Photographs

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 26 Sep 2001, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Kiama	26 Sep 2001
I suddenly had a really goo idea the other day: Why not take a photograph of the spreads you do, so that when you record them in your Tarot journal, you can review not only their meanings, but also what hey looked like. This is also useful for a new-look spreads book which you create yourself. Just find a spread you wanna write down so you don't forget it, and take a photo of it... it's easier than copying the exact positions of each card! Kiama

tarotbear	26 Sep 2001
You could do it with a digital camera , then load it onto disk for the record. That way you could send it to others when you need some help about your spread.

Rhiannon	26 Sep 2001
GOLD STAR!!! What a good idea. I'm ashamed I've never thought of it before. It would be so much easier to send a pic as a jpg file to a client via email than it is to type in all that info. Then you'd have plenty of time to really explain the cards! Rhiannon :)

jade	27 Sep 2001
not only do you guys have great minds, but you also think alike! jade

cj	27 Sep 2001
Quote: tarotbear (27 Sep, 2001 02:30): You could do it with a digital camera , then load it onto disk for the record. That way you could send it to others when you need some help about your spread. The only problem with digital pictures of spreads (I had 1 emailed to me) is it wasn't that clear. If you are going to try it, just remember to send the postion/cards in writing as well. And let us know how it worked.... cj

Kiama	28 Sep 2001
Quote: Rhiannon (27 Sep, 2001 12:19): GOLD STAR!!! What a good idea. Rhiannon :) My inner child is brimming with pride... She's rushing home to Mum right now, with the gold star stuck proudly to her school jumper, screaming, "Mummy! Mummy! Look what I got at school today!" Oh, wait... My inner child IS me! Kiama

New2Tarot	01 Oct 2001
Hey guys, I've been doing something similar since I started with the Tarot. Because I don't have a digital camera or scanner, when I started to try to learn the tarot, I downloaded Joan Bunning's course. I never really used it because initially I put learning Tarot off. Then, I bought some books later on and realized I still had the course on my computer. As I tried to go through it on my computer, I realized it was easier for me to learn through books on paper. As more of my books described keeping a tarot journal, I immediately decided to do so. Except, I decided to keep an electronic tarot journal on my computer. I'm pretty good with computers and such, so I created a template in MS Publisher, which is a page that can be printed, with blanks for all of the information about a spread.. like date, spread type, deck, focus, description.. and an image box. I realized I needed images of each of the 78 cards. Because I don't have a scanner I was kind of stuck because I couldn't find any reasonably-sized images of the cards on the internet. Then I realized I still had Joan Bunning's course. In the directory, there was a folder with all of the card images. I created new folders like "Major Arcana", and "Minor Arcana" -- and within that folder, "Cups", "Wands", "Swords", "Pentacles". I then renamed the files to be easily recognizable. So what I do now, is whenever I perform a reading, I open my journal template file on the computer, fill in all of my information, and then use the images of the cards to assemble the spread. If a card was reversed, I flip the image horizontally. Then I save the file in a folder with other entries by date. Now, I can print off one-page copies of the entries and insert them in a binder if necessary. You should try it! Once you have all of the images organized, it's really quick to do. Later, New2Tarot

seeker_11	01 Oct 2001
I find it hard to take photo's, not having a digital camera (if only I had the money, woe oh woe ;) However, from the very beginning, I have sketched all my actual layouts, and using a good graphic software, I print out my spreads as well. At the moment, I'm using some free time to learn Visual Basic, and one of the first programs I have in mind is actually a spread-reconstruction program. I'm really not far yet (actually the idea is more real than the bits&bytes) due to a whopping lot of real (i.e. paid) work. However, once I finish it, I might be needing some beta-testers. But since I'd hate to re-invent the wheel, I was curious if somebody knew if there already exists a program like that?

cj	02 Oct 2001
[quote]seeker_11 (02 Oct, 2001 05:57): I find it hard to take photo's, not having a digital camera (if only I had the money, woe oh woe ;) However, from the very beginning, I have sketched all my actual layouts, and using a good graphic software, I print out my spreads as well. Seeker-11, Did you find sketching the cards and layouts helped you learn and/or identify more with your cards? - Any desire to create your own deck? I can't draw, but occasionally I will take out 1 card and try to identify the different symbols on it and write them down. cj

seeker_11	02 Oct 2001
Quote: cj (02 Oct, 2001 23:29): Did you find sketching the cards and layouts helped you learn and/or identify more with your cards? - Any desire to create your own deck? cj Er... I don't really sketch the cards, just the layouts, and use code (2 and a sketched cup eg.) for the specific cards. Then I use software to place scanned images on the correct place for printouts. I'd love to be able to draw them, but quite frankly, I absolutely cannot draw (which sometimes is pretty frustrating) As for wanting to design my own deck... you bet. I'm pretty far with designing a Star wars themed deck (If only the DVD's came out... I need high quality pics :( As for identifying the cards... I guess that working out the correct imagery for my own deck helps identifying with them better than anything I've tried before ;)

The Photographs thread was originally posted on 26 Sep 2001 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.