Use of 3D glasses in cinemas Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Analysis and Evaluation

Question: Contextual analysis on Billabong International Ltds. Answer: 1.0 Introduction Billabong International Ltds (BBL) is a recorded organization situated in Australia. Its principle exercises identifying with business is to disperse, market, retail and discount eye wears, wetsuits and attire.. It is working together in excess of 100 nations and has in excess of 11000 stores everywhere throughout the world. It has right around 6000 workers (Whelan, Woodhead and Cliff 2014). Significant brands of Billabong are Von Zipper, Kustom, Sector 9, and Xcel. It was established in the year 1973 in the gold bank of Australia. At starting, it used to sell items locally, during the 80s it went into world market and in 90s; it developed at a remarkable rate. In this task, security showcase investigation, credit examination and trouble investigation will be made to comprehend the present and future possibilities of Billabong. 2.0 Discussion In this segment, a nitty gritty investigation of Securities and credit parts of Billabong International Ltd will be dissected. Trouble forecast will be done dependent on budget summary investigation and proportion got from it, in light of which proposal will be given. 2.1 Security Analysis In this segment, examination of Billabong International Ltds tradable protections will be done and their fairly estimated worth will be resolved, which will inspect the hazard and return of individual and gathering protections. 2.1.1 Market Efficiency: The market productivity of Billabong can be resolved from the investigation of its protections. Billabong capital structure comprises of just conventional offers and there is no obligation. The obligations appeared to be decided sheet comprises of bank overdraft, transient borrowings (Damodaran 2016). Obligation value proportion of Billabong is presently 0.92 which implies its value is more than obligation and it is a decent sign for the organization. There is no requirement for the organization to present more assets as Debt or value without giving convertible debentures since it has adequate limit. 2.1.2 Fund the board and Security examination: The methodology towards Fund the executives fluctuates structure organization to organization. In the year, 2000 billabong share was first recorded in the Security Exchange of Australia when it made its Initial Public Offerings (IPO). It gave 2.6 million offers in the market. Venture can be overseen effectively or latently. Investigation of dynamic portfolio relies intensely upon the security examination to figure whether the portions of the organization are mispriced or not (Klti, Kotronis and Smith 2013). While in the event of inactive examination, the portfolio supervisor maintains a strategic distance from the expense of security investigation and store the board depends available file and execution of the area. 2.1.3 Process of Comprehensive Security Analysis: This procedure includes the accompanying advances (I) Selection of contender for examination: It is clearly impractical to investigate all the protections so a small amount of protections is taken on which center is given. Store are for the most part put resources into stocks which convey a specific pace of return went with chance. Another methodology of choosing stock is to take scarcely any organizations in the business whose offers are mispriced and meet certain rules. Different inquiry that are tended to in this segment are chance profile of the organization and instability of the stock. (ii) Market desire: While conduction security investigation to recognize whether the protections are mispriced or not, the market desire alongside the experts desire is to be considered. It is conceivable to watch the cost of the stock regarding appearance in the market examination and contrast and the desire for the investigator. Be that as it may, share value gives just a measurable synopsis. To comprehend the future execution of the organization a point by point investigation its income, working expense and winning is required to be done (Klti et al. 2013). (iii) Analyst Expectation: It depends on the investigation of different information and data accessible from the yearly report of the organization. Investigator can utilize strategy like Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), Beta examination and Dividend Pricing Model (DDM) infer the stock cost of the organization (Barberis et al. 2015). The Earning Per Share (EPS) of Billabong is to be surveyed to anticipate the future result of the organization. 2.1.4 Final Product of security Analysis: In this area, guidance is given on whether the portion of the organization is exchanging rich or modest the market. In view of that whether to buy or sell the offers is resolved. In making a proposal, the time skyline of speculation is to be considered whether it is a long haul or transient venture, which depends on gauge and summing up the report (Michaelides et al. 2013). 2.2 Credit Analysis In this area, the reimbursement limit of Billabong is surveyed dependent on the monetary remaining of the organization and the capacity of the organization to reimburse its present moment and long haul obligation is evaluated. 