If your photos don’t look good, YOU don’t look good!
As always, the main goal when taking photographs is to make your products look smashing, and there are a few key areas to consider that will help you get the most out of your digital camera.
First is resolution, which in the context of digital photos is simply a measure of the output quality of an image (usually measured in pixels per inch – PPI.)
When creating a photo of your products, it is often a good idea to set your camera at its highest quality setting (ie: the one that produces the largest file size.) This file will give you highest resolution your camera is capable of producing as well as the most flexibility in how you can use the image. The file can then be opened in any digital imaging software (such as Photoshop or your camera’s own editing software) and then adjusted as necessary.
The key here is that it’s very easy to resize an image downward from a large, high-quality file. Images with large file size and higher resolution (usually 300ppi or greater) are best suited for print, while images with lower resolution (usually 72ppi) are suitable for web use. On the flip side, trying to create a larger image from a low quality file (which is usually referred to as “interpolating ” or “res-ing up”) almost always results in files that appear fuzzy, jagged, or “pixelated” looking. Definitely not what you want for capturing the beauty and detail of your products!
For the purposes of SmashingDarling images, here’s a step-by-step of the best way to prepare quality images:
1. Set your camera to it’s highest quality setting
2. Create your photos
3. Open your photos in a digital imaging program and crop as desired.
4. Adjust the output size to a minimum of 700 x 700 pixels, and the resolution to 72 ppi.
5. Make sure the file size is under 250k, and save as a JPEG, GIF, or PNG.
6. Upload your photos!
There’s lots more to consider when producing your own photographs, but this is a good starting point that will result in an image of the proper resolution and size. And without understanding this basic principle of digital photography, there’s nothing else that you can do to make an image look good. A low-resolution image artificially scaled up will look bad every time, no matter how great the lighting, how beautiful the subject, or how expensive the camera!
As always, please post comments with any questions you may have – our goal is to help in any way we can!
Next session: lighting and exposure
