Virginia Tech's Luna Insight^® Digital Image Database

Screenshot of Luna Insight software.

What is Luna Insight?

Insight provides tools for accessing web-based digital image collections. The software allows you to search image collections, manipulate selected images using a "digital lightbox", and create image-based presentations that are ideal for classroom and professional use. Unique features of the presentation software allow for zooming in and cropping of high-resolution images during a presentation, in addition to the ability to annotate and weblink content. Individual images can also be exported for use in other presentation software, such as PowerPoint, and as html pages.

Luna Insight hosts the art and architecture image database. Insight is available on the computers in the Art + Architecture Library. The Java program necessary to access the database can be also downloaded from Luna for university and personal computers.

Any university department is welcome to use Luna for its image collections for in-house use, classroom use, or for public display. The library hosts the collections on its server. Departments manage their own collections.

This guide explains how to download Luna, search in Luna, and make presentations. Contact Steve Tatum for questions about using the Art + Architecture database or creating a departmental database: Art and Architecture Library, 100E Cowgill Hall, 540-231-6182.

Why use Insight? "Insight enhances teaching & research"

Creating digital presentations in Insight allows faculty to go beyond what's possible with a slide - show multiple images side-by-side, show details of images with super zooming, linking images to external support websites, adding notes and commentary and more
Class time is more productive since students have access to the images and presentations both before and after lecture.
Insight content can be integrated with faculty websites and course support software like Blackboard.
Creating presentations in Insight saves a great deal of time each semester by simply editing and reusing existing presentations as opposed to starting from scratch from semester to semester, lecture to lecture
Students can perform advanced assignments outside of class, drawing from large reserves of digital images for individual projects.
With digital images, quality is not predetermined by slide projectors or displays. 35mm slides have become the standard for teaching because the only device to show them is the slide projector. Since Insight provides the ability to deliver & zoom at high resolutions, images of any size - created from 4x5 transparencies or direct digital capture, for instance - are just as practical and easy to use as a slide. There is no longer a ceiling on image quality with Insight.

How can I get started?

Downloading Insight from Luna Imaging

Mouse over support at the right of the upper menu
Select software downloads
Select Insight v6.0 download now
Select download from the Insight 6 box
Select Insight (with no other wording)
If you have a choice to download or open, choose download. (Sometimes open doesn't work right.)
An InstallInsight icon appears on the desk top
Double click
Choose the advanced option when it appears
Watch for the message Specify the URL/Address for your organizations Insight User Manager
Change the User Manager Address to luna-insight.lib.vt.edu
In Windows, an Insight shortcut will probably install in a Luna Imaging folder in the All Programs menu in the start menu. Otherwise you can go to C:\Program Files\LunaImaging\Insight 6 and find the application file. The file is Insight 6.0 launch anywhere.
On a Mac, LunaImaging is in the applications folder. The application file is Insight 6.0

Sign in

The authentication server box at the top should say insight.lib.vt.edu or luna-insight.lib.vt.edu
Enter your username and password
Select the Art Architecture & Design Image Collection
If you can't sign in, Insight is probably set to the wrong server address
Faculty, staff, and students at Virginia should contact Steve Tatum for a password that works on the campus Ethernet and wireless networks. Faculty who are teaching courses with Luna and their students may have passwords that work both on and off-campus

Searching and Creating Presentations with Luna Insight

Searching

Open Search on the main menu
There are items for keywords, creator names (artists), and data fields

Keyword search

A keyword search finds terms anywhere within the information that accompanies an image. It is most often used for finding works by an artist, works relevant to an artist, and titles. The searching method for keywords is different than creator name or other field searches.

All letters must be lower case
The search finds exactly the term you type in the box
Include any hyphens in the name or term
Do not enter any punctuation except for hyphens. Use a blank where punctuation appears. For O'Sullivan, use o sullivan
You can truncate a term by using * before or after a fragment of the term
Keyword searches work best if you use as few words as possible. If you get too many results, you will need to add a term, though, to narrow your search.

Creator Name search

For the creator name, we use a standardized version of an artist's name.

Click on the creator name to see a list of the artists in alphabetical order
Note that these are the spellings we use. Other spellings sometimes work in the keyword search if we have included a variant spelling in the image record, but they do not work in the creator name search.
This search is different from the keyword search, because it is case sensitive and automatically truncates names (you do not need to use an asterisk if you type in part of a name. Use apostrophes where necessary – if you want O'Sullivan, type O'Sullivan.
Instead of looking through the entire list, you can type in the first few letters of a name, using capitals where appropriate, and the name will appear in a shortened list.

Field Search

The field search allows you to search additional fields, plus a keyword search. It allows you to broaden or narrow your searches, as well.

When you select a field, you will see several options for your search.

Equals provides a list in alphabetical order of the contents of all the contents of the field in the entire database
Select search to complete your search
Equals is useful for some fields, but not all fields

Select other choices as appropriate for your search
Search methods are the same as for the creator name search

Search terms are case sensitive – use capitals and lower case letters
Truncation is automatic – type in part of a word and you will retrieve all words that contained the letters you typed
Include any punctuation in your term.