2.2.1 Potential borrowers monetary status: Monetary status of the borrower to reimburse its obligations can be resolved on the examination of liquidity proportion of the organization, which contains current proportion and brisk proportion. Current proportion of Billabong is 2.19 for the year 2015, which demonstrates that is ability to reimburse its obligation is awesome (Spronk, Steuer and Zopounidis 2016). Current proportion of 2 is commonly adequate for an organization and a base proportion of 1:1 is required. It is falls beneath 1 then it is a peril circumstance for the organization. Consequently, it tends to be said that Billabong is in an excellent situation to reimburse its a wide range of obligation. 2.2.2 Purpose of credit: Organization takes credit for different purposes like running everyday exercises, expanding its capital base, setting up new pursuits and growing existing limit. Credit is taken dependent on its present moment or long haul needs. As of now Billabong is attempting to be in the market subsequently, it has acknowledged to obligation of $360 million from a private value. On account of this buyout, 34% of the controlling force has gone in the hands of firms who have given the reserve. To come out of this budgetary emergency it has acknowledged that financing in any case its piece of the pie would have been in stake. 2.2.3 Nature of credit: The above subsidizing is as the drawn out which is required as Billabong is rebuilding its activity procedure and capital structure to make due in this serious market and to give a solid money related base to the organization (Bluhm, Overbeck and Wagner 2016). On the declaration of this arrangement, the offer cost of Billabong has fallen by 42.8%. It was in earnest need of the credit has it revealed lost $ 360 million. This arrangement was a lifeline for Billabong. 2.2.4 Term and Ability to reimburse: The term of the obligation is 6 years which conveys a fixed pace of enthusiasm of 11.9% per annum of which 5.9% is payable in real money and 6.0% is payable in kind at the choice of the organization. There is an office of prepayment premium if the advance is reimbursed early. From the examination of current proportion (2.19) and snappy proportion (1.35), it very well may be said that Billabong can reimburse its obligations. Snappy proportion gives a much exhaustive thought of the liquidity position of the organization (Baghai, Servaes and Tamayo 2014). It avoids those things, which may set aside some effort to change over into money, and incorporates those things, which can be effectively changed over into money. 2.2.5 Security: In this drawn out financing, Billabong needs to give 29.6 million choices to the consortium, which can be practiced at a cost of $ 0.50 per share. Moreover, Billabong has resolved to give a multi cash that is resource based pivoting a credit office of US $ 140 million. 2.2.6 Loan Covenants: Agreements joined to this drawn out financing is that C/O Consortium will have the option to designate delegate in the top managerial staff of Billabong (Spronk et al. 2016). It implies the funders will have a controlling force on the administration of the organization. Billabong has acknowledged the proposition as the historical backdrop of the discoverers state that they have great record in the retail and other market (Golin and Delhaise 2013). 2.3 Distress Prediction In this area, investigation will be made dependent on information and proportions accessible from the fiscal report of Billabong. 2.3.1 Financial Statement Analysis and Listed Debt: Given underneath is the fiscal summary and different proportion examination of Billabong- Billabong (Table-1) Salary STATEMENT 2013 2014 2015 Income 1341 1121 1052 Less: Cost of merchandise sold 651 556 495 Net benefit 690 565 557 Less: working Expenses 1511 633 557 Working Profit - 821 - 68 0 Include: Other Income 21 - 9 28 Less: Different Expenses 0 0 0 Winning before intrigue and expenses - 800 - 77 28 Less: Intrigue 27 82 34 Acquiring before charges - 827 - 159 - 6 Less: Arrangement for charge 33 75 - 12 Acquiring after assessment/Net benefit - 860 - 234 6 weighted normal number of offers 2931 2905 2884 Asset report 2013 2014 2015 Resource Current resource 899 622 496 Receivable 245 204 154 Other Current Asset 654 418 342 Non Current Asset 1181 390 256 All out Asset (a) 2080 1012 752 Liabilty and investors subsidize Current risk 611 612 226 Non Current Liability 440 128 256 Long haul Debt 242 0 208 Other Non Current Liability 198

Business Decision Making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business Decision Making - Essay Example Explanation behind colleting the essential and optional information for the given business issue assists with arriving at the genuine choice to counsel the customers in Spain, France and Italy. As the administrator of the organization, planning of most reasonable arrangement for essential and optional information assortment is a lot of fundamental. â€Å"Data Collection causes your group to survey the strength of your procedure. To do as such, you should recognize the key quality attributes, you will gauge, how you will quantify them, and what you will do with the information you collect† (Module 7: Data Collection n.d. p. 1). Here I am working for the supervisor of a property organization in UK and furthermore simultaneously our organization manages properties in different spots like Spain, France and Italy. There are in excess of 100 customers, who areâ interested in purchasing properties especially in Spain. That’s the motivation behind why, every one of these natio ns are oftentimes posing inquiries with respect to the property. Taking in to the psyche the respondents, it is the most ideal approach to get the data suitable. This empowers to comprehend different uncovered complexities. Essential Data:  â â â â â Primary research strategy is one of the broadly utilized strategies to gather data from the respondents so as to settle on the correct choice with respect to the sell or leasing the property.