PARACHUTING'S NEWSMAGAZINE
Scanning Photographs
A Few Tips for Contributors
A bright, sharp print or slide that's scanned with a good-quality scanner will produce a file that will reproduce well in Skydiving. Here are some tips and information on submitting digital files:
1. Use a quality scanner that is capable of at least 600 dpi optical (not interpolated) resolution.
2. Keep the scanner's patten (or slide holder, if you're scanning transparencies) as free from dust, lint and fingerprints as possible. This is particularly important when scanning transparencies.
3. Scan images as close to the final size as practical. This means if the photo is likely be published as a two-column photo (about 5x7 inches), then set-up your scanner to create an image of that size. If it is likely to appear on the cover (about 8x10 inches), then configure your scanner for that output size.
4. For photographs -- both black-and-white and color -- the output resolution of the scanner should be 200 dpi -- that's all. (Line art should be scanned at 600 dpi, but we're talking photographs here.) For color images, 24-bit color is fine, if you have a choice.
This means if a 5x7 "portrait" photograph is scanned at 200 dpi and 200%, the resulting file will have the resolution needed to look good if it's published across four columns of our magazine. (It could also be scanned at 400 dpi and 100%; the results are the same.)
A 35 mm transparency (in the "landscape" orientation) should be scanned at 200 dpi and 600% (or 400 dpi and 300%, or 1200 dpi and 100%...)
5. Refrain from cropping the photograph very much. Oftentimes we need the "extra" border areas to make a photo better fit our layout.
6. Generally, use the scanner's default settings for contrast, brightness, gamma and so forth.
7. Scan the photo and save it as an uncompressed TIFF or lightly compressed JPEG file.
8. You may use an image-editing program (like Adobe Photoshop) to remove dust specs and flaws, but please don't manipulate the color balance of the photo or make major changes to the image. We have an artist who does that, and she knows what sort of images work best at our printer. Basically, we need the "raw" scan.
9. Send us the file. Emailing is usually the best way; the address is sue@skydivingmagazine.com. It's not very practical to email individual files larger than about 5 Mb. If you're sending more than one photo, then attach each file to a separate email. Skydiving doesn't yet have a convenient FTP site.
Or, send them on CD-ROM or 100 Mb Zip disks (PC format is best, although we can read Mac disks). We're big fans of CD-ROM, by the way.
Finally, files may be supplied on IBM floppy disks. If they are compressed, use the popular PKZIP utility for IBM PCs. Compressing JPEG files is usually a waste of time; they're quite compressed already.
The integrity of files supplied on a floppy or CD-ROM should be checked before the disk is shipped. Skydiving occasionally receives files that can't be copied or loaded because of a problem with the disk itself or because the file was corrupted when the disk was created.
Skydiving's shipping address is 1725 N. Lexington Avenue, DeLand, FL USA 32724. Its offices are closed on weekends, so Saturday delivery is not an option.
Questions? Comments?
We welcome your questions, and we also welcome suggestions from photographers on how we can improve the job we do for them and our readers.
Email comments and suggestions to sue@skydivingmagazine.com
Preparing an ad?
To go to Skydiving's home page, click here.
Skydiving is a registered trademark.