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    Colors and styles in Multimedia Comments

    Often, when I'm adding comments to photos, I'd love to be able to have certain words stand out, via a different font style, or a separate color. For example, in identifying the people in a group photo, maybe I'd like the names of relatives to stand out in red, or the names of people whose identity I'm unsure of to be in italics.

    Is there any way to do this in Reunion 12?! I have checked the manual, etc. but I don't see anything that would indicate that it's possible.

    I could have sworn I was able to do this very thing in earlier versions of Reunion, but I'd begun to think it was all in my head. However, I recently opened my old Reunion 9 application (!), and sure enough, I could, and did, use styles and colors in the Multimedia Detail field, back then.

    Is there some reason this option was taken away (if it, indeed, was)? And/or is there any chance of getting it back?

    Alternately, does anyone have any clever workarounds? I'd been hoping colors/styles in Multimedia comments would be one of the new features in Reunion 12 -- and Reunion 13 is probably a long way away!

    Thank you!

    Laurie

    #2
    Re: Colors and styles in Multimedia Comments

    You don't need to do everything within Reunion: I would recommend that you treat yourself to an image editor. I use Pixelmator, but there are many others. Of any valued photo, keep your original and work on a copy. Not only can you add all the multi-coloured captions you want, but you can usually make big improvements to the image itself in terms of cropping, definition, contrast, colour balance, etc.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Colors and styles in Multimedia Comments

      Originally posted by Michael Talibard View Post
      You don't need to do everything within Reunion: I would recommend that you treat yourself to an image editor. I use Pixelmator, but there are many others. Of any valued photo, keep your original and work on a copy. Not only can you add all the multi-coloured captions you want, but you can usually make big improvements to the image itself in terms of cropping, definition, contrast, colour balance, etc.
      Thank you for the suggestion! I WAS actually hoping to be able to do this within Reunion -- just for the time and convenience -- but you've given me something to think about, down the line.

      (I have used Pixelmator, for non-genealogical matters, but I'm not adept at it at all, and I think it would take me more time than it would be worth, at this point, just to be able to use colors and styles.)

      It would be one thing if this feature had never been available within Reunion -- but it definitely was, once. I can't understand why the "downgrade," in that respect. (Leister...?)

      Laurie

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Colors and styles in Multimedia Comments

        I always download an image (census, documents, birth/marr/death certs.) to my desktop and then open them in Preview. Using this app. I can then crop, annotate, enlarge etc using varying fonts & sizes, colours to your photo etc.

        As a matter of interest I always d/load in the .png format. Crop/annotate & do whatever I wish and then export to .jpg before filing away in my ancestry records folder.

        From that folder I can then drag the image to the multimedia window of the person concerned in Reunion. All the colours, fonts seem to be maintained by Reunion.

        Alan
        iMac 27" (late 2015) 2TB, 24GB Ram, (Monterey 12.3.1) iPad Pro 12.9" 256GB (Ios 14.4), iPhone 6S+ 128GB (Ios 14.4), Reunion 13,

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Colors and styles in Multimedia Comments

          Laurie Sherman Thank you for the suggestion! I WAS actually hoping to be able to do this within Reunion -- just for the time and convenience -- but you've given me something to think about, down the line.

          (I have used Pixelmator, for non-genealogical matters, but I'm not adept at it at all, and I think it would take me more time than it would be worth, at this point, just to be able to use colors and styles.)

          It would be one thing if this feature had never been available within Reunion -- but it definitely was, once. I can't understand why the "downgrade," in that respect. (Leister...?)

          Another option is to use Preview app. You can open a photo in Reunion, click on the Hammer icon (tools) at the bottom & select 'open in Preview', do your editing & text etc then save & close image. I only wish preview would allow one to straighten a 'cocked' image!

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Colors and styles in Multimedia Comments

            "I only wish preview would allow one to straighten a 'cocked' image!"

            I quite agree. It would be great if Preview allowed this. I don't know of any simple apps that would enabling straightening of images that have been downloaded.

