| 5.
Introduction to Digital Image Presentation, Printing and Distribution
Article
5 of 100
Presenting, Printing & Distributing images -
the final output of all our efforts. Websites, photo albums,
archival quality prints, art galleries, online galleries &
image banks, newspapers, magazines, books, commercial clients,
etc.
Every photographer is going to have a different set of experiences
and different rules that he has had to play by, so this section
is at best a guideline to work from and based on my personal
experiences.
For
internet use (my biggest use by far these days, mainly because
I am my own best client) I have a very simple formula. I open
whatever image I want to use in Photoshop CS2 and adjust it
for exposure, contrast and whatever else is lacking in the
image quality. Then I crop and resize the image to 72dpi and
the size needed on the web page. In the last stage I Save
for Web and choose the file type and quality level I need
for a good (small as possible) image. (I will go into more
detail later)
Printing
is pretty much dependent upon the exact equipment you have,
computer, monitor, printer(s), and of course the paper you
are using. I can't tell you how many friends have asked me
to help them with their digital photo printing problems but
refuse to consider changing either the printer they own (the
salesman told them it would give them photo quality prints)
or buying a better quality paper. They always end up telling
me that they are satisfied with the results they are getting
on the paper they are buying from a discount store by the
small truck load and that I should try to find them a solution
that won't cost them any more money.
Unfortunately
there are no short-cuts when it comes to quality printing.
It takes good equipment, good paper, good ink, and a lot of
trial and error to get it all set up right. It was a frustrating
process in the darkroom and it still is a frustrating process
in the digital age.
As
far as distributing your images to publications and commercial
clients is concerned, I have been in this business for over
30 years and I have never ceased to be amazed at what a client
will request. Therefore for a professional photographer the
latest version of Photoshop is absolutely essential.
There
are also many different online image banks and galleries available
now that will help you distribute and sell your images. We
will explore several of them in the later stages of this series.
P.S.
Please do not get upset if your personal experience and views
are different from my own. These opinions are mine exclusively
and do not reflect the views or policies of any of the manufacturers
mentioned in this article...... George
Mann |
