I think I have a pretty good grasp of aspect ratios and print sizes and usualy crop my photos in 4:5 ratio so they are suitable for 8x10 and 11x14 prints. My question is this, is this same aspect ratio also acceptable for images that are to be sold for publication? Are there any general guidelines or industry standards for aspect ratios and file size for images. Thanks for your help.
Clay
I shoot images for ad use and publication with an eye towards how they will be cropped by the AD, but I don't do the cropping myself. Extra sky, extra foreground, whichever seems to work best if the image should happen to be used full frame. At the very least, AD's welcome the extra space for drop text and mastheads. I can't tell you how many times I've heard them complain about "frame filling" shots the photographer intended to print full frame, but it falls to the graphic artists to come up with schemes to create a little extra space for their own use.
As a matter of routine I shoot "compositional brackets." By that I mean, you're already there, you found the great shot, so why not compose it for different uses? I ALWAYS compose vertical and horizontal shots of each scene, as well as for cropped and uncropped use. We spend way too much money on gear and travel and work so hard to find the great shots, it only makes sense to get the most bang for our buck when it all comes together.
Go ahead and compose that frame-filling vertical shot for art prints, then compose it again with spare room at top and again at bottom. Now flip the camera to horizontal and do it all again. It helps to picture the cover page of your favorite 3 or 4 magazines, then leave room for their graphics on top of your shot.
In very short order it will become instinctive to do this all the time. Especially when your sales go up correspondingly!
Thanks Hank and Richard. Most of what I shoot are birds and macro and I always save the originals and do crops and final PP on duplicates.The originals ussually have plenty of extra space. But, sometimes larger birds at close range with a long lens don't leave us much choice. Thanks again for your help.
Clay
Discussion
4 repliesClay
I shoot images for ad use and publication with an eye towards how they will be cropped by the AD, but I don't do the cropping myself. Extra sky, extra foreground, whichever seems to work best if the image should happen to be used full frame. At the very least, AD's welcome the extra space for drop text and mastheads. I can't tell you how many times I've heard them complain about "frame filling" shots the photographer intended to print full frame, but it falls to the graphic artists to come up with schemes to create a little extra space for their own use.
One more thing Clay-
As a matter of routine I shoot "compositional brackets." By that I mean, you're already there, you found the great shot, so why not compose it for different uses? I ALWAYS compose vertical and horizontal shots of each scene, as well as for cropped and uncropped use. We spend way too much money on gear and travel and work so hard to find the great shots, it only makes sense to get the most bang for our buck when it all comes together.
Go ahead and compose that frame-filling vertical shot for art prints, then compose it again with spare room at top and again at bottom. Now flip the camera to horizontal and do it all again. It helps to picture the cover page of your favorite 3 or 4 magazines, then leave room for their graphics on top of your shot.
In very short order it will become instinctive to do this all the time. Especially when your sales go up correspondingly!
Clay