Preparing web proofs for your customer

This is a discussion that arises in groups from time to time. My method is by no means the only method, and it’s certainly not a very fancy method, but it works very well for me.

The Web Proof Basics:

So, you’ve taken photos for your client. Now you’re preparing stunning proofs which (you hope) will blow their minds, and prompt them to order dozens of prints – earning you a tidy profit.

Of course, you know there are two important things to remember:

  1. Convert the proofs to sRGB for best web viewing; and
  2. Place your watermark prominently on the images as a basic safeguard against theft.

Choosing Size:

I think it's a good idea to upload at the maximum size that your website or server accepts, and no bigger. If you're not sure what size that is, ask your host.

If you really can't find out what it is, use 2048px on the long edge. It's the Facebook standard, but should work ok for most sites.

The Dilemma – Shape:

Let's say your website's ideal photo size is 1500px. Your camera captures photos in the 2:3 shape ... so your web proofs will be 1000x1500px, right?

Alas, not quite so simple.

2:3 format proofs are great if your customers order 2:3 prints – ie 6x4s, 8x12s, etc. The prints they get are exactly the same as the proofs they saw.

But if they order 5x7s, or worse, 8x10s, the shape is considerably different – up to one sixth gets chopped off for print.

TEXT TEXT TEXT

Um … ok, should you make your proofs 4:5 shape then, to match 8×10 prints? Well, no, because then you’ll have the same problem, but in reverse, if your customer orders 2:3 prints.

Do You Care?

You may be thinking "So what? My clients aren’t too observant or picky, they’ll be happy with whatever I give them."

To be honest, you’re probably right, and that makes things easy. Thanks for reading this far.

But if you’re a nerd like me, you might be thinking about ways around this inconvenience.

Two Thorough Solutions:

There are two ways you could truly overcome this issue:

  1. Provide several proofs of each image, at different shapes. This would remove any surprises, but it sure would be unwieldy! To be honest, the average customer wouldn’t know why you’d done it, and would just think you’d messed up.
  2. Only offer print sizes that match the shape of the proofs. This might work – "You can buy prints at these sizes: 6×4, 6×9, 8×12, 12×18". But it’s a bit restrictive, especially if the customer already has a 5×7 frame they want to use.

My Compromise Solution:

My simplistic solution has been to crop my proofs at 11:15 shape.

Why 11:15? Well, it’s the exact midpoint between the longest standard print ratio (2:3) and the shortest (4:5).

TEXT

My reasoning is straightforward: Find the middle ground.

No prints will look exactly like the proof, but none will be wildly different, either. If you think people won’t notice a 2:3 turned into a 4:5, then they definitely won’t notice this.

Therefore, if I want my proofs to be 800 pixels on the longest side, I crop them to 800×587 pixels. Yeah, I know, I know, it’s a strange number.

A Note About Cropping:

Needless to say, I don’t crop my master files to this odd shape. In fact, I’m obsessive about not cropping them at all – every pixel is sacred. It’s just the proofs that I crop.

I generally crop in a little bit from the edge of the master file, even on a tightly-composed image. This allows me even more flexibility when I come to prepare the print files.

Important:

The 11:15 principle also applies to images that you supply to a customer on disk. Read my comprehensive article about this issue here.

 


If you have a question about this article, please feel free to post it in Ask Damien.