This document provides instructions for using free online tools to edit digital images for family history projects. It recommends saving the original images and editing copies instead. The document then demonstrates how to resize images using FotoFlexer.com to reduce file sizes. Resizing involves adjusting pixel numbers and applying changes. Properly sized images allow genealogy software to run faster. Key terms like pixels, file formats, and uploading are defined in a glossary.

1. Photo Editing
For Your
Family History
How to use free online
tools to manage your
family photos.
By Shelly Longoria,
Librarian
Palm Springs Public Library
January 5, 2013

2. IMPORTANT!
Save your original
images!
Before you do anything to edit
an image, photo, etc., SAVE
the original and work on a
COPY of the image & name it
something different to avoid
confusion.
If you don’t like the results, if
you want to experiment (play!),
or if you want to use the image
for a different purpose later,
you still have your original
available.

3. Why edit photos?
The pictures I took with my new
digital camera at the family
reunion look great! Why would I
need to edit them?
We will be primarily covering
editing photos for SIZE, so
they are easier to use with your
family history software, or other
applications.
These techniques apply to ALL
digital images, not just photos;
i.e., Census images, scanned
photos or documents, etc.
All words in BOLD are defined in
the glossary at the end.

4. What is a digital
image made of?
A digital image is made up
of pixels, tiny blocks, or
dots, of data that make
up the image itself.
More pixels results in higher
resolution, fewer pixels can
result in good resolution
and a smaller file size, too
few pixels results in a
blocky, or blurry image.

5. Can you have
too many pixels?
Not enough pixels = pixelated
This depends on how you
will use the image. The
amount of pixels
determines the amount of
data in the image file, the
size of the file, and the
dimensions and visual
quality of the image.

6. Digital Images
There are countless types
of digital cameras. They all
produce the same result –
a digital image made up
of a varying number of
pixels.
A scan of a printed photo
is also a digital image, also
with a varying number of
pixels.

7. Image creation &
dimensions are
measured in
megapixels.
One megapixel (MP)=
ONE MILLION PIXELS
If you try to enlarge a
photo that was not taken
with a high MP setting, your What is the capability of
print may turn out “blocky” your digital camera? Is it
or pixelated. adjustable?

8. Why edit images?
Image files that are too
large will bog down your
genealogical software,
making it slow to work
with, as well as creating
Clicking & dragging to change HUGE files to store and
size does NOT change the file size,
back up.
only the appearance.

9. The same or different?
Original image straight Same image, edited
from the camera. for file size.
Original image = 1,597KB Edited image = 65KB
(kilobytes)

10. Today we will use
FotoFlexer.com to edit
images. There are many
other sites available if this
one does not appeal to you.
(See list at end.)
Photo editing
software
Your digital camera may
have come with photo
editing software, but
there are many EASY &
FREE websites you can
use to tame your images.

11. How To
Edit your image in easy steps

12. Upload your image (step 1)
When you click the grey Upload button, it allows you to
search your computer for the desired image file.

13. Upload your image (step 2)
Browse for the image file you want to edit, click on the
file name, then click the Open button. This will open the
image in FotoFlexer, where you can start editing.

14. You will see this… Tools
Zoom level
This is the original flower image, unedited, in its original size.
It looks fine on the screen, but note the zoom level.
What you see on the screen is NOT the picture’s full size.

15. Edit your image
There are many useful & fun things you can do
with your images in FotoFlexer.
We will focus on resizing.

16. Resizing
NOTE: Always leave the
―Keep Proportions‖ box
checked, or your photo
will come out too long,
or too tall, etc.
When you click the Resize button, you will get a new set of
―tools‖ to work with.
This is where you will adjust the size of the image. The numbers
shown are the current number of pixels making up the photo.
By changing these numbers, you change the size of the image.

17. 1) Adjust. 2) Apply.
Adjust size When you
(number of are done,
pixels) here. click Apply.
After choosing a new size for your photo by entering new
numbers in the box(es), or selecting one of the ―Preset Sizes‖
from the pull-down menu, click the Apply button. Note that
using the preset sizes may distort the proportions of your image.
You will then be returned to the original tool bar.

18. Note: now the
image is at 100%
on the screen.
When you are back at the main screen, and satisfied with your
image, click Save at the top FotoFlexer bar.
This will save the image to YOUR COMPUTER, not to FotoFlexer,
or anywhere online.

19. Save
Leave the Format set to JPG,
and click the Save To My Computer button.

20. Give your photo a new, recognizable name & type it in the Filename box.
DO NOT use the same name as the original. Click Save Now.

21. Browse to the location where you would like to save your newly
edited image, and click Save.

22. YOU DID IT!
Quit
That’s all there is to it! You now have an image that looks good, but
takes up less space when inserted into your software.
When you are done working in FotoFlexer, click Quit at the top. You
will exit the FotoFlexer website, and none of your personal data or
images will be left behind online.