            I've d/l many census returns that are 'cocked' at any angle with the surrounds completely black that need to be 'cut-out'

            Does anyone know of such a facility or app??

            Alan
            iMac 27" (late 2015) 2TB, 24GB Ram, (Monterey 12.3.1) iPad Pro 12.9" 256GB (Ios 14.4), iPhone 6S+ 128GB (Ios 14.4), Reunion 13,

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Colors and styles in Multimedia Comments

              Originally posted by alan View Post
              "I only wish preview would allow one to straighten a 'cocked' image!"

              I quite agree. It would be great if Preview allowed this. I don't know of any simple apps that would enabling straightening of images that have been downloaded.

              I've d/l many census returns that are 'cocked' at any angle with the surrounds completely black that need to be 'cut-out'

              Does anyone know of such a facility or app??

              Alan
              Can you show us an example?
              http://dardel.info/genealogie/wc_toc_E.html

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Colors and styles in Multimedia Comments

                Originally posted by alan View Post
                "I only wish preview would allow one to straighten a 'cocked' image!"

                I quite agree. It would be great if Preview allowed this. I don't know of any simple apps that would enabling straightening of images that have been downloaded.

                I've d/l many census returns that are 'cocked' at any angle with the surrounds completely black that need to be 'cut-out'

                Does anyone know of such a facility or app??

                Alan
                Yes, I recommend GraphicConverter, something of a swiss army knife of graphics. It has so many features, and I so little time I know how to use but a few, but there are two things it makes easy:
                1) Straightening , and
                2) 'unskewing', which can square up images taken at odd angles

                Straightening allows freehand rotation, but particularly helpful is to Rotate -> other value with line... which lets you draw a straight line along some straight features and it straightens the graphic along that line.

                'Unskew' lets you take a photograph that was taken off-angle - typical of headstones or pictures on a shelf, etc. You put each of four boxes in what you wish to be the corners of the photo, and it 'distorts' the image to the shape you specify. The result is as if the photo was taken head-on, although there are sometimes artifacts.

                Another useful GC feature is white point, which adjusts colors based on a spot in the photo your mind's eye 'knows' should be white.

                [Update... Preview 10.0 has a whitepoint feature, via Tools -> Adjust colors. The eyedropper icon to the left of the Tint setting does this like GC.]

                I prefer the simplicity of Preview for sizing and simple brightness, sharpening, etc., so I'll often straighten, unskew, and crop, in GC, then tweak size and sharpness in Preview.

                Preview can also 'whiten' old documents; they almost always need temperature shifted toward cyan, and tint shifted slightly toward pink. The results can be pleasantly surprising.
                Last edited by Paul Reitz; 15 March 2018, 05:56 PM. Reason: report new feature in Preview
                -- Paul ... Reitz immigrants in America

                Reunion 13.0 build 201127 on
                MBPr 15" mid-2015, macOS 10.14.6
                MBP 15" Mid-2010, macOS 10.13.6

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Colors and styles in Multimedia Comments

                  Originally posted by Paul Reitz View Post
                  Yes, I recommend GraphicConverter, something of a swiss army knife of graphics. It has so many features, and I so little time I know how to use but a few, but there are two things it makes easy:
                  1) Straightening , and
                  2) 'unskewing', which can square up images taken at odd angles
                  I was also going to suggest GraphicConverter — although I am more often using Photoshop — but I wanted to see the kind of picture Laurie Sherman wanted to edit before making a firm recommendation.
                  http://dardel.info/genealogie/wc_toc_E.html

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Colors and styles in Multimedia Comments

                    Originally posted by alan View Post
                    "I only wish preview would allow one to straighten a 'cocked' image!"

                    I quite agree. It would be great if Preview allowed this. I don't know of any simple apps that would enabling straightening of images that have been downloaded.

                    I've d/l many census returns that are 'cocked' at any angle with the surrounds completely black that need to be 'cut-out'

                    Does anyone know of such a facility or app??

