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VeriPic(R) News
January 2003

The Professional Digital Photography Newsletter.
Kwan Software Engineering, Inc., 1030 E. El Camino Real, #243, Sunnyvale, CA  94087, Phone 408-745-1538
www.VeriPic.com

Digital Photography Tips you could use

  1. Try to minimize using the LCD while taking photos. Turning the LCD on uses up a lot of power and you will be out of batteries before you realize it.
  2. Don't use digital zoom. All Digital Zoom does is reduce the number of effective pixels in your photo. This reduces details and lowers the effective resolution. If you need to zoom, rely on optical zoom and/or external lenses if they are available for your camera.
  3. If you use a Smart Media card and have trouble with your computer recognizing the card even if it is inserted properly try replacing the card reader. Smart Media cards sometimes has trouble connecting with the computer. You may try using a camera with Compact Flash cards instead. Our experience is that CF cards are more reliable when it comes to connecting with the computer.
  4. If you are using auto-focus: Give the camera time to set the focus properly. Most cameras have a 2 position shutter release. If you press it half way the auto-focus sets. Pressing it the rest of the way actually takes the picture. If you press the shutter too fast some digital cameras will go ahead and take the picture even if the servo motor hasn't had enough time to set the focus properly. The result.... an out of focus picture! The best thing to do is to press the button half way and hold it there for a second until the focus is set. Only then should you press the button the rest of the way.

New Modules - Introductory Special

The VeriPic(R) team has some new and exciting developments in the forensic photography front. We have two new add-on modules that work hand-in-hand with the VeriPic(R) digital photography system. To introduce these two modules we also have a very special introductory price in effect until February 15, 2003. See the end of this email for the introductory pricing and details.

Do you analyze fingerprints or perform handwriting analysis or analyze other marks on an object? Sometimes the fingerprint, handwriting or the tooling marks you are studying is made hard to work with because of some unrelated background printing or pictures. You can do your job easier as well as make a better presentation in court if the background information can be subtracted from the picture temporarily, without destroying photo authenticity. You can do this with the VeriPic(R) Background Removal Module(TM). Here's how it works:

Whether it's a fingerprint, handwriting or other details you are interested in you often find that the item or marks of interest is a different color or brightness from the background. You start with either a scanned image or digital photo of the item. You select the "color" and "brightness" combination that represents the foreground object by simplifying clicking on representative pixels in 3 random areas of the object with the mouse. The computer recognizes this color and brightness combination as the foreground. When the Background Removal Module(TM) is activated pixels that don't match the foreground pixels are suppressed letting the item of interest display without background interference.

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Photo Authentication is also preserved because the original image isn't affected in any way. The filter preserves authenticity by only acting on the photo at the display stage and not the original photo on disk or in the VeriPic(R) database. To redisplay the original image exactly all you have to do is turn off the Background Removal Module(TM). Because this is a VeriPic(R) product it works hand-in-hand with the VeriPic(R) digital photography system you already have!

Because this us a VeriPic(R) module, other things you have come to expect work automatically such as saving of the Background Removal Module(TM) creation event with a hardware based VeriPic(R) Authentic Time(TM) into the audit trail of your VeriPic(R) database (requires the Database version of VeriPic(R)).

Eliminate the hassle of trying to print a photo at Actual Size. The VeriPic Photo Calibration Module lets you do that and more (including printing at 50% to 500% of calibrated actual size). It also lets you measure the distance between two points on a calibrated photo by simply clicking on the points in the photo with the mouse.

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How easy is it to use? It works with photos that either have a scale in the photo, an item of know size in the photo or with scanned images regardless of whether it has a scale or not. With photos that have a scale it's as simple as clicking on two points on the scale and telling the Photo Calibration Module(TM) how many inches were between the two points. Scanned images are even simpler. All you have to do is to tell the Photo Calibration Module(TM) what dots per inch (DPI) the image was scanned in at. It doesn't get easier than that.

Printouts are a Snap! Once the photo or scanned image has been calibrated, just tell it whether you want to print Actual Size or some percentage of actual size. Measurement of distances on screen are also as simple as clicking on the two points on screen with the mouse. This module works hand-in-hand with the VeriPic(R) system so that other things you have come to expect work automatically such as saving of the calibration event with Authentic Time into the audit trail of your VeriPic(R) Database (requires you already have the Database version of VeriPic(R)).

Special Offer!

Regular retail price for either module is $449 per concurrent seat per module. If you are a current VeriPic(R) customer with customer support in good standing you can take advantage of a very special introductory price of $349 per concurrent seat per module until February 15, 2003. That is a $200 savings per seat if you purchase both modules! Besides solving more cases think of how you will feel when you save your organization a great deal of money by acting fast!

We really want to help you even if you aren't a current customer yet or you accidentally let your customer support lapse. If you purchase VeriPic(R) or renew you customer support before ordering these two modules we will honor the special introductory price to you as if you were a current VeriPic(R) customer in good standing so that you can take advantage of this offer.

In either case you must act before February 15, 2003 when this introductory offer expires!

That's all for this month from the VeriPic(R) customer relations team.

Kellie Sanker and Kelly Smith-Ramirez

If you have questions or need digital photography help please call us at 408-745-1538 or visit our web site at www.VeriPic.com.
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