23. Now what?
Add images to your family
history software
Family Tree Maker’s ―Media‖ screen. If all your images are
properly sized, your software will run faster and better with less
data to process.

24. What can your software do
with those images?
Make your family history come to life with photos!
Support your facts with images of documents!

25. REMINDERS!
 ALWAYS save your ORIGINAL images—the ones straight out
of the camera, or scanner.
 Save them in a SEPARATE folder in your computer, NOT
within your genealogical software.
 Make COPIES of your images to edit and work with.
 If you don’t like the results, you still have your original to
copy again and start over.
 Use the smaller file, edited, images in your software, to
email to friends & family, or to use on various websites.
 ALWAYS BACK UP ALL YOUR INFORMATION!
 Back up your ORIGINAL images.
 Store them on CDs, DVDs, or an external hard drive
or flash drive – AWAY from your computer.
 ALWAYS BACK UP ALL YOUR INFORMATION!
 ALWAYS BACK UP ALL YOUR INFORMATION!

26. Glossary
 Data – electronic information which makes up a computer file.
Anything in your computer, text files, photos, documents, etc., are
all made up of data.
 Digital Image – an image that is stored on your computer or other
digital device, a digital image is usually created by taking a
picture with a digital camera, or scanning a photograph or
document.
 File size – items stored on your computer take up varying amounts
of space. Text files are very small. Photo files can be quite large,
and take up lots of space in your computer. Smaller files (like
digital images) used in software (like your genealogy software),
allow the software to run faster and back up easier. Simply storing
items with large file sizes is fine.
 Format – in terms of digital images, there are different formats in
which they may be saved. This is the way the computer uses the
data to create, or render, an image. JPG (pronounced J-Peg) is a
common and favored way to store digital images. Using the JPG
format allows for shrinking the file size while maintaining the visual
quality of the image.

27. Glossary
 FotoFlexer – http://www.fotoflexer.com is an online digital photo
editor. The website is free to use, and you do not need to register
for an account, or give the website any personal information. The
photos you work with in FotoFlexer are not saved on the website,
or anywhere online. This protects your privacy. You do have the
option of signing up for a free account to store image files there if
you wish. There are many other free sites which are similar. See list
of websites following this Glossary.
 Image File – a digital item stored in your computer which is a
picture of something. It could be a photograph, or a scanned
image of a document like a Census page, etc.
 JPG – a type of format for digital images. JPG (pronounced J-Peg)
is a favorite, highly used format, as it allows for manipulation of an
image creating a small, workable file which retains much of the
original’s quality.
 Kilobytes (kB)– a unit of digital measurement describing your file
size. A digital image which has a size listed in kilobytes will be
easier to work with. A byte is a piece of data in your file.
1 kilobyte (KB) = 1000 bytes. (See also Megabytes.)

28. Glossary
 Megabytes – a larger unit of digital measurement describing your
file size. Digital images with sizes in the megabyte range will slow
down your software, and create huge, cumbersome back up files.
1 megabyte (MB) = 1000 kilobytes (kB).
 Megapixel – digital images are composed of pixels, a tiny dot, or
square of data (i.e. color), which make up the image. 1 pixel = one
million megapixels. The more megapixels you have in an image,
the better the resolution, but the larger the file size.
 Pixel – see Megapixel, above.
 Pixelated – the name for the effect when an image has too few
pixels for good resolution. The image will look blurry, or boxy.
 Resize – changing the number of pixels in a digital image, usually to
make the file size smaller, and thusly easier to use in software, etc.
 Resolution – the amount of detail seen in a digital image.
Resolution is determined by the number of pixels in the image, and
suggested numbers of pixels to result in a particular resolution
depends on your use of the image. An image inserted into a piece
of software, like Family Tree Maker, requires less resolution than an
image like a photo being printed.

29. Glossary
 Scan – when a physical document or photograph is made digital
with a scanner used with a computer. The scanner essentially takes
a picture of your item (photos, documents, etc.).
 Upload – transferring a file from your computer, flash drive, CD,
etc., into a piece of software like FotoFlexer or Family Tree Maker.
 Zoom Level – the way an image looks on a computer screen may
not be its actual size. Zooming out makes the image look smaller,
zooming in makes it look bigger. If you zoom in far enough, you
may get to the pixel level to see the squares composing the image.
Other image editing websites –
There are many other websites which work in a similar manner as
FotoFlexer. Try some of these & find a favorite!
• http://ipiccy.com/
• http://pixlr.com/
• http://drpic.com/
• http://www.picmonkey.com/
• http://www.befunky.com/

30. Thank you!
This slideshow may be viewed online at
http://www.slideshare.net/illustratedlibrarian