Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/07/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]> > >Hmm. . .I thought I was using it in '92, but maybe it was later. I did have >Adobe Illustrator 88. .before '92. There were some pretty good early >digital photo manipulation programs for the Mac. . .Digital Darkroom, for >one. >sam Maybe you were, but I am not talking about what was available on the MAC, I am talking about what was SOP in the news business back then. Most papers, nowhere near all of them though, had the AP leafdesk in them that had some of the image editing skills we all take for granted today. At UPI we did not have that nor did we use MAC computers, hell MAC did not have a notebook back them with a color screen. We were using either a LEAFFAX 35 transmitter, or a drum transmitter - I still have one of these in my closet, it would transmit a color photo in 45 minutes in 5 different analog modes. The LEAFFAX did all the same modes, but it scanned from the neg, and unless you had the digital Compander you were analog with that box also. The Leaf 35 was an old 286 (or whatever the designation of the 200 series computers was) with a 4 inch color tv screen, a built in film scanner and a jack for the phone line..all crammed in a zero haliburton case. You would scan the neg or slide, enter a caption, no more than 4 or 5 short lines, call the Washington desk and say "I've got a photo of xyz subject" They would say hold on, then you would hear the beeps in your ear. You hit send test signal wait 10 seconds then hit send, F7 I think it was. Sit back and drink a beer or two, after all three printers (CMY, no K was sent) had gone you'd call Washington again to see if they got it. If the transmission was clean, no hits from line noise, you'd ask them to keep the lines open. A noisy line made you have to re transmit the shot as it would have lines in it. Now with digital there are no lines and if there are Photoshop can fix them in a hurry. The worst thing was to call and have them tell you everything was fine after they only looked at the Magenta printer. You would take out the neg and scan the next one then they were calling to tell you that the Cyan had a hit in it, could you resend it?....DAMN!!!! Now you had to re scan and re send ALL 3 PRINTERS 30 minutes lost on deadline. IF they had looked at the Cyan when You called you could have sent only the Cyan printer, only 7 minutes lost. Ahh how I miss those stress filled days souping film in a bathroom and drying it with a hair dryer and sending photos out analog. - -- Harrison McClary http://www.mcclary.net