IMAGE HELP ::: Bead Review

There has been much confusion among the entrants about the image requirements. Since most of you only photograph for the web, you’ve never had to consider anything more than cropping or some color correction. But photos that look good on the screen don’t necessarily look good in a printed publication.

I don’t want to be overly technical in my explanations, so those of you who are experts in the area of digital photography may take issue with the way I explain some of the following... This information is obviously not for you guys but for those who are confused about what we need.

Also, I use a PC, so all my explanations are PC based. I apologize to those of you who use Macs, but maybe you can get enough from my descriptions to figure out how to do the same thing on your machine.

~Julie
 

WHAT CONSTITUTES "EDITING"?
To put it simply, we want the file straight from the camera. Whenever (and every subsequent time) you save a JPG it loses clarity - it compresses the picture by merging similar pixels together, so even if all you did was open the picture and re-save it, you have edited the photo - at least in our definition!

Here are some illustrations of what happens with JPG compression.


This first image is a straight-from-the-camera photo zoomed in to 200%. Notice the nice, clean "stairsteps" on the bead edges.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


This photo shows a photo that has been saved multiple times. Notice how the edges are not defined anymore and the background (white are) is mottled.



 

RENAMING FILES
Many of you prefer to rename your files before sending them. The best way to do that without having to open the picture and re-save it is to use your file browser (Windows Explorer), highlight the photo name, click F2 and rename the file... be sure not to remove the .JPG part of the name!
 
RESOLUTION
Most of your are taking your photos with digital cameras which use a resolution of 72 dpi (dots per inch) or ppi (pixels per inch.) My camera is a digital SLR, and it takes photos at 300 dpi - so rather than specifying the resolution for the photos you submit, we specify the total size - at least 900 pixels wide.

Now, we are not asking you to crop your photos to 900 pixels, we just want you to ensure that your photo is large enough. The next point will explain how to do that.
 
IMAGE SIZE
If you open your photo in Photoshop, you can click on Image, Image Size (or Alt+Ctrl+I) and see the information shown at right. (If you use another image editing software you probably have to find this information another way, but for explanation purposes I am using Photoshop as an illustration.)

You’ll notice that this photo has a resolution of 300 pixels/inch, and it’s shortest side is the height, which is at 2000 pixels... more than enough for our purposes.
 

TOO MUCH BACKGROUND?
What if your bead or set of beads is just a small area inside the total picture?

Here is a bead photo that has a lot of background area. The red box notes where I would like to see this photo cropped. So I need to temporarily crop the picture then click Alt+Ctl+I again to check the size - in this case it’s 1144 pixels tall - still large enough.

Now that I know the photo is large enough, I close the file WITHOUT SAVING IT. Or, alternatively, save it under a new name, edit the color, crop, etc., then send it along to us as your edited version :)

ONE LAST SUGGESTION
Always save your original, unedited camera photos for future use - especially if you don’t have the bead anymore!

Hopefully I’ve explained things in a way that lessens confusion. As always, email me at julie@fergiebeads.com or fergiebeads@yahoo.com if you have any questions or need other help!