â The essential techniques are utilized to settle on the most fitting choice and furthermore to offer guidance to the abroad Questioners and study. Essential research has been chosen for the explanation that essential research offers the inventive data that is required for the capacity of the examination and is fundamentally required for the investigation. It is set up by social occasion of essential data. Surveys Method:  â â â â â Questionnaires strategy is one of strategies used to assemble data from the objective clients to gai n the applicable data. A poll is one of the all around fabricated research mechanical assembly and it encases the different inquiries and a portion of the other appropriate issues for the explanation of social affair information's from customers. After the data gathered from the survey, subsequent stage is to contemplate the data with the assistance tables and outlines. The organizing of survey is on the score base, which encourages the respondent to take the fitting choice. Greater part of the inquiries in this depend on given circumstance. This backings the remote nations to react without question. The poll is masterminded in a basic manner, which makes him to seek after the example in a simple manner. The vast majority of the inquiries are orchestrated in a straightforward manner, to assist the customers with following the inquiries without any problem. Polls comprise of 10 fundamental inquiries that will assists with settling on the most proper choice. The organizing of poll oug ht to be circumspectly structured in understanding to the preconditions of precision and importance. Surveys are an examination technique, which is very notable to most teachers. â€Å"Questionnaires, paper or electronic, comprise of a lot of inquiries or things that are intended for a chose gathering of individuals, for example, instructors, chairmen, guardians, understudies, or others. Surveys change long, center, and kinds of things, for example, agendas, scaled things or open-finished inquiries and are especially helpful in social occasion information from enormous gatherings of individuals about recognitions, perspectives, proposed activities or use of learning† (Preparing to Collect Data n.d.).  Survey Method:  â â â â â Surveys are one of the methodologies used to accumulate the information's to research and make an appropriate thought in regards to the business issue. The strategy most of the associations use to gather the customers see on given subject. â €Å"The Survey strategy is the method of social occasion information by posing inquiries to individuals, who are thought to have wanted data. A formal

Window of Vulnerability Calculation Essay Example

Window of Vulnerability Calculation Essay Example Window of Vulnerability Calculation Paper Window of Vulnerability Calculation Paper Ascertain THE WINDOW OF VULNERABILITY A security break has been distinguished inside a little Microsoft workgroup LAN. The workgroup comprises of three essential workgroups which contain bunch participation arrangements of clients inside the Active Directory foundation that as of now exists on the SMB Server that is situated inside the bounds of the LAN structure. The security break, which is characterized as any occasion that outcomes in an infringement of any of the CIA (secrecy, uprightness, accessibility) security standards, was brought about by the SMB server being gotten to by an unapproved client because of a security opening that was recognized by the server programming producer the earlier day. The security fix won't be accessible until conceivable up to three days, however ideally inside that time span. Also, the LAN director needs at any rate multi week (least) to download, test, and introduce the fix. To ascertain the Window of Vulnerability (WoV) for this security penetrate, the accompanying course of events will be utilized as a rule to decide the reason for estimation: However, first it is essential to comprehend the factors considered in this timetable recipe. The WoV is the period inside which guarded measures are diminished, traded off, or lacking. The WoV covers a timetable from the second a weakness is found and distinguished by the merchant. It additionally incorporates the time taken to make, distribute, lastly apply a fix to the weakness. It is likewise essential to investigate the device(s) that were focused by the assault. In this occasion, being the SMB server inside the LAN. The SMB server uses an application layer organize convention, which can run on the meeting layer. It gives shared access