PhotoWorks.com
(Seattle FilmWorks)
Seattle, Washington
(1998 - 2002)
Programming as Systems Programmer at
PhotoWorks.com
Software Built: |
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My Experience at PhotoWorks.com |
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I developed Windows NT software applications, COM objects, and ISAPI Internet objects using C++, MFC, XML, XPath, and MSXML, LeadTools and ImageGear tools to support the printing of scanned film photos and uploaded digital photographs onto photographic paper, and as images displayed on the internet, photo greeting cards, mugs, calendars, shirts and other products. I also created C++ routines to accept customers’ uploaded image files in many variations of the JPEG format into the photo archive. And I developed a “Printerface” image printing management Windows NT application to let operators control the order and printers used for photo printing jobs. The company was originally known as "Seattle FilmWorks" and famous for printing film photos. ( Click here for "A Tour of our Lab" from the 1999 Seattle FilmWorks website...) My first and primary assignment was to expand and maintain the software that renders digital photo images into a form that can be printed correctly on photographic paper. Later, I was given an additional challange: to "sharpen" the images to vastly improve their appearance on when printed. I experimented with many pixel manipulation techniques and settled on one set of transformations that seemed to me to produce the best printed results for all kinds of digital photos. A magazine published for photo printing companies held a contest to determine which photo printing company printed the best quality photos. PhotoWorks.com won that contest with my sharpening algorithm! Later, I was given a new challenge: to add a frame border to any photo according to the wishes of the customer. I was successful in creating a system that let the customer specify any type of frame desired. During my employment at PhotoWorks.com, I seemed especially good at finding the causes of problems in the production of printed photos. When film processing demand vanished with the advent of digital photography, the company was forced to lay off most of its employees. When I was to be laid off, I was asked to train a replacement who would be able to assume my software maintenance responsibilities after my departure. I was able to accomplish that task, but I admitted I did not see a way to train anyone to solve the production problems, assuming my abilities in that regard were due to my many years of experience. But as my final days approached, a production problem arose that halted photo printing. I saw the cause of the problem that could be seen in several email messages. I then realized that I had been able to teach my computer science students such problem-solving skills by challanging them and guiding them toward a solution, so I pointed the team to those emails and challenged them to find the cause themselves. Only one programmer accepted the challange, and within an hour or so, he provided the answer and fixed the problem. But then another problem arose, and I hoped that he would be able to solve that problem too. I guessed the area that was the probable cause, and quietly asked him a question that pointed him in the right direction, and he solved that problem too. I then felt I had succeeded in training someone who would be able to solve production problems after I left. |
