TECHNO BYTES
Use of on-line digital image services to create
customized documents for the orthodontic office
David M. Sarver
Vestavia Hills, Ala
W
ith the increased popularity of digital pho-
tography, the traditional photography shop
is being replaced by various image-process-
ing services, including digital kiosks in your local
camera store or drugstore, for example, where you can
plug your camera’s storage media into a machine that
will produce high-quality prints while you wait.
Also growing in popularity are Internet-based dig-
ital imaging services (examples include Shutterfly,
Kodak EasyShare Gallery, Snapfish). Online image
services allow you to upload digital images to a Web
site that has multiple functionalities. You can order
prints or enlargements to be created and mailed to your
house. You can share your images online with other
people. Not only can your friends see the pictures you
want to share with them, but they can also order their
own prints by charging them to a credit card. You can
use the online service to archive your images. If you
want a CD of your own after uploading your images,
you can order it and receive it by mail.
Many of these service providers also offer various
customized products that feature your images—T-
shirts, coffee cups, mouse pads, and greeting cards—so
that you can create fun things for the office, to give
away at open houses, or for gifts.
A popular customized product is the captioned
photo album. Although this service is targeted to the
general consumer for personalized vacation or family
picture albums, it also allows us to produce our own
elegant documents for use in the office, including
individualized training manuals and patient documen-
tation for distribution to patients or referring dentists.
The purposes of this article are to introduce to the
reader just 1 of these uses and to provide a step-by-step
description of the process. The product here is Shutterfly
(www.Shutterfly.com), but many others are available.
Private practice, Vestavia Hills, Ala.
Reprint requests to: David M. Sarver, 1705 Vestavia Parkway, Vestavia Hills,
AL 35216; e-mail, Sarverd@aol.com.
Submitted, November 2006; revised and accepted, December 2006.
Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2008;133:771-6
0889-5406/$34.00
Copyright © 2008 by the American Association of Orthodontists.
doi:10.1016/j.ajodo.2006.12.011
The process
Uploading your digital images is simple for most
services. The Web site will lead you through a simple
step-by-step process to upload your images to its
server. To start, you will be asked to create a folder in
which you will place your images. Images in the folder
are stored and archived on the computers at the service.
Next, choose the option of “Photo book,” and you will
be led through the process of creating your personalized
photo book.
First, choose the cover or binder you want (Fig 1).
Once you have made your selection, open the album of
pictures you wish to use (Fig 2). In this case, the album
includes patient images and radiographs. Then, select
the images you want to include your book; they will be
placed in your project’s “filmstrip.” It helps to rear-
range them, putting them in the approximate order you
will use them.
The next step is to create your title page (Fig 3, A).
Select the box labeled “Click here to choose a picture”
to open your template of photos and choose the one you
want for your title page. In this case, we picked a
natural-looking smiling photograph. Enter the book
title in the box in the bottom left corner (Fig 3, B); click
“update text,” and the title text is inserted for you. Note
that, in the upper right corner; you click the “next” box;
this takes you to the next step in constructing the rest of
your book. Now things get interesting and fun!
For demonstration in this article, I selected the
option of displaying 2 pages at the same time (Fig 4, A).
The booklet will be printed just like a book with images
on both sides of the paper. The process of placing the
pictures exactly where you want them is quite easy—
you simply click on the picture you want, hold it, drag
it to the box where you want it to be, and drop it in the
box. Place facial images in “portrait” orientation and
intraoral images in “landscape” orientation. As you
drag images from the filmstrip and drop them in place,
they are removed from the filmstrip, so that you can
keep track of which pictures remain to be used. This
example shows 3 facial images (rest, smiling, and
profile) on the left page and 3 intraoral pictures (center,
right, and left buccal) on the right. Beneath each picture
771
772 Sarver
Fig 1. Step 1: choose the cover fabric and color.
box, a small text box says “Enter caption here.”
Opening that box opens a text template allowing you
to type in the description of the image (Fig 4, B). You
are allowed 250 characters, adequate room to de-
scribe just about anything that you want. You can
preview your pages as you develop them to see how
you like your text and the presentation that each page
will make.
You can create your own custom clip art by taking
a PowerPoint slide and creating a JPEG image (Fig 5).
In the PowerPoint presentation for this patient, I had a
slide related to a surgical procedure. I opened the image
American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics
May 2008
in PowerPoint, selected File ⬎ and Save as ⬎, and
changed the “save file” type from *ppt (PowerPoint) to
*JPEG. PowerPoint will ask whether you want to “save
every slide or just the current slide.” Choose “Current
slide” to save only that slide as a JPEG image. The
image can be uploaded to the patient’s folder and
inserted in the booklet, giving an attractive, instruc-
tional, and professional look to our booklet.
Once you have completed your project, you can
order it online, and you generally will receive it a few
days later (Fig 6); when you do, you will have your
own customized patient presentation piece!
American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics Sarver 773
Volume 133, Number 5

Fig 2. Open the album from which you plan use pictures and select the images you want to include
by clicking the box beneath the image.
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May 2008

Fig 3. Choose an image with a strong visual impact for the title page.
American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics Sarver 775
Volume 133, Number 5

Fig 4. Each page in your book can have a different layout and from 1 to 6 photos. Select photos
from the filmstrip at the bottom and drag them position into position. Use “portrait” for facial
photographs and “landscape” for intraorals. Enter text for captions in the text box.
776 Sarver American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics
May 2008

Fig 5. Consider converting a PowerPoint slide to JPEG format for use in the book.

Fig 6. The final booklet with comparison images and descriptive text— our own patient booklet is
complete and in our hands via the mail within about a week!