Photos FAQs:

• Which Photo File Formats Are Supported?
• Which Working Colour Space Does the Application Support?
• What Is "Automatic Image Optimisation" (Formerly AIO)?
• When Should "Automatic Image Optimisation" Be Disabled?
• How Do You Disable the "Automatic Image Optimisation" in the "Carrefour Fotolumea mea" Software?
• Why Is My Image Data Compressed During Ordering?
• How Do I Apply an Image Effect?
• How Do I Move Photos or Change Their Size?
• How Do I Add a Coloured Frame Around a Photo?
• How Do I Add a Shadow to a Photo?
• What Is the Optimum Photo Size When Using My Own Photo as a Background?
• What Possibilities Does the Photoshow Offer?
• What Do the Little Stars Mean?
• How Do I Sort My Photos in the Photo Explorer?

Answers:

Which Photo File Formats Are Supported? [Back]

The Carrefour Fotolumea mea software supports the following file formats for photos/images:

The file formats JPG and PNG are best. The Carrefour Fotolumea mea software will not show image formats that are not supported.

Which Working Colour Space Does the Application Support? [Back]

A colour space is a combination of all the colours in an image that can actually be shown. The colour spaces differ depending on the image processing program and the image and output devices used. Some Nikon cameras, for example, take photos in a special "Nikon sRGB" format, and Adobe Photoshop often uses its own "Adobe sRGB". Printers even work in a completely different colour space (CMYK), into which images first have to be converted by the printer driver. The standard and intersecting set of the colour spaces is the simple "sRGB" format (standard RGB). All digital cameras, scanners, monitors and printer drivers support this colour space. In production, the photos are always processed in "sRGB" colour format, and photos in other RGB formats are converted to "sRGB" format automatically and without any loss of quality. Most digital cameras take photos in sRGB format, so there should not be any problems in this respect.

What Is "Automatic Image Optimisation" (Formerly AIO)? [Back]

The Automatic Image Optimisation (formerly AIO) tool optimises the image quality of your photos and is activated as standard in our CEWE PHOTOBOOK / CEWE PHOTOWORLD software.This default setting analyses all the images in a project and correct them if required, in order to achieve ideal results when printed. It reduces any faulty exposure and colour tinge and also optimally adjusts contrast and colour saturation. Dark sections of images can be brightened to show significantly more detail. In addition, skin, vegetation and sky tones are adjusted. This happens automatically and the level of correction is specified by prior image analysis. The settings are optimised for a large average of all images, so that, as a rule, Automatic Image Optimisation leads to improved image quality. Image optimisation does not change the individual image impression.We recommend you leave it switched on as default, if you have not already optimised the colour, contrast and/or brightness of your images yourself. As these image operations are automatically applied in the lab, there is no preview function in the ordering software.The examples shown below (left and right with no image optimisation) give an idea of the effect of the automatic image optimisation in use.

"Automatic Image Optimisation" can be switched on and off for each photo individually (using the button in the toolbar). You can set a default setting that will apply to all images under Settings/Photos.

NB: If you are not currently working with a precisely calibrated monitor and your image processing does not support calibration, the printed result may be slightly different than expected.

When Should "Automatic Image Optimisation" Be Disabled? [Back]

We generally recommend leaving Automatic Image Optimisation on by default.In some cases, however, it may be advisable to disable the function, such as when the inserted files have already been optimised for colour, contrast or brightness by an image editing program (preferably on a calibrated monitor). We also recommend disabling Automatic Image Optimisation for colour-critical images that don't require any further white balance. This would be, for example, photos taken in special lighting conditions (sunsets, candlelight, warm artificial light), as otherwise the particular mood may be ruined. To be on the safe side, we also recommend disabling optimisation for graphics (e.g. comic-style). You can enable and disable "Automatic Image Optimisation" for all photos in "Settings" under "Photos", or for each highlighted photo using the toolbar. Pictures are always sharpened slightly to adapt them to the output system, regardless of whether AIO is enabled or not. We recommend that you do not pre-sharpen the image data too much before this happens.

