Published October 26, 2002<\/p>\n
\u00a0Q.: \u00a0A friend just died. \u00a0 His mom commented that she has no recent pictures of him. \u00a0 I have VHS-C video of him driving our boat and would like to “grab a frame” of the video and print it as a 5X7 for her. \u00a0 I purchased a Pinnacle Linx cable with software but the pic is 1″ and 96 pixels. \u00a0 No matter how I play with it, it is not of any worthwhile quality. \u00a0 Is there a better way to do this?
\n-Thanks, Dawn Read<\/p>\n
A: \u00a0 My condolences on the loss of your friend.<\/p>\n
A 96 pixel image is very, very small. \u00a0 Your Pinnacle Linx is a USB video converter, which will not import the video at full size. \u00a0 The actual size of your video image is probably 720 pixels by 480 pixels, at 72 dpi. \u00a0 (Dots per inch- a pixel is a dot.) \u00a0 This will yield a 5×7 that should be OK as a keepsake, but will be a bit below true photographic quality. \u00a0 Depending on your computer, you would be looking at a several hundred-dollar investment to get the equipment and software necessary to convert your analog VHS-C video to digital video and then extract the still images from it. \u00a0 Besides the financial investment, it would take time and effort to learn the software and tweak the image and print settings to get a good print, etc. \u00a0 I would recommend you not purchase the equipment, and instead consider an alternate route. \u00a0<\/p>\n
What I recommend is to find a professional videographer who will extract the images for you. \u00a0 If you advance the tape to the appropriate spot, it will be very easy for the videographer to turn a few seconds of your analog footage into digital video and create a few still frames, which can easily be burned to a CD-R as .jpg files. \u00a0 Given the small amount of work involved, and the circumstances you are in, you should be able to find someone willing to grab a few frames for you at a moderate fee.<\/p>\n
Once you have the images on CD-R, find a photo processor that uses a Fuji Frontier printer. \u00a0 This printer makes great prints from digital files. \u00a0 You can find a Fuji Frontier at some Ritz Camera, Wal-Mart, and Sam’s Club locations. \u00a0 If you call them, they will be able to tell you if it is the system they are using. \u00a0 They will be able to print your 5x7s very inexpensively. \u00a0 Because of the low quality of a VHS-C frame grab, I would not recommend printing over 5×7 inches. \u00a0 In fact, 4×6 would be a better choice.<\/p>\n
Product of the Month: \u00a0 The Product of the Month is the aforementioned Fuji Frontier printer! \u00a0 It’s not a printer you would actually buy for yourself, though\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 it’s a minilab-type processor you can find at Ritz Camera, Costco, Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart, and other locations. \u00a0 It makes great prints from small 35mm cameras, and many digital photographers find it a better option than printing at home on an inkjet. \u00a0 The Frontier takes your digital images and produces photographs on actual photographic paper, which will not fade or run when wet, and are indistinguishable from prints taken on film. \u00a0 Simply bring in your camera’s memory card, or burn selected images to a CD-R as .jpg or.tiff files and bring them in for printing. \u00a0 Advanced users can even crop, modify, and color-correct with programs such as Adobe Photoshop before burning to create a custom image. \u00a0 Prices range from .29 per print at Sam’s Club to .49 at Ritz- a bargain in either case. \u00a0 Larger print sizes are available as well.<\/p>\n