ACC1x: How NWIND.MDB Employee Field Photographs Were Created

• Microsoft Access versions 1.0, 1.1

SUMMARY

Below is a synopsis of how the photos for the Photo field of the Employees table in the Northwind Traders sample database NWIND.MDB were prepared and processed.

1. Photographs of the subjects were taken with a camera and developed as prints.

2. The prints were scanned on a color scanner connected to an Apple Macintosh.

3. The resulting files from the Macintosh (in .TIFF file format) were transferred to an IBM PC/AT compatible computer (to .BMP file format).

4. The images were converted from 256-color to 16-color (dithered) so that pictures would display correctly in 16-color mode, and also because 16-color images display faster than 256-color images.

5. The images were then added as embedded objects in the Employees table of the Northwind Traders database, following the instructions given in the Microsoft Access "User's Guide," Chapter 13, "Using Pictures, Graphs, and Other Objects," pages 314-339.

MORE INFORMATION

If you plan to use this process yourself, steps can be eliminated if you use a scanner directly connected to an IBM PC/AT compatible computer since the image transfer from the Macintosh (step 3) would not be necessary and step 4 can often be handled by the scanner software.

Software helpful for processing graphic images:

 Apple Macintosh
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 Adobe Photoshop

 IBM PC/AT Compatibles
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 PaintShop (Shareware--can be used for image file conversions.)
 WinGif (Shareware--can be used for image file conversions.)
 Microsoft Paintbrush (Great for touching up stray pixels.)

REFERENCES

Microsoft Access "User's Guide," version 1.0, Chapter 13, "Using Pictures, Graphs, and Other Objects," pages 314-339 (in version 1.1, see pages 318- 343)