Photo Specifications for Printing

Reproducing the color and quality of this photo in print would require a few adjustments.

Preparing a photograph for printing is a relatively simple, but absolutely crucial, process. Remember that just because a photo looks good on screen does not mean it will look good on paper.

Resolution

Resolution is one of the most misunderstood and often overlooked specifications for photo printing. On screen, a low resolution of 72 dpi is perfectly acceptable; in fact, many of the images you see on the Internet are low resolution to make the files smaller. Because the average computer screens doesn't display any higher than 72 dpi, there's no reason for the image to be bigger. However, in the world of print, photos must be at least 250 dpi. This is the reason that, many times, an image pulled from the Internet or blown up to many times its original size does not print well. It may look fine on screen, but that's because your screen resolution is too low to see the flaws; however, in print, they become obvious. You may see jagged edges or blurry blobs in the photo. Check the resolution using your photo-editing software. Depending on which program you are using, options may range from being able to set a very specific resolution, to generally saving the file as "small," "medium," or "large" or possibly "maximum." It's always a good idea to save a file at a higher resolution than you think you will need, because one it's saved at a low-resolution, there's no adding that resolution back; the information is gone.

Color

From home printers to large commercial presses, they all use the familiar cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink combination.

With regard to color and brightness, again, there is a difference between how something looks on screen and how it prints. Since screens are lit up from behind, and paper is lit by light being reflected off the surface, many times a picture will appear darker in print than it did on screen. The colors in the photo may not match what you see on screen, either. Screens use three colors of light: red, green and blue. This is also called RGB color. These three colors are combined to create all the many colors in a picture. As you may know from buying ink cartridges, a printer typically uses four colors of ink: cyan, magenta, yellow and black, or CMYK. When a picture changes from RGB to CMYK, as it must in order to make the transition from screen viewing to print, some color shifts inevitably occur.

Printing Locations

Printing a photo at home using a desktop printer is a fairly forgiving process. It can also be frustrating when the color on a printed picture is vastly different from the screen version. This could be due to the settings on either your monitor or the printing device. An ink tank could be low, or the monitor could be set to be very bright. If you have photo-editing software, try the automatic adjustments offered by the program, or do a little trial and error until it prints as you desire. Make note of the difference between your screen and your printout to make future adjustments easier.

On the other hand, if you are sending the electronic file to a commercial photo printer, they may do the color adjustments for you. As long as the photograph is of an acceptably high resolution, you will probably get good results.

If you are sending the file to be printed in a publication, you may find they have strict specifications for what they will accept. In that case, it's best to call the publication and find out what they require before you begin.

References

• The New York Times: Media Kit
• National Geographic: Your Shot Rules

Resources

• Kodak: Organize, Print and Share
• Snapfish: Do More With Your Photos