Absolute Beginner's Guide to Digital Photography

Interactivity can range from simple to complex. A simple multimedia CD can

include onscreen buttons that the viewer uses to move forward or back through a

series of pictures, or to activate events such as audio narration or video. With more

complex programming, a CD can be personalized, with the content presented in dif-

ferent ways, as the viewer chooses.

Make Your Own Photo Gallery on CD-ROM

You can create your own CD-ROM title. All you need are basic computer skills and

the time to learn the techniques. How you want people to view your disk will deter-

mine how many software programs you must learn.

If this is your first project, start with the basics. Suppose you have 30 photographs

that you would like in CD-ROM form so you can send the disk to an editor or

gallery. A relatively simple project could also include text (your resumé) and video

narration about your work.

1. Begin with a storyboard. First decide what you want people to see, hear, and
   be able to do. List or sketch each component of the CD, and how you plan to
   present it. If you want the user to be able to skip around the material, you
   need to map out the different routes the user will be able to take.


2. Decide whether you want your CD to play on either Macintosh or IBM
   (Windows) computers, or both. This affects your choice of authoring software
   and the way the material is assembled by the software. Fortunately, Macs can
   read Windows CDs with no problem.


3. Prepare your photographs. You will need an image-editing program such
   as Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Elements to crop and resize your

290 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TODIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

FIGURE 19.3

The average

cost of a CD at

retail is around

four cents. This

is by far the

least expensive

way to store

data.