to records, printers, sequential ports, and system hubs (workstations, PCs, work areas, and so on ) and gives a customer/server relationship all through the system. This implies each space layer of the IT Infrastructure can be influenced at some level by this security penetrate that has happened, which must be considered in the time allotment investigation of the WoV also. What's more, it is critical to consider precisely how this security penetrate happened, when deciding counter-measures to contain and diminish the probability of any such events from happening once more. Be that as it may, these elements are not entirely of the timetable for computing the WoV, yet ought to be tended to when understanding the WoV. The security gap that was distinguished by the server programming manu-facturer the earlier day gave the unapproved client a lucky opening/helplessness by finding the indirect access (security gap) to get to assets and sidestep existing security controls, secret word encryption, and access controls that were set up to ensure the IT foundation. It is conceivable that an utility, for example, netcat was utilized or a rootkit or some sort of Trojan pony secondary passage programming or gadget. Computation of Window of Vulnerability: Factors to consider in the timetable: * 1 Day Ago = Security Hole Detected by Manufacturer * 3 Days = A fix will be Available 1 Week = Minimum time for LAN administrator to download/test/introduce fix Therefore, Day 0 = 09/28/12; + 3 days = 10/01/12; + 7 days = 10/08/12 (min) *[+ 2 days extra for any potential problems] 10/10/12 = Day n . This can be delineated in the accompanying graphical showcase: Day n = an aggregate of 13 days have passed from Day 0 . T aking everything into account, the WoV would be 13 days dependent on this time allotment. *You could possibly ascertain the WoV to be 11 days without including the extra 2 days I figured in for safety buffer/potential issues. In any case, it is ideal to consistently compute on a most dire outcome imaginable premise while ascertaining the Window of Vulnerability

Writing a Research Paper Proposal

Writing a Research Paper ProposalWriting a research paper proposal is not easy. But it is one of the most challenging things for students, especially those who are in a rush to get their PhDs. It can also be discouraging for those who want to get into academia but cannot afford the time required to write a dissertation. Still, if you are sure that your thesis is worth writing, there are steps you can take to make it more professional and easier to write.Keep in mind that what matters most is not how it looks. For example, academic papers that have been reviewed by a professor are less likely to be rejected than those that are written by themselves. Good research requires good writing. That is why keeping track of your research is an important part of writing a proposal. There are many good online resources that you can use to keep track of the areas you need to research. But it is still recommended that you prepare a list of research ideas in order to keep track of the things you hav e to write about.Make a research list by writing down all your research ideas first before you start working on the research proposal. Write down every question you would like to answer with your research and the specific research question you wish to be answered. This will give you the freedom to concentrate on the research itself and the writing itself.The second step is to create a personal letter to your prospective supervisor. Think of your research as a case study that you will present to your supervisor. Ask them what questions they would ask and your answer. Then decide on the research questions you would want to have answers to. Do not hesitate to include the items that are most important for you.You can write a research paper proposal in any topic and format that you want. A research paper proposal will need to have all the relevant information needed for it to be submitted in an academic journal. Think of the format you would like your proposal to be submitted in. Be sure that it includes everything you would need in order to publish.Do not just rely on your research paper proposal alone. Be sure to include all the material that you will need for it to be submitted in an academic journal. Although you can submit a personal letter, you should also include a syllabus, references, and a bibliography. Also, do not be afraid to write a lot of information that will relate back to your research paper proposal. If you only include your information, the referee or editor will ask for more.When submitting your research paper proposal, make sure that you provide a bibliography. The bibliography must be at least five pages long. With this bibliography, you can find the best papers that relate to your research topic. Once you have included all the materials that you would need for the proposal, make sure you use the citations that are placed in your bibliography.Lastly, make sure that the research paper you are submitting is well structured and is written well. Your research paper is an important document that is going to define your thesis. So, make sure it is written in a professional manner. Don't waste your time and energy submitting a poor research paper proposal.

