Band Shoot on Friday - Help With Image Size???

06/14/2006 04:11:28 PM · #1

I have a photo shoot of a Band for their album cover and inside images, etc. on Friday. This will be my first one and it is a location shoot.

Please advise me on how to frame the shots ( in camera ) so that there are no problems when they are cropped (album covers are square cropped I'm assuming). I also want to frame all the shots the way I normally do (filling the frame, sometimes pretty tight) so I'm planning on shooting each pose both ways, the way I normally shoot and then one where the frame is not filled so that it can be square cropped without losing information.

Is this pretty much what I need to be doing...are there any other considerations you would suggest I think about?

Message edited by author 2006-06-14 16:11:54.

06/14/2006 04:27:06 PM · #2

Well one thing I would consider is if the CD J-Card (Cover) will be printed offset you need to make sure your image is the right DPI for the LPI it is being printed at.

If the LPI (Line Screen) is 150lpi the rule of thumb is the DPI needs to be 1.5 times LPI which would be 225dpi at 100% of size.

So if you make your file size 300dpi at 100% you should be fine and the Pre-Press guys will do the rest.

Message edited by author 2006-06-14 16:30:25.

06/14/2006 04:55:18 PM · #3

I'm not sure I'm following you.

When I convert from RAW do I just set the DPI to 300 with Camera RAW? What is the offsetting you are talking about?

Thanks.

Message edited by author 2006-06-14 16:55:27.

06/14/2006 05:01:43 PM · #4

Ok sorry to be confusing. Most J-Card printing is done using an offset 4/color (CMYK) printing press.

The digital file (your layout) will first be output to a film negative. The a printing plate is made from that negative and the J-Card is printed. To make sure that your J-Card is printed correctly the final DPI of your art/image needs to be 300DPI not 72DPI like we use on the web.

Just make sure under image size in Photoshop that your image is 300DPI at the size it will be printed at. I.E. 4.75"x4.75".

I hope this makes sense.

Erick

Message edited by author 2006-06-14 17:02:38.

06/14/2006 05:34:06 PM · #5

Ok, couple questions.

1. Is the J-Card (cover?) a perfect square?

2. Do I need to crop it or let them crop it? I would like to crop it because I am probably going to be doing the artwork for it also...so I guess I should crop?

3. Do i need to resize the image at all or can I leave it at its full file size?

4. When I crop can I just set it to 1x1 and put 300 dpi in the box OR do I resize and resample to 300 dpi, OR do I crop 1x1, put 300 dpi in the box, and then resize?? I'm lost.

Thanks,
kg

06/14/2006 06:06:35 PM · #6

1. Yes I think it is 4.75"x4.75" but measure one in your collection just to make sure.

2. You should do all the cropping and layout to your specs. The pre-press guys wont fix your mistakes or unwanted stuff.

3. You need to resize the image to the final output size. I.E. 4.75"x4.75" @ 300dpi

as for your last question I have a Nikon and when I import my RAW file into Photoshop it comes in at 300dpi and the image size is 6.667"x10.027.
So for me I only would have to crop and not resize. I am not sure how canon does it. Maybe someone else can answer that.

One thing when laying out (Designing) the cover if you are using a layout program I.E. In design/Quark/Illustrator (not Photoshop) don't resize the image in that program go back into Photoshop.

Erick

06/14/2006 07:05:17 PM · #7

So I should not use photoshop to design the cover? Is there a reason for this?

I designed a poster for someone that used a photo and text and stuff and printed at 20x30 and it came out great. Is there a reason not to use photoshop?

Also, why can't I just crop it and then give them the full image size? When I take prints to wolf to get done I take them the full image size whether I'm printing in 4x6 or 8x12 or 20x30 and the prints come out beautiful...won't the same happen for the album cover?

06/14/2006 07:33:18 PM · #8

You can use Photoshop that's fine. I use a layout app for all design as I find it easier to work with type and I use allot of vector graphics as well.

Like I said all this I have outlined is predicated on the fact that the cover will be printed using an offset printing press. If the cover is being output in a different way you need to use that printers specifications.

Wolf uses a entirely different system and the requirements are different.

06/14/2006 09:38:00 PM · #9

k, sounds good. And you think I'll be fine taking one tight picture and one zoomed out picture of each pose to allow for the cropping?

thanks for all your help.

Message edited by author 2006-06-14 21:38:45.