Adding certificates - What are my options...

[Shaundm 0]

I am in the process of scanning my Birth Certificates, which I will add to my birth event in TMG and then SS. My problem is that at the scanned size they take up 800 kb each.

 

When I resize and compress them in Microsoft Picture Editor they become smaller in size but are unreadable (the text), in that you can't make out the data if you need to read it again or for someone else to download.

 

I like having all of the attachments set to be the same size (width) as I think it looks better in SS, but don't want to lose quality.

 

What are my options....

[GenerationGoneBy 0]

I prefer to scan them as large as I can to view on a 800x600 monitor and then in SS I LINK them. That way they open in a new window and don't distract from the narrative.

[TonyC 0]

Like Teresa, I also scan as big as a can for viewing locally. I also attach as an external exhibit and use SS (2nd Site) to produce my web output.

 

I create a transcript for every certificate I have, or have sighted, and attach these as external text exhibits along with the scanned image. The result is that I can view the image locally (or when burned to CD), but the end-user of the wensite doesn't have large downloads when they are browsing (this is particularly important for those who have dial-up services java script:emoticon( ).

 

The other thing you would need to think about, is where you are going to attach your images - event, citation, source? This is a whole different can of worms, and there numerous methods of doing this.java script:emoticon(

 

You may like to have a look at my own site for an idea of one way you to accomplish what you may be after on http://history.collins-family.me.uk (see the "interpretations" page).

 

 

best of luck,

Tony

[Alison 0]

I create a transcript for every certificate I have, or have sighted, and attach these as external text exhibits along with the scanned image. The result is that I can view the image locally (or when burned to CD), but the end-user of the wensite doesn't have large downloads when they are browsing (this is particularly important for those who have dial-up services java script:emoticon( ).

 

The other thing you would need to think about, is where you are going to attach your images - event, citation, source? This is a whole different can of worms, and there numerous methods of doing this.java script:emoticon(

 

I love your extracts, are creating those as a tale in word or some other method? It seems really effective for the census records especially since something tells me ancestry doesn't want us posting their images.

 

Also, I'm just starting to attach exhibits and I'm trying to figure out wether to attach them to the event or the citation. I've been looking at output to try and decide so can you tell me, are those in fact attached to the citations?

[Shaundm 0]

I think I will attach the Cert to the event, so that any witness can also include a link to the Cert.

 

With my sources, I use fairly general ones, such as 'Birth Cert' (to avoid having 1000's of sources), and then add the persons name under the Citation detail. Therefore if I attach to the Citation Detail I would need to attach to the main person & every witness which would take longer.

[TonyC 0]

I love your extracts, are creating those as a tale in word or some other method? It seems really effective for the census records especially since something tells me ancestry doesn't want us posting their images.

 

Hi Alison,

I create my transcripts by hand I'm afraid, using raw HTML (this cuts out all the extraneous cr*p that the Microsoft products insert when generating their pages, thus reducing filesize dramatically).

 

Also, I'm just starting to attach exhibits and I'm trying to figure out wether to attach them to the event or the citation. I've been looking at output to try and decide so can you tell me, are those in fact attached to the citations?

 

Yes. They are indeed attached to the citations, but with a twist!

In TMG, I attach both the image and the transcript to the citation. I then use a special bit of html placed in the citation memo field to create the icon and the hyperlink when run through SS (exhibits switched off). I can 'talk' you through it if you contact me off-list ( history @ collins-family .me .uk without the spaces) - it would be too long for passing here.

 

 

Shaun,

 

I thought long and hard about where to attach my exhibits - you can see my conclusions on the "interpretations" page of my site. Although there are many number of ways you can do it, getting it wrong can often lead to more work later. Terry Reigel has a good set of 'help' pages which also may be of use.

 

You should not need to attach the exhibits to every person. If you have added all the witnesses to the event, a citation for that event covers all people who were involved.

 

 

 

Hope all this helps.

 

All the best,

Tony