Eye-Fi forcing upgrade to new cards

Looks like the same anger over forced windows updates is the same for Eye-Fi


“Eye-Fi began phasing out sales of the X2 product line in 2012,” Eyefi explains in an FAQ on its site. “The last version produced by the company were sold through authorized channels in the United States in March, 2015.”
So if you purchased an X2 card more recently than March 2015, you probably got it through an unauthorized seller.

After September 16th, you will no longer be able to create an Eyefi Center account, which was required by X1 and X2 cards.
Certain functions of your X2 card, such as Direct Mode, may continue to function beyond the End of Life date, but you’ll need to set it up prior to that date. Selective Transfer will also function if enabled early, but Relayed Transfer will cease to function.
The Eyefi software used by older cards will also no longer be updated or supported, so there’s absolutely no guarantee that critical features will continue to work into the future.
It’s rather unusual for products such as Wi-Fi cards to be bricked completely by the manufacturer, and some photographers are understandably upset about the news. One frustrated customer published an open letter to Eyefi on Hacker News.
“Receiving your email about removing support for X2 cards this morning has made me furious,” the author writes. “That your company would have the gall to sell cards that would be obsolete within a few years is preposterous.”
“I would have updated to the Mobi cards in time anyway, but out of principle I will avoid Eye-Fi products in the future and advise my photographing friends to do the same. Shame on your company.”
Eyefi says the reason for the End of Life is that older wireless and encryption technologies are no longer safe and appropriate, so they’re dropping support and forcing photographers to move to its newer products with newer technologies.
For photographers wishing to switch to newer Eyefi Mobi cards, Eyefi is offering a 20% discount for up to 3 units. However, we’re guessing that many customers will now be thinking twice before jumping into the new Eyefi generation.

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DRM Could Be Added to the JPEG Image Format

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Heads up: digital rights management (DRM) could be coming to the JPEG image format. That’s right… the same kind of controversial technology that’s currently being used to protect movie, music, and book copyrights could one day be used to restrict the usage of images, and that proposal has people up in arms.

DRM refers to the various technologies that are used to restrict the use of proprietary content. When you try to copy a music CD and a program stops you, that’s DRM. When content you download can only be viewed or played on certain devices, that’s DRM too.

While the use of content in many industries is being restricted by DRM features, the world of photo sharing is still the wild wild west. See a photo, and you can almost always save it to your computer and republish it anywhere else. But that could all change.  READ MORE

5 Common File Types in Photography and When You Should Use Each One

by Michael Archambault

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You’ve spent the last few hours working on the perfect photo shoot and everything went better than you could have possibly imagined. After importing the RAW files to your PC and making a few edits in Photoshop, it is time to save your masterpiece. But, what file type do you select? With over twenty different file types to choose from, we are here to break down some of the most popular and tell you a bit about their strengths and weaknesses.

The well-known JPEG format is the standard for compatibility. No matter how you wish to share your photographs, whether on a social network or to a print shop, the JPEG is likely to be supported. JPEG is great for sharing photos because you know there won’t be any trouble reading the format.

There are downsides to saving as a JPEG, though. For starters, the file format doesn’t support transparency within images. Debatable compression quality also means you may not get the desired standards you are seeking when you hit the save button. Some users suggest that saving a JPEG with maximum quality will produce acceptable results, but others have yet to be convinced.

Best For: Sharing Images online with friends or family.

The Photoshop format, also referred to by its ‘PSD’ file extension, is the default format for saving your work. It provides compatibility across a number of Adobe products including Illustrator, InDesign Premiere, and After Effects. It is one of the only formats that can save a file with all Photoshop features accounted for, such as layers and applied effects.

Despite being an excellent way to preserve every adjustment you have made in Photoshop, the PSD file is not generally accepted when sharing images since your client must be in the Adobe ecosystem in order to open it. PSD is useful for saving your work so you can easily return to the file to resume work. In most cases, PSD should be confined to your workspace.

Best For: Saving files on your workspace so you can return and edit later.

The PNG format is a lossless file type, which means it can preserve your images without any loss in image quality. The format itself was based on the GIF file type, but allows for higher bit rate pictures and can preserve background transparency while minimizing jagged edges. PNG is an excellent format for displaying images on the web that require transparent elements.

Downsides to the PNG format typically include a large file size; this means that while PNG is excellent for the web, it should be used sparingly and only when needed for transparency purposes. Overusing PNG images on a web server could result in a slower experience for end users and increased bandwidth costs for the site owner.

Best For: Preserving transparency for images on the web.

The Tagged-Image File Format (TIFF) is an extremely flexible format that is one of the best for saving your prized images on your Mac or PC. TIFF is compatible with almost all image-editing and graphics applications currently available. In addition, TIFF supports a large number of color standards including CMYK, RGB, Lab, Indexed Color, and Grayscale Images.

Similar to PNG, TIFF is also able to preserve transparency with the bonus of including alpha channels, which dictate the specific degree of transparence. TIFF files can also save Photoshop layers so they can be edited or rearranged at a later time. If you are saving an HDR image with immense dynamic range, TIFF can save images at a rate of up to 32-bits-per-channel.

TIFF files can pack a lot of information, but can also become quite large due to this fact. In addition, while TIFF is compatible with various image-editing programs, not every social networking site or device will be able to properly display the files. TIFF is best reserved for archiving images on your PC to preserve quality or for high-quality printing.

Best For: Archival purposes and retaining maximum quality.

The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) has been included on this list simply so that we can tell you to avoid it. GIF images are extremely compressed files specifically designed to increase transfer speed over the internet. PNG was developed as an alternative to the GIF while maintaining quality far beyond what the GIF is capable of storing.

The only time a GIF image should generally be used is for low-quality web graphics that feature animation. GIF feature a limited color range and are not suited for reproducing high-quality images in today’s world. An animated GIF of a silly cat, however, is acceptable.

Best For: Low-resolution animated images for the web.

A File by Any Other Name.

File format some people may have issue opening different files when transferring to other computers or programs. Most photos are JPG, the most universal file, but when dealing with a Apple computer there is not an issue but it does sometimes happen when switching between the two "languages" of computers. 

JPG is a compressed file format and great for regular viewing and email. The file that may work is a TIFF a uncompressed file that keeps the layers in photoshop and tends to "travel" better when swapping files on flashdrives and discs, but it is much larger and tends not to fit on emails. JPG is best for emails and sending to companies to be printed. 

To change the File type simply open the photo you want to change in photoshop or the available program and do FILE >SAVE AS > CHOOSE THE FILE TYPE. In the drop down tab that has the current file type listed. 

Changing the actual size of the photo to be printed was brought up. If you send it to a printer like CVS they will size the photo to fit one of their standard sizes. Printing at home there is an option on most printers to fit to page. But if you want a exact size you can go to IMAGE > IMAGE SIZE and change it to the desired size.

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