GardenSoft has just released the California College version of PlantMaster. This student version has 1,000 plants commonly studied in the horticulture programs in California. It contains all the same functions of the California PlantMaster 6.5 version such as the photo management tool. Each plant has at least one photo, but usually has more than one photo.

The California College version was edited by Jerry Sortomme, Professor Emeritus of Santa Barbara City College. He was the Horticulture Department Chairperson for many years until his recent retirement.

Students studying Horticulture can purchase the California College version of PlantMaster by contacting Anne Chilcott at 805-492-0146 or emailing Anne at anne@gardensoft.com for more information.

If you are taking pictures of your projects the old fashioned way, you may not be utilizing the full power and capability of your software. A few shots of the front and back are really not enough. We recommend you take a whole new approach to your digital photography so that you can put together stunning presentations using GardenWorks and PlantMaster in tandem.

You will need some general shots of the whole landscape, or as much as possible in a single picture. If you have a wide-angle lens or can simply step back from the landscape, you can get these general concept shots. Assuming we are talking about a residential project, you might need one general shot for the front and another for the back. Take several of these types of images so that you can pick the best ones later. Commercial properties might require more general shots.

Once these pictures are taken, then step into the landscape and take pictures of the beds, plant groupings, and hardscape elements such as walkways, fencing, statuary and trellises. Think about dividing the project into logical component pieces. For example, a raised planter, patio area or foundation planting could be separate components.Once these photographs have been taken, then set about photographing the plants individually. Take a picture of the whole plant, and close ups of interesting features of the plant like flower, fruit, bark or cluster of leaves. You will accumulate quite a few pictures if you follow this pattern. But the main idea is to create a photographic record of your work you can utilize to win over new customers in the future and to explore various landscape ideas that you have introduced into the garden world.

Bring all these images into your computer and sort them accordingly. Create a folder of plant images, a folder of hardscape elements, a folder of planting beds and a folder of general over-all shots.

When you have taken the images off the camera and have transferred them into the computer, you have an opportunity to assign a name to the images. Use the name of the project like "Jones Residence". The computer will assign this name to each jpeg file and add a number to distinguish them. This will aid in bringing them into GardenWorks.

To be continued next month!!

GardenSoft
email: anne@gardensoft.com
phone: 805-492-0120