Your donation of the Michigan Tombstone photos you have now or take in the future is needed to keep this project growing!
We want all of your Michigan Tombstone photographs. It doesn't matter if you took them because they were kin or if the stone simply caught your eye. We do ask that the engraving on the stone be readable in the donated print or image file.
To get the required information to us simply add a note to your email with the attached image files or your US Postal Service letter with the CD along with any other details you want to add.
If you don't have access to a scanner, most photo processer will make CD's of your prints or negitives, mail copies of your tombstone prints along with the required information to the address below.
Jan Cortez
ATTN: Tombstone Photo Project
P.O. Box 1068
Big Rapids, MI. 49307
Please send an email to jicortez@gmail.com to let me know they are on the way.
There are a couple ways to get your image files to us for uploading:
1. E-Mail - Attach the compressed image files to an email message to jicortez@gmail.com along with a note providing the required information. If you chose this method be sure to read the email tips/limits section of this page!
2. US Postal Service - Copy your image files to a floppy or CD and mail it to the address provided in the Contributing Prints section above along with a note providing the required information and a listing of individual tombstone names vs image file name. Note: Many film developers now provide an image CD at nominal cost when your print or slide film is processed.
My internet connection imposes certain limits on my email:
1. Send only compressed images as email attachments. Your scanner's native BMP or TIFF file is not compressed! Your digital camera image file may or may not be compressed depending on the camera and the options you choose. In either case, JPEG photo image compression is usually provided with the basic photo processing software package provided with your camera or scanner.
2. Limit your email message attachments to a single photo or a group of photo images totaling less than 1 MB per message!
3. The total file size of the image attachments sent during any one day (either via a series of messages with one photo or as a group of photos attached to a single message) must also be limited to about 3 or 4 MB!
Image Size/Format: Remember the target media for your photo is display on a computer monitor. For most visitors, that monitor will have a viewable display area of 600x400 pixels. However the 600x400 pixel image size is only a rule of thumb! Many tombstone images (the flat V.A. markers come to mind) are quite readable in smaller display formats. Large stones with low contrast or small engraving (Woodsman of the World markers come to mind) are not readable on the monitor at twice the size. I have found the most effective way to deal with the large stones is to provide an overall view (with a reasonable display size) and a close-up view (or views) to provide the necessary detail of the engraving.
File Size and Compression: When I process an image file, my target compressed file size is 50kb. Again that is only a rule of thumb. Some tombstone images are quite readable cropped and compressed to 15 kb. Other tombstone images with larger formats and more detail produce files as large as 150 kb after compression. We must also remember that the JPEG compression standard actually throws away photo information in the compression process. Applying too much compression results in an image with fuzzy text and blurred tombstone details. My personal rule of thumb for "normal" JPEG compression is about 15:1 and I change it as necessary.
Scanner vs Display Resolution: This setting is expressed in dot per inch (dpi) for both media. If you accept your scanner software's default 72 dpi scan resolution for a 3.5 x 5 photograph to be displayed on a monitor, you will wind up with an image that is only about 350x240 pixels. If the original photo was a close-up of a tombstone that had large engraving and few other details, that may be all the resolution that is needed. However, I have found that using 150-200 dpi for the scanner resolution usually provides a better starting point (a displayed image 750-1000 pixels wide before cropping). Your scanner software may provide a separate enlargement setting that can be used to adjust display size instead of changing the resolution.
Small Stones: If the headstone image size is only a small part of the overall print size, scan only the immediate area around the headstone in the print and increase the resolution setting to provide the additional pixels needed for the display. If the headstone is only 2x1 inches in the original photograph, we can set the scanner resolution at 300 dpi, scan only the area with the headstone and produce a clear close-up headstone image that will almost fill the standard 640x480 computer display.
Bottom Line: The more detail in the original scan (consistent with a reasonable compressed file size) the better. We can always throw out pixels that aren't needed in the final image. We can't add pixels without producing a fuzzy image.
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I reserve the right to crop, resample and enhance the submitted photographs to help viewers read the inscriptions. Your name will be added to a credit line embedded in the contributed photograph.
You retain the copyright and publishing rights for your donated photographs except those noted here. By donating, you grant the Michigan Tombstone Photo Project non-exclusive permanent publishing rights to your photographic work. The USGenWeb notice at the end of this page will be posted on the index page linked to your photographs.
This page is maintained by Jan Cortez, jicortez@gmail.com your Project Manager.
Return to: Michigan Tombstone Photo Project Page
Contributed for use by the Michigan USGenWeb Tombstone Photo Project (http://www.usgenweb.org) and by the COGenWeb Archives Project
USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic photographs may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access.