Why Business Remains The Most Popular Major -

Why Business Remains The Most Popular Major by: Alison Damast on January 07, 2019 | 0 Comments Comments 5,230 Views January 7, 2019Allie Savino started her undergraduate career as a biology major at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, but quickly found herself drawn to the school’s well-regarded undergraduate business program. By her sophomore year, she was uncertain where her biology degree would take her, and wanted a wider array of career options. â€Å"Somewhat jokingly I said I will apply to the business school,† recalls Savino, now a senior double majoring in biology and business. â€Å"I ended up getting in and it was one of the best decisions I made during my time at UNC. With biology, there were just a few career paths. With a business major, you can take it wherever you want to go.†A business major is often one of the more popular majors on campus, with troves of students like Savino drawn to the degree’s many perks, from attracti ve salaries and plum job positions right out of school to the growing number of classroom experiential learning and study abroad opportunities.Graduates from top business programs these days can easily earn more than $60,000 after they graduate. At the upper echelon of the top-ranked schools, starting salaries can top $70,000 or more, and that’s not even factoring in signing bonuses. At the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce, which ranked No. 2 in PQ’s 2018 undergraduate business school ranking, the average starting salary was $75,068, with the average signing bonus clocking in at $9,313. At Wharton, the No. 1 school in this year’s ranking, the class of 2018 reported an average annual salary of $80,354 as starting base salaries. Of that group, 90.3% reported earning an average signing bonus of $12,960.While hefty starting salaries are undoubtedly an attractive perk of being a business major, there are countless other reasons to consider getting a Bachelor’s in Business Administration (BBA) degree, B-school administrators say. Students and parents alike increasingly view a BBA as a degree that has a solid return on investment, as well as one that can help them move up the career ladder quickly and efficiently. A business major also helps them develop a unique perspective on how the fundamentals of business can be applied to nearly any industry or career. It’s one of the reasons the business degree is the most popular degree in the country, accounting for nearly 20% of all degrees awarded, according to recent data from the National Center for Education statistics.â€Å"It’s not just about being an undergraduate business major these days. It is about acquiring skills and a mindset that really helps them advance at an early age,† reasons Steven Malter, the senior associate dean of undergraduate and graduate programs at Washington University’s Olin Business School in St. Louis, which r anked No. 3 in PQ’s ranking.Malter and deans from other top-ranked undergraduate business programs agreed to share their thoughts on what they believe are the best reasons for students to consider a business major while in college. Here are five reasons they believe students and parents should take a closer look at the business major while conducting their college searches and visiting schools.STUDENTS CAN EXPECT AN ARRAY OF HIGH-TOUCH SERVICES  Business schools are fundamentally tied to the greater university community, but in many ways they are their own islands. For example, business majors at leading business programs can expect to get top-caliber campus services that many may not be available to other students on campus, from specialized career services to advising, says Anna Millar, managing director of the undergraduate business program at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. At Kenan-Flagler, the program has its own career services office and academic advisor s, which leads to students conducting more efficient and targeted job searches, Millar says. â€Å"Our academic advisors only need to know about the business curriculum and our career folks only need to know about careers in business, Millar explains. â€Å"They are able to provide really high-level services to a fewer number of students. It becomes a very high-touch kind of program.†Career services aside, business students have a rich array of resources right at their fingertips, from more modern facilities and classrooms, to high-tech labs and unique global opportunities and partnerships, says Ryan Nelson, associate dean of McIntire’s undergraduate program. â€Å"The resources we have to offer in a business school tend to be better than you might find in other programs on campus.† Nelson continues. â€Å"If you think about what you are getting for your money, you are getting not only a job but ancillary services that tend to be better in a business school.â € A VALUABLE TOOLBOXBusiness schools excel at teaching students skills that often can’t be found in textbooks, from the so-called ‘soft skills’ that help students stand out in the workforce to developing an entrepreneurial mindset.For example, at the Olin School, students learn the in and outs of entrepreneurial thinking early on in their college careers, Malter says. The first three semesters of school, students have to undertake five experiential learning projects, are required to take a course in entrepreneurship and get experience creating their own consumer products in teams. â€Å"They are forced to deal with ambiguity in situations that are reflective of the environment they will face in business,† Malter explains. â€Å"They are coming out with an advanced sets of skill in their toolbox.At UNC’s Kenan-Flagler school, professors and career staff emphasize learning soft skills in the classroom. Students learn through class projects how to be a good communicator, a strong team player, and how to be flexible, Millar says. They also get comfortable giving and receiving feedback to their peers. â€Å"These are skills business schools give you that you can’t obtain elsewhere,† she says.Allie Savino, the UNC senior majoring in biology and business, says she has honed those skills at Kenan-Flagler, and believes they will serve her well when she starts a job as an incoming associate consultant at Bain Company’s Atlanta office after graduation.   