This instruction describes the procedure of taking sample pictures for producing PhotoAcute Studio profile for DSLR and SLR-like cameras.

Note: Please read the description carefully, as the procedure requires strict adherence to the instructions. Contact us if something is unclear. If, in any stage of the process, you are not sure whether you are making good samples or not, you can just send us a couple of samples for review.

1. PhotoAcute Studio installed (trial, unregistered version is fine).
2. Adobe DNG Converter installed (see instructions in PhotoAcute Studio manual)
3. LCD/TFT monitor
4. Tripod
5. Camera with either a shutter remote control or self-timer mode

You will need to take about 100 RAW and JPEG photographs of the sample target with different camera settings.
You will need to upload or send about 50-100 MB of data over the Internet.
The procedure takes about 1-2 hours.

Switch the camera to "aperture priority" mode.
Switch off the flash.
Set ISO level to 400 - 800.
To avoid any camera shaking during taking the pictures, it is necessary to use remote control or self-timer mode.
If your camera supports taking pictures in RAW and JPEG format simultaneously - set this mode. Important: it is useful only if your camera makes JPEG of maximum quality (highest resolution and lowest compression) in this mode. In other case, you will need to take photographs in JPEG separately, using maximum quality settings.

You will need to take series of pictures at different focal lengths (zoom levels). The range always includes the minimal and maximal zoom levels and one or more intermediate levels. You do not need to set the intermediate levels precisely; it is enough to do it "by eye".

Maximum zoom level (the ratio of the maximal focal length to the minimal focal length)	Zoom levels for taking the pictures
2x	minimal and maximal
3x - 5x	minimal, maximal and one intermediate
6x and more	minimal, maximal and two intermediate

At each zoom level you should take pictures using different aperture values.
The following aperture values should be used (at each zoom level):
- closest one to f/20 (e.g. f/22)
- closest one to f/10 (e.g. f/11)
- widest aperture at current focal length
- if the widest aperture is f/2.7 or even wider, the one closest to f/4.5 (e.g. f/5.6) is also required

for example: For Canon EOS 350D equipped with kit EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, the optimal set of images for profile creation will be:
- focal length 18, aperture f/3.5
- focal length 18, aperture f/11
- focal length 18, aperture f/22
- focal length 30, aperture f/4
- focal length 30, aperture f/11
- focal length 30, aperture f/22
- focal length 55, aperture f/5.6
- focal length 55, aperture f/11
- focal length 55, aperture f/22

The sample photographs are taken by photographing the special picture viewed on the display.
Depending on your display's resolution, click one of the links: 1024xN 1152xN 1280xN 1400xN 1600xN to open the sample picture. View the picture in full screen mode (activated by pressing F11 key in most browsers). Please make sure that the picture is not resized by the browser.
If the picture does not fit in your display in height, please use the picture for lower resolution.

Make sure that the camera focuses on the target picture. The round gray-and-white marks should be visible in the photographs. If they are not, you should adjust the exposure correction. To avoid any camera shaking during taking the pictures, it is necessary to use remote control or self-timer mode.

Choose the distance to the display: the width w of the picture on the screen should be a certain part of the whole photograph width W, depending on the camera and monitor resolution. The appropriate distance should be chosen for each zoom level. Please refer to the following table to define the required part:


w/W table:

Sample picture 4 MPix 5 MPix 6 MPix 7 MPix 8 MPix 9 MPix 10 MPix 11 MPix 12 MPix 16 MPix 21 MPix 1024xN 1/5 1/6 1/7 1/7 1/7 1/8 1/8 1/9 1/9 1/10 1/12 1152xN 1/5 1/5 1/6 1/7 1/7 1/7 1/7 1/8 1/8 1/9 1/10 1280xN 1/4 1/5 1/5 1/6 1/6 1/6 1/7 1/7 1/7 1/8 1/10 1400xN 1/4 1/4 1/5 1/5 1/5 1/6 1/6 1/6 1/7 1/8 1/9 1600xN 1/3 1/4 1/4 1/5 1/5 1/5 1/5 1/6 1/6 1/7 1/8

For example: if you have 5 MPix camera and 1280x1024 display, the sample picture should take 1/5th part of whole snapshot width. Click here for the illustration.
Important: You should keep w/W ratio for each zoom level, so the higher zoom will require longer distance.

At each combination of zoom level and aperture, you need to take 10 pictures from the appropriate distance.

Important: pictures should not be pixel-to-pixel coincident. You should slightly dispose the camera or the target before taking each next picture (make sure that the auto focus area hits the target). About 5 millimeters camera displacements are enough.

It is recommended to tilt the monitor a little so that the horizontal movements of the camera should lead to both horizontal and vertical movements of the picture in the photo.

In addition, take two JPEG photos of the sample picture closer to the display, so the picture takes all the photo size - one photo at the maximum zoom and one at the minimum zoom. Aperture does not matter for these photos. Important: sample picture should take all the photo size, even if the camera cannot focus on the required distance.
For prime lens you should take only one full-screen photo.
click here for examples of good and bad full-screen photos

All photos, except the full-screen photos, should be pre-processed using PhotoAcute Studio:

1. Load all images that correspond to a single focal length/aperture combination into PhotoAcute Studio. 2. Click on PhotoAcute logo with right mouse button while holding left mouse button already pressed. (On Mac - press Shift-Command-} or select File->Special->Auto Crop Samples instead) 3. Dialog will appear asking if you wish to prepare images for profile submission, click Yes. 4. If processing is successful (a 'Save As' dialog appears) - save the result. Do not rename the file - the filename contains important information 5. Repeat with all image sets.

It is highly recommended to save the photos using the following directory structure, which should be used when uploading the results or compressing the results before upload:

Folder name		Files to be placed in the folder
Tele		Full-screen photo taken on tele zoom
Wide		Full-screen photo taken on wide zoom (not used in case of prime lens)
JPG		Results of JPG images pre-processing (.pasps files)
RAW		Results of RAW images pre-processing (.pasps files)

Example of the directory structure:
Tele
    DSC_9804.JPG    (Full-screen photo taken on tele zoom)
Wide
    DSC_9805.JPG    (Full-screen photo taken on wide zoom)
JPG
    f02800_F00028.pasps
    f02800_F00056.pasps
    f02800_F00109.pasps
    f02800_F00220.pasps    (Results of JPG images pre-processing)
    f03800_F00028.pasps
    f03800_F00056.pasps
    f03800_F00109.pasps
    f03800_F00220.pasps
RAW
    f02800_F00028.pasps
    f02800_F00056.pasps
    f02800_F00109.pasps
    f02800_F00220.pasps    (Results of RAW images pre-processing)
    f03800_F00028.pasps
    f03800_F00056.pasps
    f03800_F00109.pasps
    f03800_F00220.pasps

To avoid transferring a lot of files you can compress the resultant files using any common archiver (rar, zip, gzip, bzip and so on).

There are several ways of transferring the results:

Uploading to photoacute server by ftp:
You can upload the results by ftp to our server. Please contact us to get ftp login/password.

Uploading to other ftp/http server:
If you have the possibility of uploading the results to any server accessible by ftp/http, you can do that and send us the link.

Using http-push service:
You can send the results using some public http-push service like www.yousendit.com

Sending by email.
Send the results as the attachments to support@photoacute.com (usially this is not a good way for transferring huge files)