Clear search clears your current search and takes you back to the list of field searches
New search keeps your current search results and offers a choice of

narrowing your search within the current results
broadening your search by adding another search to your current results
Note that new search does not start over from scratch. To start a search over, select clear search

Sorting search results

You can change the sort order of the images in your search.

Open group in the main menu
Select sort by
Use the drop down menus to select your sorting priorities

If you sort first by creator name, the images that do not have a creator name on the record will appear at the end of your search results and sorting will by your second priority. Ditto for any field.

African American Art images can be sorted by the sequence in Mr. Graham's slide carousels. With the African American Art image set open, select Note 2as the first sort field.
The Art History Survey text images can be sorted by chapters. With the Stokstad image set open, select Note 2 as the first sort field.

Image information

To see the information about an image, select the image, then select data from the menu.
In the presentation or workspace view (see below), there is an icon with parallel lines on the tool palette that opens the information
In the thumbnail view of search results, the data item in the main menu opens the information

Opening the full-size image

Double click on a thumbnail
A new window opens with the image and a tool palette
To close the image, click the rectangle with the X on the tool palette
To return to the search view, click the back arrow at the bottom of the palette

Making groups for presentations

Do a search
Select group from the main menu
A new pane appears along with the search pane

To select the pane you want to use, click at the top. Your choice affects what happens when you use the menus.
Context menus appear with right click (control click) for the panes as a whole or for selected images.

To make a group, select the images you want from your search and drag them to the group pane
Do another search to add more images. Select the search pane and search as usual. Note that if you select the group pane, the search will only function within the group, which will not help you collect new images.
To save your group

Open file on the main menu and select save group or save group as
Name your group
The default name is New Group 1
Change the name at the top of the pane that has shows the folders
Open the local folder and select browse
Navigate to the location on your computer where you would like to store. You are not storing the images, only the instructions for assembling your group.
Please do not store groups in any of the public folders that appear.

Open a group the same way you open presentations, except there is no blue icon for the group

Open file on the main menu and select open group
Open the local folder to find your group

Delete a group by opening file in the main menu and selecting delete group

Making a presentation

From the file menu, select create presentation
The work space opens and all of the images in the group appear in a presentation
There is a pane with thumbnails beside the work space
Drag the thumbnails to change the order of the images
Adjust the sizes and positions of the images on the work space using the tool palette
There are commands below the thumbnails

Linking images allows two or more images to appear on the screen at once
Copying an image allows you to show an image more than once in different places in the presentation
Cutting an image removes an image from the presentation. The thumbnail remains in the presentation pane, but the image does not appear in the presentation.
Restoring an image makes it visible again

Finding your group and presentation

From the file menu, select open group
To open the group, select it

The blue presentation icon appears after the thumbnails
There is also a small blue icon at the top of the window which reveals the presentation icon by itself, without the thumbnails
To view a presentation, open the icon
To edit a presentation, select the icon and from the group menu, select edit presentation
A more direct way to open a presentation for viewing only:

In the file menu, search for the group
Select the presentation icon that is attached to the group
To open a presentation, select the blue icon attached to the group

Exporting jpg images to your computer

Select an image
Open file in the main menu and select export selected
Select a pixel size. Select 6144 pixels or larger to download the full image size
Choosing individually is more direct than choose field value, but otherwise they seem about the same
Name the file and choose a place to download it
A link appears on Insight to the download folder
You will find three files: the jpg image file, an xml document, and an xml index

You can open the jpeg file however you normally open them
Double clicking on the xml index opens the image as a thumbnail in a browser window. Double click on the image and it opens in the browser.

Exporting PowerPoints of presentations

Open the group and select the presentation
From the file menu, select export presentation to PowerPoint
Select the largest image size

Virginia Tech's Luna Insight digital image collections slated for Insight

College of Architecture and Urban Studies

Steve Tatum (231-6182)
Art, Architecture and Design Collections scope: architecture, art, building construction, environmental design, industrial design, interior design, landscape architecture, public administration/policy, urban planning, and related fields. Images considered for inclusion in the Insight database will be those needed for instruction and research by faculty within the College of Architecture and Urban Studies.

College of Veterninary Medicine

David Sampson (231-2315)
Veterinary Medicine Collections scope: Images considered for inclusion will be those needed for instruction and research by faculty within the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Collections currently available in Insight

Virginia Tech students, faculty and staff may access the following collections that were acquired with Luna Insight

Estate Project Virtual Collection

Includes works create by artists with HIV/AIDS from the Alliance for the Arts. (3,065 images) via Java Client. More info

Farber Gravestone Collection

Sponsored by the American Antiquarian Society. Pre-1800 gravestone sculpture from New England. (13,527 images) via Java Client. More info.

David Rumsey Map Collection

Cartographic material of North and South America from the 18th and 19th Centuries, including atlases, globes and maps. (1,075 images) via Java Client. More info.

Mitsui Map Collection - Japanese Historical Maps from University of California at Berkeley's East Asian Library

Maps of Japan (major cities) and the world before 1890. (209 images) via Java Client. More Info.

Collections Available from the David Rumsey Website - public and subscribed

More info.

Portions of this website were adapted from UC Berkeley's CDL/Insight website.

Images used with permission from Luna Imaging

Last updated:10/2/08 by Robert Sebek

Virginia Tech's Luna Insight® Digital Image Database