                    Alan
                    The latest Photos app has that ability. Click on Edit, then click on Crop at the top of the screen and you will see a protractor to the side of the photo that will assist you with straightening the photo.
                    Daryl W. Gordon
                    The Gordon Company
                    Researching Gordon, McCloud, Oxley, Weaver, Hague

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Colors and styles in Multimedia Comments

                      I have been using GraphicConverter (https://www.lemkesoft.de/en/products/graphicconverter/) for over fifteen years and unequivocally recommend it to anyone who documents their Reunion files with photos, especially old family photos. While there is a steep learning curve it is considerably easier than Adobe Photoshop® and is considerably less expensive.

                      The second set photo enhancement apps I recommend are those provided by Skylum (https://skylum.com/creativekit), formally MacPhun. I encourage anyone who works with photos that are old, damaged, faint, mildly out of focus or otherwise in less than perfect condition check out their Creative Kit with a suite of photo applications. They make me look like a professional photograph restorer.

                      Rob

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Colors and styles in Multimedia Comments

                        Originally posted by Dardel View Post
                        I was also going to suggest GraphicConverter — although I am more often using Photoshop — but I wanted to see the kind of picture Laurie Sherman wanted to edit before making a firm recommendation.
                        It's funny, because this HAS turned into a thread about editing photos -- but that wasn't the actual intent of my original question! I was just hoping to be able to use colors and styles in the Comments boxes of my Multimedia documents (like I used to be able to do, in earlier versions of Reunion).

                        I'd still love to get feedback from Leister, as to why this feature was removed, and if there's any chance of getting it back in the future.

                        I truly appreciate all the suggestions about photo editors, and that's definitely something to put on my To Do list. But in the short run, using the Comments box is a much quicker solution for me.

                        Thanks!

                        Laurie

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Colors and styles in Multimedia Comments

                          As far as I know, Reunion never has had formatting settings for the MM comment field.
                          • Forgot the Control-click possibility.
                          But you could copy-paste formatted text (color-bold etc) text in MM Comment field and it was accepted.
                          From Reunion 10 it is not possible to copy-paste formatted text in MM comment field, it is converted to plain text.
                          It’s funny to see that (as far as I know) nobody missed this possibility (from may 2012 !), till now.
                          Last edited by fjvanbodegom; 15 February 2018, 04:44 AM. Reason: • Added this sentence
                          Frans van Bodegom
                          Reunion NL Support Team

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Colors and styles in Multimedia Comments

                            Originally posted by Paul Reitz View Post
                            Yes, I recommend GraphicConverter, something of a swiss army knife of graphics. It has so many features, and I so little time I know how to use but a few, but there are two things it makes easy:
                            1) Straightening , and
                            2) 'unskewing', which can square up images taken at odd angles

                            Straightening allows freehand rotation, but particularly helpful is to Rotate -> other value with line... which lets you draw a straight line along some straight features and it straightens the graphic along that line.

                            'Unskew' lets you take a photograph that was taken off-angle - typical sof headstones or pictures on a shelf, etc. You put each of four boxes in what you wish to be the corners of the photo, and it 'distorts' the image to the shape you specify. The result is as if the photo was taken head-on, although there are sometimes artifacts.
                            Another way in which I find Graphic Converter very useful is joining images. Old style certificates are too long to scan in one go on an A4 scanner, but GC maKes it easy to align the halves and merge them with pixel-point accuracy.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Colors and styles in Multimedia Comments

                              Laurie,

                              In getting back to you original request; are you wanting to do something similar I have done to an old family photo ie?
                              highlight in red and boxed the names of individuals in a family pic.
                              If so, then I just used Preview and exported it to jpg format and placed it in the multimedia for the people concerned.

                              example attached - not sure how it will turn out due to its size.
                              Alan
                              Attached Files
                              iMac 27" (late 2015) 2TB, 24GB Ram, (Monterey 12.3.1) iPad Pro 12.9" 256GB (Ios 14.4), iPhone 6S+ 128GB (Ios 14.4), Reunion 13,

                              Comment

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