Diamond Viewing and Imaging Tool

Transcription

1 Diamond Viewing and Imaging Tool The Diamond Viewing and Imaging Tool was developed by me at the request of diamond dealers who needed a quick and inexpensive way to record important surface features as well as the grade setting inclusions of their diamond inventory. This equipment accomplishes that, providing an excellent communication tool between buyers and sellers. We all know the problems that arise when attempting to describe certain SI-2 or other clarity grades. The grade does not tell the whole story, an image is much better. Likewise, retail jewelers have asked for a tool to quickly show the difference between diamonds to purchasers, without an elaborate, time consuming setup that hinders the sales process. Although the tool was designed for loose diamonds, it can easily be used with mounted goods as well, as will be explained later. The Diamond Viewing and Imaging Tool utilizes either the Dinolite USB Microscope Camera AM 411T (recommended)or am 413T (includes measurement feature). These must be purchased separately, and can be purchased from us. It takes 30 seconds or less from diamond paper to an image on the computer monitor or widescreen digital TV. The image can be saved to a folder on your computer with a single mouse click, no downloading is necessary. The camera (not included) hooks to the computer via a simple USB port and a real-time image appears on the screen. The camera is actually a video camera with still capture capability, so a real life situation exists where the client can see what the diamond looks like in both video (tilting in tweezers) and in a still capture. Some clients successfully use the camera with Skype to create real time video presentations to their clients. The Diamond Imaging and Viewing Tool consists of a sturdy metal stand, 10 high, which holds the camera in position. Two gem trays are included, one white and one translucent, each creating a slightly different look. Also included is a slip-in diffusion cone for the camera and a frosted diffusion tube, used with stones larger than 6.3 mm.

2 How it works For stones up to about 6.2 mm in largest dimension, the diffusion cone is inserted into the nose of the camera and the camera s internal LED lights are turned ON. A stone is placed in the appropriate opening in the tray and the camera is lowered onto the tray so that the front of the diffuser rests on the tray. The camera is focused using the focusing ring on the camera, and very fine focus adjustments can be made using the controls on the stand. Brightness and contrast are adjusted while viewing the live image via a pop-up menu. Once the image looks good to you, a mouse click on the screen or a press of the F11 key takes the pictures. The picture is transmitted to a folder on your computer which is auto-created by the camera software included. At the same time, a thumbnail of the image appears on the left of the screen. Clicking this menu brings the image to full size (a screen-filling 1280 x 1024 pixels) and the software allows you to make notes which remain with the image. The software also allows you to draw squares, circles, arrows, whatever you wish on the image, and these are also saved with the image, if you wish. Here is the tool set up for a stone no larger than 6.2 mm:

3 For stones larger than about 6.2 mm, the diffusion cone is removed, the LED lights are turned OFF, and the diffusion tube is used. It is placed over the stone in the tray, the camera nose is inserted well into the tube (this blocks ambient room light), and the focusing and imaging process is repeated. When using the tube, external illumination is usually needed. Nearby window light is sufficient, but you can also use any small desk lamp. Lamps with linear fluorescent tubes like the small folding Ott lamps, Gemoro desk lamps or the multi-tube Dazor lamps are ideal. Soft, indirect lighting usually provides a better result than harsh direct light. Here is the tool set up for a stone larger than 6.2mm, note that the diffusion tube is now being used and the camera is inserted INTO the tube to block extraneous light from above: Just as when using an ordinary gem microscope, the surrounding environment, including your clothing, can cast an unwanted color into the stones. The microscope cameras used here are not capable of differentiating the small differences in hue of the different color grades, but they can sometimes pick up color from a poor light source, a pink shirt, or brown walls, for instance. If this becomes a problem (and it s rare), the camera settings allow you to set a Black & White mode, so that the camera no longer records in color. Many users use this as a default setting (it s all explained in the camera guide included with the camera purchase).

4 Mounted goods can be held in the desired position with sticky wax or a third-hand tool available from any jewelry tool supply house. I prefer sticky wax or clay, because it allows use of the diffusion tube.

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7 As with all digital imagery, your images will benefit from the proper post-processing with a software like Adobe Photoshop Elements. We include a tutorial on using Elements to crop, size and sharpen your images with every purchase of our products. Even if you are a complete beginner with such software, twenty minutes of practice will have you up and running. The complete process of cropping, sizing, sharpening and other adjustments takes less than two minutes per image and can vastly improve the quality of your output. If you need help or have any questions, please call us at (563) Thanks!