How Do You Disable the "Automatic Image Optimisation" in the "Carrefour Fotolumea mea" Software? [Back]

When you insert an image that has already been edited with an external image editing programme, you will be shown an alert about Automatic Image Optimisation. You can choose to enable or disable optimisation for all images. You can specify both the function and our software settings to your exact preferences at any time. This can be done when editing your project in "Settings" (in the title menu bar) under "Photos". Here you can choose different settings for image optimisation in the laboratory:

• You can specify whether you want to decide for each optimised photo if it should undergo image optimisation in the laboratory. Or you can enable or disable image optimisation for all of these photos.
• You can choose whether Automatic Image Optimisation should be applied to all new photos (whether optimised or not).
• For photos already included in the project which have not been optimised, you can enable or disable the optimisation.

You can also disable (or enable) Automatic Image Optimisation later on for each individual photo. To do, highlight each relevant photo on the product page. In the toolbar above the page view in the "Photo" section, you'll find the "Automatic Image Optimisation" button (represented by three gold stars.)
The button is pale or coloured, depending on whether you are enabling or disabling the function for the selected photo.

Why Is My Image Data Compressed During Ordering? [Back]

The application checks the image material and optimises it for production and sending. They will be scaled down to the optimum size to keep the data file as small as possible. This saves storage space and transfer time during the burning process and online transmission. It does not affect the quality, as the resolution of the compressed photos is adjusted precisely to the optimal print resolution in production.

How Do I Apply an Image Effect? [Back]

You can use the CEWE PHOTOSHOW. There are many tools for editing photos; for example, the correction of brightness and colour, cropping, flipping, aligning, and stylization and distortion filters for artistic manipulation (oil painting, charcoal drawing, etc). For full details, please see the Help section on "Assistants" in the chapter "CEWE PHOTOSHOW".

How Do I Move Photos or Change Their Size? [Back]

This is done using the editing frame that appears around the photo. Move the mouse pointer over the frame (not one of the handles) until the mouse pointer changes and you can move the picture with the left mouse button. You can modify the size of the photo using the handles that appear.
With the handles in the corners (and the left mouse button held down), drag to change the size (width and height) in proportion. The aspect ratio remains the same. Move the handles on the sides (using the left mouse button) to only change the width or height of the photo. There is also a handle inside the frame to rotate the image. You can use this to rotate the image around its central point.

How Do I Add a Coloured Frame Around a Photo? [Back]

To emphasise photos or make them stand out better against the background, you can place a coloured border or frame around them, which is then also printed or developed. You can specify the frame width (line thickness) and a colour in the frame properties.With the left mouse button, select the photo, which has already been inserted in the CEWE PHOTOBOOK. Now select the "Edit image frame and shadow..." function in the toolbar. Left-click this function and a window opens. Here you can now set the properties of the frame. You can adjust the width of the frame in 1/10 mm steps. That means if you enter "3", you will produce a frame with a width of 0.3 mm, not 3 mm! You can select the colour as a basic colour or click in the colour table and set your own custom colour. This selected colour can now be fine-tuned using the narrow right-hand bar. Confirm your chosen colour by clicking "OK" in the open window. You can apply the window properties to the active (selected) image, to all images on this page or to all images in the product.

TIP: A coloured border distinguishes the photo from other photos and from the background (e.g. a white border around the photo against a black page background) and makes it more effective. This is a very effective and attractive function in the design of the CEWE PHOTOBOOK.

How Do I Add a Shadow to a Photo? [Back]

Shading gives the photos in your CEWE PHOTOBOOK a very nice effect. The photos are positioned more prominently in the foreground. Click the "Edit image frame and shadow..." function in tools to edit the photos. A window opens. Now you can set the properties of the shadow. Activate the shadow function by ticking the checkbox. Here you can specify the shadow properties.