â€Å"You can be the best problem solver in the world, but if I can’t tell someone what that means for them and their business, it is useless,† Savino says.UNPARALLELED STUDY ABROAD AND GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES  At many of the top business schools today, students are strongly encouraged to participate in a study-abroad trip where they will get hands-on global business experience. For example, at UNC Chapel-Hill, approximately 72% of Kenan-Flagler s tudents study abroad versus 35% of the rest of the campus, says Millar. While on these trips, students develop skills that enable them to view business through a global lens. â€Å"Students have to step out of their comfort zone and immerse themselves in cultures that are not their own,† Millar explains. â€Å"They develop skills like sympathy, adaptability and flexibility.†The McIntire School strongly encourages students to go abroad their junior year, and has prestigious partnerships with schools such as Peking University in Beijing and HEC Paris, where students can study international business for a semester the spring of their junior year. â€Å"In our case, the global opportunities to study abroad tend to be quite strong,† says McIntire’s Nelson. â€Å"We have a lot of very good partnerships with schools around the world and we are able to do that by leveraging the strong resources we have.†AN EDGE IN THE WORKFORCEThe skills students obtain wh ile a business major are ones that can help them get off to a running start when they enter the workforce, UNC’s Millar says. Students who major in business become Excel whizzes, learn in accounting classes how to create budgets and read company reports, and often leave school with Bloomberg Terminal certification. Many can pull together a PowerPoint presentation in a few hours and become effective and natural storytellers. â€Å"There are all hands-on practical skills you can put into practice the minute you step into your first job,† Millar says.It’s precisely those practical skills that make business majors so compelling to employers, agrees UVA’s Nelson. â€Å"We hear from our recruiters that our students are not only able to perform very well right out of the gate, but tend to be the ones that get promoted faster and make it into managerial positions,† he says. â€Å"Our students have the business fundamentals, but also the communication and teamwork skills. Those are the additional skillsets that help set our graduates apart from the rest and get them on the fast track.†A CAREER WITH ENDLESS FLEXIBILITY AND OPTIONSTop business schools today are known for having some of the most cutting-edge courses and specializations on campus. For example, the McIntire School now offers students the chance to take classes in data analytics, artificial intelligence, global business, and machine learning. â€Å"Those are just topics that allow you to do so many things today and in the future,† Nelson says. â€Å"When you couple that with the fundamental liberal arts and business education students receive, they can do almost anything you can think of in different industries and careers.†In fact, many students today find that the undergraduate business education they receive is strong enough that they don’t need to go back to school a few years later to get their MBA. At the Olin School, Malter says he’ s noticed a fair number of undergraduate business majors — much more so than five or six years ago — bypassing the MBA degree completely. â€Å"They are getting an incredible undergraduate education and they are succeeding in the firms they go to work for,† he says. â€Å"Certainly some go back, but you see a lot of students being successful without returning to school.†DONT MISS: BUSINESS SCHOOLS WITH THE BEST COLLEGE EXPERIENCE or REPORT CARD: HOW ALUMNI GRADE UNDERGRADUATE BIZ PROGRAMS Page 1 of 11

Tips for Scanning Restoring Digital Photos

Do you have old faded or torn photos that youd like to give a facelift? Have you been meaning to take that box of old photos from Grandma and scan them? Learning to create and edit digital photos is fairly easy and very worthwhile. Digitally restored photos can be used to create digital scrapbooks, post to websites, share through email, and print for gift-giving or display. You dont have to be a technology whiz or a graphic designer to become proficient at photo restoration, but you will need a computer, a scanner, and a good (not necessarily expensive) graphics program. Scanning Tips for Digital Photos Check your photos for dirt, lint, or smudges. Gently remove surface dust and dirt with a soft brush or lint-free photo  wipe. Canned air, available at most office supply stores, helps to blast away dust and lint from photographic slides but is not recommended for heirloom print photos.Check the scanner glass for lint, hair, fingerprints, or smudges. Use a lint-free pad or wipe to thoroughly clean the glass (basically anything that is sold as safe for cleaning camera lenses will also work for your scanner). Household glass cleaner can be used to clean your scanner glass, as long as youre careful to spray it directly on the cloth before wiping, not directly on the glass surface. When using your scanner or handling photographs, it is best to wear clean white cotton gloves (available from photo stores and hardware stores) to avoid leaving fingerprints on your scanner or photos.Specify the type of scan. If youre scanning photos, you have a basic choice of color photo vs. black and white . When scanning family photos, it is usually