If you plan to save the file electronically, then
you should decide on a format. TIFF files are the most widely compatible format
and can be imported into almost all graphic and GIS programs. The problem with
TIFF files is that they have no compression so the files remain large, but if
you are going to use a GIS or image processing package we
highly recommend using TIFF.
GIF images are compressed but the amount of
compression is minimal. GIFs are also limited to 256 color values. JPEG
images are compressed, but the compression scheme is lossey, e.g information in
in the image is lost by compression. This loss of information causes a
degredation in image quality.
If you are going to use this image in Arcview or
other GIS programs, you should consider creating a
GeoTIFF.
Software:
Painting and drawing programs
These programs are designed to manipulate images.
The benefit of these programs is that some are relatively inexpensive and widely
available. This software is the minimum you need to view electronic images. They
can filter images, change formats, alter resolutions, print images, and crop
images. The problem with this software is that it can not use any geo-spatial
information. You can not use the software to link your image with any spatial
databases. Some examples of these programs are:
CorelDraw PaintShopPro
Adobe Pagemaker or Photoshop
GIS and image processing programs
These programs are specifically designed to work
with geospatial information. They are usually not as intuitive as painting and
drawing programs and are usually more expensive. If you want to spatially
reference your photograph this type of software is mandatory.
Some examples of these programs are:
ARC/INFO and
ArcView ER Mapper
ERDAS IMAGINE Idrisi
