Main Screen
The main screen and the print screen is where most of the time will be spent in the kIDs program, as the name
implies this is the main screen where you collect the digital images for later printing or CD / DVD mastering or burning.
When you clicked the green check mark on the settings screen, the main screen should have been displayed, and the red lamp coming on the
fingerprint scanner (if not already illuminated by this time). Finally the camera should pop to life and start displaying motion pictures
in the main movie screen.
There is no prescribed way of capturing the images. It’s OK to get the fingerprints before the pictures or the other way around. You
can even capture some of the fingerprints and then capture the images and return to the fingerprints. It’s up to the situation at hand
what works best for you and the person being ID’ed.
The Police prefer that we capture the index fingers, but on small children this can be next to impossible, in which case it’s best to go
for the thumbs. The mode to capture all ten digits works but with small children they will bore quickly and this may turn out
to be a lost cause.
In general the fingerprint scanner needs firm pressure placed in the middle of the scanners glass to capture the best image. Please
remember that you should use Scotch Tape to clean the scanner. Normally, the scanner can do ten to thirty pairs of Digits before it
needs cleaning, but if you fingerprint a child that has pizza oil on the fingers you will be cleaning more often.
Miscellaneous Section:
Clicking on this icon deletes all the images that may have already been captured and resets all the internal counters. Then it will
load the settings screen ready for you to make changes. Once complete, then pressing the green check mark will bring you
back to this screen.
Clicking this icon will write a control file called openMainScreen.bat into the following
directory c:\Program Files\The Raster Shop, LLC\kids and if this file is present then the kIDs program will open at this
screen, bypassing the splash and the settings screens. Clicking this icon again will switch off this feature of the program.
Clicking on this icon will allow you to change the contrast of the collected image in the fingerprint section. Please note
that the value of 1.0000 is unity, thus there is no contrast being added or removed from the image. Once selected, the selected
contrast will be applied to all the fingerprint images collected until this function is deselected. The contrast can be lowered
by pressing the left arrow key on the keyboard, and likewise you can increase the contrast by pressing the right arrow on the
keyboard. If for some reason you need to increase the step size then the accelerator is the CTRL key along with the left or
right arrow.
Clicking on this icon will allow you to change the brightness of the collected image in the fingerprint section. Please note
that the value of 0.0000 is unity and thus the image is displayed as is from the fingerprint scanner. Once selected just like
the contrast control the selected correction will be applied unit deselected.
You can use both the brightness and contrast controls at the same time if needed. The brightness can be lowered by pressing
the down arrow key on the keyboard, and likewise you can increase the brightness by pressing the up arrow on the keyboard. If
for some reason you need to increase the step size then the accelerator is the CTRL key along with the down or up arrow.
Clicking on this icon deletes all the images captured and resets the internal counters but leaves the camera and fingerprint
scanner activated. This was a request from an end user who was running into a problem when a child gets distracted and you
just need to start again.
Clicking on this icon will move you to the printing screen.
Digital Image Collection Section:
When the main screen is displayed the camera should automatically start collecting images, but remember
that the camera that is collecting the images is set on the settings page. If for some unknown reason there are no moving images
and the camera start button is displayed press it and the camera should now work.
This section contains a movie mode that will collect streaming video and audio at 30 frames per second and write out a
combined Windows wma file. This function will only be available if you have a CD / DVD recorder attached to the computer. In
testing we found that the one to two minute mark was about all you could expect a child to give you before getting
distracted onto something else. The size and quality of the video and sound collected is directly linked to which
Codec’s have been selected on the settings screen.
Clicking this icon will switch the mode of the program to collecting just one image of the child. This image will used as
the main image in the printed output. When clicked, the display should change to the following:
To capture the image you simply click your mouse on the moving image and it should move down to the smaller frame below the
moving image. If you don’t like the captured image when in single image mode, simply just click on the moving image and the
smaller image will change. You can go around this loop as many times as needed. By the way, for your information, to change
the captured image you can click on the smaller image and it will clear, then click on the moving image and the captured image
will once again redisplay in the smaller image frame.
Clicking this icon will switch the mode of the program to collect up to three images of the child and the parents. The first image
captured will be used as the main image in the printed output and the other images will be used on the back of the ID cards. When
clicked, the display should change to the following:
To capture the image you simply click your mouse on the moving image and it should move down to the smaller frame below the
moving image. The first click is the main image and is in the left most smaller frame. Then the other clicks will fill in the
other two blank frames, now if you don’t like the captured image then click on the smaller frame that needs to change then
click on the moving image and the captured image will once again redisplay in the smaller image frame. You can go around this
loop as many times as needed.
Click this icon to start the video collection process if needed.
Click this icon to stop the video collection process if needed. Please be aware that the program is set up so you should
not have to stop the video collection process. As this process takes a short while which can seem like ages when you have a
queue of children waiting.
Click this icon and the following will be added to the bottom of the Digital Image section of the program:
The stopwatch with its pull down menu allows you to define the amount of time that the program should collect live video
and audio, this pull down has the common time frames in the following manner:
Clicking on this icon will start the movie collection process and it will automatically end at the time selected by the pull
down. But if you need to stop it before hand just use the Movie Stop icon at the other end of the progress bar from the start. Once
the collection process has started then you should received feedback like the following:
Clicking on this icon stops the current movie collection and will end the file, now you can re-record by pressing the Movie
Start icon, or just carry on with the program.
Fingerprint Collection Section:
As stated several times before, the Police would like the index fingers to be collected but with small children
this could be next to impossible and you have to collect thumb prints instead.
To collect or capture a fingerprint one needs to place the finger in the center of the fingerprint scanner in a downward striking motion
and the red lamp in the fingerprint scanner will flash. At which point the lamp to the left of the captured fingerprint image frame
will go – red – yellow – green – red but it all happens so fast that all you really see is the red flash back to red.
Click on this icon to capture only the left and right index fingers and the display will look like the following:
Place the finger to be captured on the scanner and the image should appear between the red lamp and the hand with the red X. Now
you can keep taking the finger off and recapturing the image until you like what you see, then you click on the image and image
will move down to a smaller frame below. At which point the red dot will move from the left hand index finger to the right hand
Index finger giving you the visual feedback of the finger next to be collected.
Click on this icon to capture only the left and right thumbs and the display will look like the following:
Place the finger to be captured on the scanner and the image should appear between the red lamp and the hand with the red X. Now
you can keep taking the finger off and recapturing the image until you like what you see, then you click on the image and image
will move down to a smaller frame below. At which point the red dot will move from the left hand thumb to the right hand Thumb
giving you the visual feedback of the next Digit to be collected.
Click on this icon to capture all the ten digits and the display will look like the following:
Place the finger to be captured on the scanner and the image should appear between the red lamp and the hand with the red X. Now
you can keep taking the finger off and recapturing the image until you like what you see, then you click on the image and image
will move down to a smaller frame below. At which point the red dot will move giving you the visual feedback of the next digit
to be collected.
Click this icon when the individual is missing a digit, this will place the following image in the place of a fingerprint and
then the sequence of collection will continue. Sometimes with real small children you can get one fingerprint but not the
other so you could use this trick for that situation too.