best to scan in color, even if the source photo is black and white. Youll have more manipulation options, and you can change a color photo to black and white (grayscale), but not the other way around.Determine the best scan resolution to assure the quality of your digital photos. The optimal resolution depends on how the image will be printed, saved, or displayed. A good rule of thumb is to scan your photos at a minimum of 300 dpi (dots per inch) to assure decent quality for enhancement and restoration techniques. Its even better to do 600 dpi or greater if you plan to eventually store these photos on CD or DVD, and have space on your computer hard drive to handle such large images.Carefully position your photo on the scanner face down on the glass, just like on a photocopy machine. Then hit prescan or preview. The scanner will take a quick pass of the image and display a rough version on your screen. Check to see that its straight, that no part of the photo has been cut off, and that the photo appears free of dust and lint.Crop the previewed image to include only the original photo. For archival purposes, do not crop only a portion of the photo at this point (you can do that later if you want a cropped photo for a specific purpose). However, you should make sure that all you are scanning is the actual photograph. (Some scanners and software will do this step for you automatically.)Avoid corrections while scanning. After scanning, youll be able to edit the image in a graphics software program which offers much more control. The order of steps should be: scan a basic image, save it, play with it.Check your file size before scanning. Youll want to make sure the chosen resolution you wont create a photo that is so large it will crash your computer. Some computers have enough free memory to handle 34MB photo files, and some dont. If the file size is going to be larger than you thought, then adjust the scan resolution ac cordingly before making the file scan.Scan the original image. This shouldnt take too long, but it could take a few minutes if youre scanning at a very high resolution. Take a quick bathroom break, or get your next photo ready for scanning. Saving Editing Your Digital Photos Now that youve got your photo scanned in, its time to save it to your hard drive. Be sure to choose an archival method and select a good photo-editing program. Storage Tips for Digital Photos Choose your file type. The best file type for scanning and saving archival photos is TIF (Tagged Image Format), the undisputed leader when the best quality is required. The popular JPG (JPEG) file format is nice because its compression algorithm creates smaller file sizes, making it the most popular photo format for web pages and file sharing. However, the compression that creates the small files also causes some quality loss. This loss of image quality is small, but becomes important when dealing with digital images that you plan to modify and re-save (something that you are likely to do when restoring damaged or faded photographs) because the loss of image quality compounds itself at each saving of the file. Bottom line—unless space on your computers hard  drive is at a real premium, stick with TIF when scanning and saving digital photos.Save an archive copy of the original photo in TIF format. You can then place it in a special folder on your hard  drive or copy to CD o r DVD. Resist the urge to edit this original photo, no matter how bad it looks. The purpose of this copy is to preserve, as closely as possible, the original photograph in a digital format—a format that, hopefully, will outlast the original print photo.Make a copy of your scanned photo to work on. Use the copy instead of manipulating your original scan. Save it with a different filename (i.e., you can use the original file name with -edited on the end) to help prevent accidentally overwriting the original as you work on editing the photo. Choosing a Graphics Software Program The key to good digital photos is selecting a good graphics software program. If you dont have photo editing software yet, there are a lot of good options available—ranging from free photo editors to beginner photo editors, to advanced photo editing software. For photo restoration, a mid-range graphics software program offers the best balance of function and price. Step-by-Step Photo Repair and Restoration Now that youve done all the tedious work of scanning and saving your photos as digital images, its time to get started with the fun part—photo retouching! Pictures with stains, creases, and tears may have character, but they arent as pretty for framing or photo projects. These photo editing tips will help make your old pictures album-ready. Editing Tips for Digital Photos Open your photo editing software and select the photo. Be sure that it is a copy and not your original digital image. (This way you can always start over if you make a mistake.)Crop your photo using the crop tool. This is good to do in cases where there is a mat or extra wasted space in the photo. Depending upon your purpose, you may also wish to use the crop tool to cut out the background or focus in on a particular person. Since you have saved a copy of the original photo, you dont have to worry about losing important historical details by getting a bit creative with cropping.Fix photo flaws including rips, tears, creases, spots, and smudges, with a variety of handy fix-it tools.Creases, Tears, Spots, Smudges: Most image-editing programs have a cloning or copying tool to help fix photo flaws by filling them in with patches from similar areas in the picture. If the area is large, you may wish to zoom in on the area a bit before applying the cloning tool. The best alternative in low -budget photo editing software is usually the smudge tool.Dust, Speckles, Scratches: Set Radius and Threshold settings at their lowest settings and then slowly increase the Radius until you