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1. Layout | 2. Copy | 3. Photography
Worth a Thousand Words
Your photographs are crucial to a successful sales brochure. Just follow
the simple guidelines listed below to take outstanding photos.
The Basics
- Shoot several photos of the product at different angles. Send in the
best angle.
- Make sure the background does not detract from the product.
- Adjust light and exposure to prevent shadows and provide good
definition.
- Turn off the date on automatic cameras so it will not appear on the
photos. (See example at right.)
Traditional Photos
- Mark the backs of all photos with letters or numbers that correspond
to captions and/or associated copy.
- Be careful to use light pressure when writing on the back of photos.
Pressing hard leaves an indent that will cause a shadow on the printed
piece.
- Place photos face-to-face if you write on the backs. This prevents ink
from smearing onto photo images. (See example A at right.)
- Don't paper-clip photos together. This can scratch or indent the
photos. Also, don't staple your photos to other items. (See example A at right.)
- Avoid using tape or adhesive labels on the backs of photos. The extra
thickness causes a shadow on the printed piece, and the photos may stick
to each other.
- If you want part of a photo eliminated, do not cut the photo. Make a
note to "crop" the photo instead. Photocopy the photo and indicate
cropping instructions on the photocopy.
Image Enhancement
Brightness, contrast, touch-ups, color correction, cropping, cloning and
sizing can all be done by our highly skilled artists. Color matching is
available if we are provided with a sample to match.
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Example A. An example of some don'ts.
Example B. Nice shot!
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Digital Photographs
Use a good digital camera — 2 to 4 mega pixels should be fine for most projects.
If you enlarge any digital image enough, the individual pixels will
begin to show. This undesirable effect is called pixelization (similar
to graininess in traditional photos). The more pixels there are in an
image (that is, the higher the resolution), the more it can be enlarged
before pixelization occurs.
The size of a photograph is specified in one of two ways: by its
dimensions in pixels, or by the total number of pixels it contains. For
example, the same image can be said to have 1,800 x 1,600 pixels, or to
contain 2.88 million pixels (1,800 multiplied by 1,600).
Buy as much resolution as you can afford in a digital camera.
A digital camera should have at least 1280 x 960 true optical resolution
(that's 1.3 MegaPixels). Then you'll be able to get excellent prints up
to 5" x 6".
Get up close. Cameras with digital zooms lose resolution when they zoom
in. Therefore, be sure to step up to the objects you are photographing
and frame your image precisely in the viewfinder or LCD monitor.
Recreating Digital Images on Printed Paper
The optimal resolution for print is 300 dpi (dots per inch). Most images, as viewed on your computer screen, are less than 100 dpi.
Therefore, images appearing large and clear on your monitor will not
print the same on paper. The higher the resolution, the
more the photo can be enlarged and still be clear and sharp. A
low-resolution photo must be made smaller to improve the image quality. If the photo will be enlarged more than 150%, you should expect a drop in photo quality.
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