The "distance" is set in mm and determines how far the shadow stands out below the photo - This simulates whether the light source is directly above the centre of the photo or outside.

The intensity determines how transparent and how dark the shadow will be - 0% would be completely transparent (lowest value therefore 1%) and 100% would be opaque black. (The higher the photo floats against the page background, the less the intensity through scattered light from the pages).

The "direction" is set using a mouse-operated control and determines the position of the light casting the shadow, and thus the direction of the shading - See the preview at the bottom of the open window. Exception: If the distance = 0mm, then the direction does not matter.

The "blur" is the softness of the shaded border - "0 px" creates a hard shaded border, and the higher the fuzziness value, the softer the shaded border. Caution: this is very CPU-intensive and can take a long time if you have lots of photos with soft shading.

The "overhang" is the size of the shading (to simulate the distance of the light source) - If the light source casting the shadow is the sun, then the rays of light will run parallel to each other and the shadow will be as big as the photo, i.e. the overhang will be 0mm. If however the light source is small and closer to the photo (e.g. a ceiling light), then the rays of light will be conical (divergent) and the shadow will be larger than the photo. The closer the light source to the photo (e.g. a desk lamp), the larger the shadow (see graphics.) Exception: If the overhang is greater than the distance, then the shadow will overhang on all sides of the photo.

In combination with this parameter, you can create the effect that the photo is floating very close to the background (low distance and overhang, hard shadow edge, high intensity), or that it is floating high above it (larger distance and overhang, soft shadow edge, lower intensity). Observe what really happens with shadows with different light sources and distances to the background (e.g. table surface).

TIP: Discreet, narrow shading will often make your photos stand out very well from the background. This will make the designed CEWE PHOTOBOOK page more interesting and more attractive.

What Is the Optimum Photo Size When Using My Own Photo as a Background? [Back]

The optimum size in pixels when using your own photos as a background of a CEWE PHOTOBOOK page varies depending on the format and size of the photobook. It is no problem if the picture size is smaller. The main point is that the quality indicator must be green. Photos with smaller dimensions will remain unchanged. But photos which exceed the required pixel size will have no recognisable effect on the print quality. They will be scaled down to the optimum size to keep the data file as small as possible. This will speed up the transmission and storage of the pictures at the time of ordering.The software may cut the picture size further to the actual required size and the photos may be scaled down to the necessary resolution at the time of ordering.

What Possibilities Does the Photoshow Offer? [Back]

The CEWE PHOTOSHOW is the central program module used to edit your photos. You can use it to improve a photo, e.g. to correct over- or underexposure, weak contrast, colour tinges or red-eye. You can apply artistic effects to your photo, e.g. turn it into a black-and-white picture, age it with a sepia effect or make it look like an oil painting or a drawing. You can distort, reflect and turn a photo, and much more besides. And you can manage your photos using the CEWE PHOTOSHOW, rating your photos and adding titles and comments and filtering them according to these and other meta data (in order to show only certain pictures). The CEWE PHOTOSHOW can also be opened as a standalone program (own icon on the desktop, dropdown menu for photos in Explorer).

What Do the Little Stars Mean? [Back]

To find photos more easily in the selection area or to use them for different products, it is possible to rate a photo. When photos are rated they are awarded a number of stars, which are displayed in the selection area. This rating can be an additional way of sorting your photos. In the selection area, right-click a photo and a dropdown menu will open. In this dropdown menu you can sort photos by date taken, file name or rating. This means you can quickly find your best photos in the selection area. The rating is also an effective way to pre-sort your pictures in the CEWE PHOTOBOOK Assistant. Just click the minimum number of stars your photos must have in order to be selected by the Assistant.

How Do I Sort My Photos in the Photo Explorer? [Back]

In the selection toolbar below the photo explorer is the icon "View". There you will find the following commands: