Posted Thursday, June 16, 2005

Steve Jobs Goes to Stanford, and Some iPhoto 5 Sharpening Insights

If you haven't read the commencement speech that Steve Jobs delivered at Stanford University last Sunday, do it now. (You can also watch some highlights.)

The speech is 2200 beautiful words of wisdom, and it resonated with me on several levels. My life's dots have connected in ways I never could have imagined: from my childhood piano lessons to the time I spent in my dad's recording studio to the darkroom I set up in my basement to the used 8mm movie camera I bought in high school to my first full-time job, as a typesetter. That string of dots leads so directly to the Mac and to iLife that it's scary. But who knew? I was just doing the things I loved.

The rest of Steve's speech—about love, loss, and death—resonates with me on very personal levels that I won't discuss here. Suffice it to say that I've always respected Steve Jobs' aesthetic sense and business acumen. Now I also deeply respect the man.

Steve, on the subject of living each day as if it was your last, I'd like to recommend a song: Jazzanova's Wasted Time. It inspires me.

Sharpen Up in iPhoto
Let's talk iLife, shall we? Yesterday on Macintouch, there was a discussion of iPhoto 5's sharpening feature.

One reader complained that sharpening adjustments didn't seem to be saved, while another wisely pointed to this Apple support document that address the real issue: in order to accurately see the results of sharpening, you need to view your photo at a 100-percent zoom setting.

Here's an excerpt from The Macintosh iLife '05 that discusses this: "iPhoto's edit view introduces some softness of its own when it scales a photo to whatever zoom setting you've made. To get the most accurate on-screen view possible, view your photo at 100 or 200 percent when making sharpness adjustments: press the 1 key to view at 100 percent, and the 2 key to view at 200 percent."

There's a lot more to discuss about sharpness. For example, it's often a good idea to apply a fairly aggressive amount of sharpening before printing a photo on an inkjet printer.

It's all in the book. And it's all yours—along with a two-hour, 43-minute instructional DVD—for $23.09 at Amazon.com. Order The Macintosh iLife '05 today.

And do something you love.