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Last updated:
7/7/2008
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Photo Guide
The Right Resolution For The Job:
Photos For Commercial Printing
The photo requirements for high-quality commercial printing, such as that used on Business People-Vermont, are very different than for photos used on your Web site.
- Film cameras:
Send a high-resolution scan
-OR-
send the original print,
-NOT-
a printed scan.
- Digital cameras:
Send high-resolution JPEGS or the original JPEG photo files from your digital camera (or scan at 300ppi).
- Label your photos or files with the correctly spelled first and last name of the person in the press release. (Richard Smith label should be "Richard Smith," not "Chip Smith."
- Send press release and photo together.
- AVOID prints of digital photos.
- AVOID Web site pictures.
What difference does resolution make?
Web Resolution images like the tiny sample on the left, have detail removed so that Web pages will load faster.
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Below: A photo sized for the Web "upsampled" to show how it would look printed in the magazine. Blurry, mushy and full of "artifacts."
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Below: If you send a headshot about this size with this much detail, it will print well in our Faces & Places section. Crisp, handsome and full of character.
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Why Magazine Printing Uses
More Resolution Than Your Web Site
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The enlargement on the left: Your computer screen uses pixels to reproduce a black and white photo.
Each pixel can be any of 256 shades of gray. (Color images use millions of colors.)
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The enlargement on the right: To print a photo on a commercial press, photos are converted to "halftones."
Varying sizes of black dots on white paper color give the illusion of shades gray.
Since there are only two colors — black and white — much more detail is needed in the original.
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