find the lowest setting that will rid your image of the dust or scratches. However, since that makes your whole image look blurry, you should then bring the Threshold setting way up and then slowly lower it until you find the highest setting that still removes dust and scratches from your photo. Check the results carefully—sometimes this process ends up removing eyelashes and other important content that mimic scratches. Many graphics programs also have a global dust/speckles filter, which looks for spots that differ from their neighboring pixels in color or brightness. It then blurs the surrounding pixels to cover the offending ones. If you only have a few large specks, then zoom in on them and edit the offending pixels by hand with a paint, smudge, or cloning tool.Bye, Bye Red Eye: You can remove that annoying effect in your photos with automatic red-eye removal, or with the pencil and paintbrush found in most photo-editing software. Sometimes an automatic Red-eye Removal tool will change the original eye color. If in doubt, check with someone who has knowledge of the persons eye color.Correct the color and contrast. You may find that many of your old photos have faded, darkened, or become discolored with age. With the help of your digital photo-editing software, you can easily repair and restore these photographs to their former glory.Brightness: Lighten up a dark photo with the brightness adjustment. If its too light, you can darken it a bit.Contrast: Best used in conjunction with Brightness, this feature adjusts the overall contrast—bringing out features in pictures that are mostly middle tones (grays with no true blacks and whites).Saturation: Use the Saturation tool to help turn back the clock on faded photos—giving photos more richness and dept h.Sepia-tones: If you want to give your color or black-and-white photo an antique look, then use your photo-editing software to create a duotone (two-color picture). If your original photo is color, youll first have to convert it to greyscale. Then select duotone and choose your two colors (brown shades are the most common for this effect).Sharpen: Use this to add focus to a blurry photo as the final step before saving. Enhancing Your Digital Photos If you have plans to use your newly-edited digital photos in a scrapbook, slideshow, or another digital project, then you may wish to jazz them up with colorization, captions, airbrushing, or vignettes. Enhancement Tips for Digital Photos ColorizationHave you ever wondered how your 19th-century great, great-grandfather may have looked in color? Or perhaps you want to see how that old black-and-white photo would look with a few touches of color—a pink bow here and a blue dress there. If your photo-editor is fairly full-featured, its easy to find out! Begin with a black-and-white photo.Using a Selection tool Lasso), select an area of the image that you wish to add color to. The Magic Wand can also be used for this step, but it requires a bit of technical knowledge and practice to use with black-and-white photos.Once the area is selected, go to the tint or color-balance controls and alter the color level values.Experiment until you get the desired effect.Repeat these steps for each area of the picture you wish to colorize.Colorizing photos can get a lot fancier than what weve detailed above, with techniques such as channel-splitting and transparent layers, plus tips for using the Magic Wand for selecting photo areas. Adding Captions If youve spent any time going through an ancestors collection of largely unlabeled photos, youll understand why we say that you owe it to your descendants (and other relatives) to properly label all of your digital photos. Many photo-editors offer a caption option which allows you to actually embed a caption within the header of JPEG or TIFF format files (known as the ITPC standard), allowing it to be transferred directly with the picture, and be read by the majority of graphics software programs. Other photo information that can be embedded with this method includes keywords, copyright info, and URL data. Most of this info, with the exception of the caption in some photo software, is not displayed with the photo but is stored with it and can be accessed under the photos properties by almost any user. If your photo editing software supports this feature, it can usually be found under Add Caption or File - Info. Check your help file for details. Creating Vignettes Many old photos have soft-edged borders, called vignettes. If your photos dont, its an easy effect to add. The classic vignette shape is an oval, but you can get creative and use other shapes such as rectangles, hearts, and stars. Or you can create a free-hand vignette, following the irregular outline of the subject—as in a portrait.Select an image with plenty of background around the subject. You need this to allow room for effective fading. Use the Selection tool in the shape of your choice (rectangular, oval, etc.), adding the feather option to feather the edges of your selection by 20 to 40 pixels (experiment to find the amount of fading which looks best for your photo). Then drag out the selection until you encompass the area you want to start the blend. The line at the edge of your selection will eventually be at the midway point of your faded edges (in other words, pixels on both sides of the line youve created will be feathered). Use can also use the Lasso selection tool if you wish to create an irregular border. Under the Selection menu choose Invert. This will move the selected area to the background (the part you wish to remove). Then select delete to cut this remaining background from the picture. Some photo-editing programs offer an easy one-click option for adding vignette borders, as well as other fancy frames and borders. Using these strategies, you can save family photographic heirlooms and create a historical record that can be shared digitally and in print.