PhotoCD's -- A Digression

Although making a PhotoCD is as simple as going to a photo store, handing them 35 mm. slides and saying, "Here, have Kodak make me a PhotoCD," there is actually much more to know than this. I can only cover the high points here and refer you to Kodak for more information.

PhotoCD's can be made directly from slide film. While it is not necessary to make slides first, I prefer to do so because:
- I can decide which images I want to preserve.
- I like to put 80 to 100 images on the PhotoCD all at once rather than adding 2 or 3 rolls of film. I believe I can get more images on each CD and the whole disk is better organized.
- There are fewer potential problems centering images on the PhotoCD.
It is possible to add images to a PhotoCD, as long as there is room available.
- This is a nice feature but it does reduce the total number of images that can be stored.
- You will need a multi-session CD ROM player (which most are these days).
Each PhotoCD image is actually a "packed" file containing several resolutions. Available resolutions include:
- ```
 128x192   ("thumbnail")
```
- ```
 256x384   
```
- ```
 512x768   (base)
```
- ```
 1024x1536 
```
- ```
 2048x3072 (desktop publishing)
```
PhotoCD's are true cross-platform.
- They can be viewed on any computer platform having the necessary software. This includes Amigas, Mac's, and PC's.
- There are even stand-alone players for viewing PhotoCD's. These connect to a TV. Thus, you do not even need a computer to enjoy PhotoCD's!
- Therefore, any PhotoCD's you produce can be used on a variety of computer systems as well as on stand-alone players.
A variety of Amiga programs are available for loading and then converting PhotoCD images into IFF, GIF, JPEG, etc.
- These include ImageFX 2.1 (Nova Design), PCD, PhotoWorx (Corporate Media), among others.
Images on a PhotoCD can be played as a "slide show."
- The relevant Amiga program is FolioWorx (Corporate Media).
PhotoCD's never "caught on" with the consumer for family and travel photos.
- Whether this was due to poor advertising by Kodak or because consumers prefer the portability of snapshots is difficult to say.
- Industry, however, has embraced PhotoCD's for image archiving.
For Amiga users, PhotoCD's are attractive.
- Image quality is close to that of film.
- Multiple resolutions are produced. Using them when zooming an image yields more detail, rather than enlarged, blocky pixels.
- PhotoCD's are multi-platform and are therefore not limited to the small Amiga user base.
- PhotoCD's are easy to produce and economical as well.
For many Amiga users, the drawback of PhotoCD's is their lack interactivity.
- Although the Kodak stand-alone player can be programmed to display selected images in any order, the user cannot branch from one group of images to another.
- If you are willing to limit yourself to the Amiga platform (as I usually am), you can convert PhotoCD images into the IFF format and use them in presentation programs like Scala MM300 (Scala), Helm (Eagle Tree Software), or CanDo (Innovatronics).
- If you want interactivity, you can create a Kodak PORTFOLIO PHOTOCD.

A digression on Portfolio PhotoCD's.

Kodak initially released two programs for the Mac -- CREATE IT! and ARRANGE IT!

CREATE IT! allowed the user to add text, sound, graphics, and "hot spots" to PhotoCD images.
- CREATE IT! works by creating a script much like Scala does.
- Because CREATE IT! allows the user to import TIFF and PICT, one could actually create a Portfolio PhotoCD from these alone without using any PhotoCD images at all!
- Once one creates a presentation, the idea is to take the PhotoCD's one has used, together with a Syquest disk containing the added text, sound, graphic files and the script generated by CREATE IT! to a service bureau who will then use Kodak BUILD IT! software (initially running on a SUN computer) to make a new CD, now called a Portfolio PhotoCD.
CREATE IT! has some major shortcomings.
- Because all images, sound files, graphics, reside in memory while you create your presentation, you need a ton of RAM or an enormous amount of free space on a hard drive to serve as virtual memory.
- Complex or multiple branching is, in my opinion, difficult to visualize as one is creating it. ARRANGE IT! is much better in this regard.
ARRANGE IT! has its own problems.
- Although ARRANGE IT! is superior to CREATE IT! in creating branching, it lacks CREATE IT!'s ability to add text or otherwise modify images.
- Astoundingly, the script generated by ARRANGE IT! is different from that produced by CREATE IT! Thus one cannot load a portfolio made by CREATE IT! into ARRANGE IT! to work on branching.
CREATE IT! and ARRANGE IT! probably should have been combined into one program.
- A PC version of ARRANGE IT! was subsequently produced. CREATE IT! never was ported over.
- There is now BUILD IT! software available for the Mac enabling a user with a CD ROM "burner" to make his/her own Portfolio PhotoCD.

Although in some ways a brilliant concept, Portfolio PhotoCD's never never "took off." There are reasons.

The software obviously leaves much to be desired.
Unlike creating a PhotoCD which merely requires a consumer to walk into a store and ask for it to be done, making a Portfolio is complex and time consuming.
Having a service bureau create a Portfolio PhotoCD is expensive.
There were unofficial reports that the Kodak BUILD IT! software was buggy. (I don't know if it has since improved.)

revised -- December, 2000

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