I’ve got new tutorial video up today. In this one, I basically ramble as I prepare a newspaper article for presentation in my genealogy. When researching on such sites as Chronicling America and Fulton History, I like to download the full page containing the relevant article. I then crop out the relevant article and make that the first page of a PDF file. I leave the full page as the second page of the PDF file, but I highlight the relevant portions. If, as in this case, only a small portion of an article is relevant, I’ll make faux tears in it to show that I’ve skipped some of the article. The software I’m using here is the GIMP image editor and the PDF Split and Merge document editor. Although I’m using Linux in this video, the software is available for all platforms. Enjoy!
Tag: GIMP
As a young girl, my mother discovered in a closet a plaque that eerily bore her own name, Celia Anflick, along with birth and death dates. It was a metal plaque that my mother described as the sort of thing one might see hung in a mausoleum. Of course, the plaque was not my mother’s memorial from a past life. Rather, it was a memorial to an aunt whom my mother would never meet. Continue reading
Because this website, and the business it represents, are image-oriented, I try to have some sort of stimulating GIMP work at the top of each post. The cost of this self-imposed policy is that many fascinating family history stories will go overlooked—unless I manufacture some visually stimulating way to represent the story.
Having recently made a bit of a breakthrough on today’s features ancestor, I wanted to write-up here what I had found. I don’t have a photograph of him, though, so I had to get resourceful. Here before you is the grave of Denis Graham, who was the uncle of my great-great-grandfather, John C. Graham. I’m not really one to doctor gravestone images, but since I recently picked up a few new tricks, I thought I’d see how far I could take them.
In this image, I’ve attempted to remove the rain-induced dampness in the original photograph to present the gravestone as if it were dry. The results were middling, in my opinion. Had I attempted this project for a client, I would have given it more time. Since I’m already a week overdue on Ancestor #25, I figured I’d post what I have and move along. The hardest part of this project is putting life back into the engraved flowers. There wasn’t much left in them after removing darkness of color. Continue reading
We all have them in our old photo boxes by the score: nameless, ageless people. Who are they? Are they relatives? Are they friends? Are co-workers or business partners? We’ll probably never know. This unidentified man is special to me. He’s the one who got away. Continue reading
Ancestor No. 13 is the Reverend Francis J. McShane, O.S.A. (of the Order of St. Augustine). My great-uncle wrote to me a couple of weeks ago and asked me to clarify our relationship to Fr. McShane. You see, their granddaughter, my second cousin will shortly be getting married at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church in Philadelphia. St. Nicholas was an Augustinian, like Fr. McShane, so they are looking perhaps to tie our family’s Augustinian heritage a little more tightly into the celebration. Well, Uncle Gabby came to the right place, because I happen to know the answer to his question. Fr. Francis J. McShane, O.S.A., was the uncle of my great-great-grandmother, Anne (McShane) Graham. That would make him my third-great-granduncle, and the same for the bride, who is also in my generation. Continue reading
Maybe I’m front-loading my list with family superstars whom I truly admire. I think you’ll begin to see, however, that no story is too small, as Amy Johnson Crow will remind us. To the contrary, I think the heroism of my everyday ancestors will reveal itself once it is properly showcased beside the legends. All stories are big, in a way.
This week’s legend is Philadelphia Judge John P. Boland, a cousin of my paternal grandfather’s father. Continue reading
Through my interest in genealogy and family history, I have developed the skill of restoring old photographs. I can breathe new life into your time-worn photographs.
My interest in digital photo restoration continues, even though I am not accepting new requests at this time. Please check this space for future updates.
My interest in digital photo restoration continues, even though I am not accepting new requests at this time. Please check this space for future updates.
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