Scribd
Upload
57 views3 pages

Preparing An Image For Publication

Uploaded by

amongus.owo.xd
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
57 views3 pages

Preparing An Image For Publication

Uploaded by

amongus.owo.xd
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

Preparing an Image for

Publication
STEP 1: GET THE IMAGES INTO THE COMPUTER, DELETE AND BATCH
RENAME
If you are using Photoshop 7 or higher, use the File Browser or Bridge to select all
of the images that you plan to keep. If there are images that are not of a quality
suitable for publication, they can be deleted from Bridge. Select all of the images
that you plan to keep and choose Batch Rename from the menu. Work with a
standard naming convention for all publication images –

Event_Date_Photographer's initials_Serial Number.Extension.

Do not use any periods or / \ in the file name. You may need to abbreviate. Do not
work with images directly off the media card or camera – download to the server
first. Rate the strongest images with a single star (Command + 1 on a Mac or
Control + 1 on Windows)

STEP 2: FILE INFO FOR CAPTIONS AND CREDITS


Under the File menu select File Info and enter your photo credit and caption
information into the author and description fields. You can also enter this data in
the metadata fields directly in Bridge

STEP 3: LEVEL, ROTATE AND CROP


Use the ruler to level the photograph. This is done by drawing the ruler along a
horizontal or vertical line that should be at 0 degrees or 90 degrees.

Go to Image – Rotate Canvas/Image Rotation – Arbitrary and click OK.

Rotate the canvas so you can see the image facing the right direction, if necessary.
Then use the cropping tool to crop out unnecessary portions of the photo. Cropping
should only be done to strengthen the composition of the photograph

TEP 4: IMAGE SIZE


This is found under the Image menu. Uncheck the Resample Image box so that you
link height, width and resolution. Then change the resolution to the PPI you need
for your publication. The file size at the top of the window should stay the same or
get smaller–- never larger! Remember that PPI should be 1 1/2 to 2 times the LPI
for your publication.

For newspapers, this is usually 160 PPI. For yearbooks and magazines, the
resolution should be 300 PPI.

STEP 5: CLEAN UP BRIGHTNESS, CONTRAST AND COLOR BALANCE


USING LEVELS
Although you can do the same thing a little more precisely with Curves, adjusting
levels is a little easier to understand. If the image is an RGB file, change to the Red
channel and adjust the highlight arrow and the shadow arrow until they are at the
end of the graph. Do the same to the Green channel and then the Blue channel. By
holding down the Option key (Mac) or the Alt key (Windows) you can adjust the
pointers until data just starts to appear.

Then pay careful attention to the mid-tones. Even on the best photo, moving the
mid-tones arrow (gray) to the left (towards the shadow) will improve the way the
photo reproduces. Moving the mid-tones arrow to the
left brings out more detail in the dark areas. Do not adjust the separate channels if
the image has a very dominant color, for example a scene with a swimming pool or
at sunset-– adjust these images only in RGB, not in the separate channels.

STEP 6: DUST, SCRATCHES, DODGE AND BURN, RED EYE,


SHADOWS/HIGHLIGHTS, ETC
Use the clone stamp, the healing brush and other tools to remove dust spots and
scratches from the image. Most images from a digital camera will not require this
step. You can copy the red eye data from the blue channel and paste it into the red
channel to remove most red eye. Photoshop 9 (CS2) and higher has a red eye tool
built into the program. You can use Shadow/Highlight under Image –Adjustments
to also help bring out more details in the shadows and highlights.

STEP 7: UNSHARP MASK/SMART SHARPEN


Unsharp Mask helps bring out the places where shades of gray intersect,
improving the reproduction quality. However, the effects should be hardly
noticeable on the screen. An amount of 50-70 percent, with a radius of 1 and a
threshold of 0 levels works for the average photo from a digital camera. Use 70-90
percent for an image that was scanned from a negative or print. This step should
be done after steps 1-6 have been completed. You can also use the Smart Sharpen
tool instead

STEP 8: COLOR MODE


Most yearbook companies are now asking schools to leave images in RGB format,
but newspaper publishers still generally require color images to be in CMYK
format. For Grayscale images, go back to the channels palette, select the channel
that has the best tonal range and then trash the other two channels. Or you can
choose “Desaturate” under the Image –Adjustments menu. Try both options to see
which one looks best. Or in Photoshop 10 and higher, you can now use the Black
and White option under Image –Adjustments. Whichever process you use, you will
always go to Image –Mode and change the image to Grayscale. The Photoshop
window must indicate that the photo is “Gray” and not “RGB”. Check Levels (Step
5) after converting to Grayscale.

FINAL PHOTO
The final photo, in Grayscale or CMYK mode for print or RGB mode for Web/screen
display, should have a good contrast range –a good black, a good white and good
shades of gray in between. The subject should fill the frame and should be sharp

STEP 9: SAVE AS
The final photo should be saved in a format that’s compatible with the software
you’re using for publication.

For InDesign, that means TIFF. InDesign can also work with Photoshopfiles (PSD).
If you are doing any type of cutout or COB, save the file with transparency as a
PSD file and InDesign will be able to see this
transparency. EPS files also work well but are larger.

For photos that are going to be viewed on the Web, in PowerPoint or on CD, JPEG
will work. PNG will maintain transparency if you have done a cutout. Only save the
image once as a JPEG. Multiple saves as JPEGs can dramatically reduce the quality
of the image

You might also like