One thing everyone wants to add to their promotional materials are photographs that pop and show just how important and impact-ful your business can be.
Of course, if you can afford to hire a professional photographer that’s great, but certainly it isn’t always within budget. Luckily, there are plenty of sites out there that can help you set-up for and take beautiful digital pictures of your business and its products, but what about after you have taken the picture? What happens then? How do you set up your pictures so printers such as ourselves can work with them and get them to look great in print?
This is an issue we often encounter at the shop, so today we have 5 quick tips to help you get your images in shape to print and look great!
1. Keep Things Un-Compressed
If you are taking your own photos and editing them on your computer, stay aware of how you are saving your files. Don’t crunch them down in an effort to pack in a ton of images. The bigger the file, the better. Set your camera to its largest setting, and don’t compress when you work with them on your computer.
2. Set Your Profile
Again, when you are moving between cameras, computers and in some cases cameramen, be careful about the color profiles you are saving your files in. There are a ton of options, but the best course of action is to stay consistent. Most machines work in a RGB source, which is fine. Stay consistent and then our pre-press department will easily and quickly be able to get your files in the right formats to print.
3. Monitors Don’t Cut It
Definitely don’t rely on your screen for what the final colors will look like. Screens and ink are very different and what you see isn’t always what you get. Ask for and get a proof that shows how your image will print.
4. Use the Best Image Editing Software You Can
If you have an idea as to what you want your final image to look like, than you will need some way to edit images on your computer. Its just a must. Adobe Photoshop is of course the most powerful and able option. If your budget doesn’t allow for that, then consider cheaper alternatives or even those that came with your computer.
And then of course, you have to invest sometime into learning how to use it, but if you plan to be using a lot of images than its more than worth your time.
5. Don’t Over Do It
Okay, although we just said you do need to use a good photo-editing application, its also important that we point out that you don’t over do it. Photoshop and the like can do wonders for many images, but at some point things can just go pear-shaped, so use it lightly. Good things to focus on when making adjustments are skin tone colors, the whiteness of your whites and that neutral colors like gray stay neutral.
And your bonus tip of the day! Talk with your printer’s pre-press department early and often. If words like, densitometer, histogram or an ICC Profile seem like alchemical codewords for the making the Philosopher’s Stone to you, then you should talk with your printer as soon as you can (really this is the prime bonus tip for all printing projects). Most folks in pre-press are like fountains of technical knowledge and love to share it. They work with color all day, so its important to know your printer has a team whom you can trust and rely on.
Of course preparing images to print is a complicated process, and there are numerous ideas and opinions to be considered. If you have more questions, or ideas, then feel free to chime in below.
Or stop by the shop and ask a few questions, we would be happy to help you get your next project to look great.
