROM on which this Read Me file is located contains electronic copies of Lula Dawson Bliley's album. She created it in the early 1930's. It is not practical to pass the original album around to family members and would place the album at considerable risk of accidental damage or destruction. To allow you to enjoy its contents in a practical and safe way, I have scanned the album and am providing those scans to you on this CD.
The album's contents are offered in three formats: 1. A simple Internet browser compatible HTML/JPEG format, 2. A searchable and easily viewable Adobe Acrobat PDF format, and 3. As individual pages and photos in several popular graphic file formats. Hopefully, this variety will allow you to find a format that will complement your interests over time.
Where should you start?
If you are running Windows and you have autoplay turned on for your CD drive, a start-up page will appear in your default browser. If this does not happen or you are using a Macintosh, double-click on the "Start.htm" file at the top level of the CD. It serves as a basic table of contents for the CD and has links to several Web browser compatible resources on the disk including the very important "Read Me" file. If you are not using a Web browser, the Read Me document is the most important file on the CD and the ultimate place to start.
If you are in a hurry to look the album over, you see it in
the HTML/JPEG format. A link is provided from the Start.htm page.
If you are interested in the highest quality presentation, the
PDF version of the album is your choice. The PDF versions are
the most elegant, provide for magnification of the images, and
give you a great text search tool. The data files for both of
these formats are located in the folder ALBUM on the CD. Read
the next section for additional information.
The HTML Version
An HTML version is comprised of files that were posted on my Internet Web site (www.Bliley.net) at the time of the CD's publication. The start-up file, Home.htm, located in the ALBUM>HTML>HTML_Win folder. This HTML section is not fully cross-platform as it exists on the CD and will work only on the Windows operating system. If you are lucky enough to be using a Macintosh, double-click on the StuffIt archive file ALBUM>HTML>HTML_Mac.sit. This file contains the same data files as the ones available to the Windows users. In case, you do not have StuffIt on your system, a free StuffIt Expander for the Macintosh is provided in the StuffIt folder.
The PDF Versions
For those of you that wish to print out individual photos, or use them in some other way, there are copies of the original photo image resources I used to develop this electronic album. They are located in a folder called Photos. Within it are two major folders: Pages and People. The Pages folder has the scans of whole pages from the album, and the People folder contains the high-resolution scans of the individual photographs from the album. The individual photographs are provided in three common formats: Photoshop native (.PSD), Joint Photographic Engineering Group-JPEG (.JPG) and Tagged Image File-TIF (.TIF).
Very few of these photos have been touched up in any way other than adjusting their brightness and contrast. You will see dust, scratches and spots on the photos. These are as the photos existed when I scanned them from the album in the Year 2000.
I have found that some low-end Windows graphic programs will not be able to reliably read a few of the graphic files correctly. A distorted or scrambled image may be seen. There appears to be no rhyme or reason to this problem. Perhaps these low-end applications are cannot deal with the large file sizes for some photos. However, the Adobe Photoshop LE program can read all of the files without a problem, as I would expect any good and current graphics programs.
Individual Photograph Scans
For those of you that wish to print out individual photos, or use them in some other way, there are copies of the original photo image resources I used to develop this electronic album. They are located in a folder called Photos. Within it are two major folders: Pages and People. The Pages folder has the scans of whole pages from the album, and the People folder contains the high-resolution scans of the individual photographs from the album. The individual photographs are provided in three common formats: Photoshop native (.PSD), Joint Photographic Engineering Group--JPEG (.JPG) and Tagged Image File--TIF (.TIF).
I have found that some low-end Windows graphic programs will not be able to reliably read a few of the graphic files correctly. A distorted or scrambled image may be seen. There appears to be no rhyme or reason to this problem. Perhaps these low-end applications are cannot deal with the large file sizes for some photos. The Adobe Photoshop LE program can read all of the files without a problem.
| TOP OF PAGE |
There is a folder titled Surnames that contains a list of all of the names mentioned in the album. The list is in alphabetical order by family names or surnames. It is not intended to be an index of the album, but a shortcut to discovering if someone you are researching is in the album. Either of the PDF versions provides an easy way to perform a text search and find the associated photo(s). There were a few places in which only a first or nickname was given. I have provided a family name for those people that I am fairly certain that I am correct. I did not include the names of any pets shown or named in the album.
| TOP OF PAGE |
Format
This CD has a capacity of 650M and my files take up 99% of that. It is formatted in the ISO-9660/Joliet cross-platform format. It will work on the Macintosh, Windows and UNIX operating systems. A simple outline of the folder structure is located at the end of this letter.
Acrobat Reader Resources
A free copy of the Acrobat Reader application is provided on the CD-ROM for both the Macintosh (PowerPC only) and Microsoft Windows operating systems. Acrobat 4.0 is required to view the PDF files on this disk. If the PDF files are opened in an earlier version of the Acrobat Reader, you will get a series of error messages that indicate the file is corrupted. That is not the case.
Data Files Organization and Naming Conventions
Many files are named using hopefully intuitive conventions. Since the book is primarily a pictorial document, the pages were scanned in whole, usually at 144 dpi. In addition, each photograph was individually scanned at one or more levels of resolution depending on size and the amount of detail. These were commonly scanned at 300 and 600 dpi. A few additional scans at 1200 dpi are provided on the CD.
Page files are named "Page_xx.XXX". Individual photo files are named based on the page in the album in which they are found and are assigned a letter based on their relative position from top to bottom, and left to right. The letters are A, B and C indicating the relative position on the page. The file name pattern for pages is "P" followed by page number, a location character (A/B/C), "-LED" and finally, the type of file code. A typical page file is "P23A-LED.XXX". The "-LED" is just a flag used to identify the photographic files as part of the Lula E. Dawson's album. Files are first organized by group or function and then by data file type.
| TOP OF PAGE |
I would be very interested in receiving any comments, criticisms or additional information on the people or contents of this album. I would recommend checking my family Web site (www.Bliley.net) for additional information and notices of any updates. I would prefer to receive comments and corrections by e-mail (K3NAU@AOL.com or K3NAU@Bliley.net) or traditional letter.
| TOP OF PAGE |
I consider this to be a living document that will be updated and improved upon over the years. In fact, it may even be presented in another format as technology evolves by a different member of the family. I have reproduced Lula's album using the latest technology, just as she did 70 years earlier. I hope someone else will do it again and keep her history alive.
With Best Regards,
Charles A. Bliley
| TOP OF PAGE |
| TOP OF PAGE |
PRODUCTION TOOLS AND RESOURCES
This album was produced using an Apple Macintosh G3/233 computer with a 600 dpi flatbed scanner. Applications used were Adobe PageMaker 6.5, Adobe Photoshop 5.0 LE, Microsoft Word 98 and the Acrobat 4.0 suite. CD formatting/recording was done using Adaptec's Toast 3.5.7 for the Macintosh. Recording speed 2X.
| TOP OF PAGE |
The electronic material and resources on this CD are Copyright ©2000 by Charles A. Bliley with the exception of the Acrobat Reader (tm) which are owned by the Adobe Corporation. The original album material contained in this electronic album Copyright ©2000 by James Bliley Oldham and is used here by permission.
The contents of this electronic document may be reproduced by individuals or not-for-profit organizations for noncommercial and non-revenue generating purposes. Permitted uses are works for educational purposes and/or personal pleasure.
Anyone desiring to reproduce any images on this CD for profit (commercial) should contact James Bliley Oldham, of Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., or the current owner of the album. Credit for the scanned images should be to Charles A. Bliley.
| TOP OF PAGE |