NCJ Number
205775
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 52 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2004 Pages: 70-73
Date Published
May 2004
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Upgrade features of Adobe Photoshop CS (Creative Suite) that are particularly useful for law enforcement applications are the history log; built-in CameraRAW Plug-in; a Match Zoom feature; file browser enhancements; and a photomerge tool.
Abstract
The history log provides for the automatic creation and saving of a log of all adjustments made to an image. This permits the tracking of all adjustments made to digital photographs. The built-in CameraRAW plug-in provides two advantages for law enforcement. It creates a better quality image (greater bit-depth), as well as a format that cannot be altered with image editing applications. When a RAW camera file is opened, it must be processed by software to be viewable; this makes a duplicate of the data, leaving the RAW file alone. The RAW file thus becomes a digital negative. The Match Zoom and Location feature enables multiple images to be tiled on the screen, and their zoom ratio and subject positions can be set to match each other and remain matched when zooming or scrolling any open image. This facilitates comparisons of two images, such as fingerprint images that are being examined to determine whether they match. The file browser enhancements include keyword conventions for searching files and a PDF presentation tool with password security. The Photomerge feature enables the user to take several photographs from the same position and seamlessly stitch them together into a single high-resolution image. In the past, the combining of multiple images has required technical skills to achieve proper alignment of the multiple images, correction for lens distortion, and the blending of the images so the colors and densities all match. Photomerge does this work with a simple interface and automated options that accomplish all these tasks.