Create Promotional Tools

Product Photo Specifications and Guidelines

In addition to the default images found in the templates for all promotional materials, there is an extensive image library of alternate images to choose from. It is also possible, in many instances, to use your own photographs. When uploading your own images, it is important to supply us files that are large enough to reproduce clearly.

Understanding “Resolution”
The clarity of the image will depend on the resolution of the image. Printers refer to resolution as “dpi” (dots per inch). The standard resolution for photographs to be printed is 300 dpi. Computer screens display images at 72 dpi. The higher the number, the higher the resolution and, therefore, the better the clarity of the image will be. So 300 dpi is a higher quality image than a 72 dpi image. A 72 dpi image will look fine in an e-mail message or on the web but will appear very fuzzy in a printed piece.

The brochures, postcards and advertisements in the D-I-Y Promotion Zone are designed for commercial printing, which requires the resolution of all photos to be 300 dpi. Photos used in e-mails and other web-based media require only a 72 dpi resolution. In many cases you will want to use the same photo in both print and web-based materials so it is always better to start with a 300 dpi photograph and convert a copy to 72 dpi for the web.

Note: You cannot convert a 72 dpi photo to a 300 dpi photo without drastically reducing the dimensions of the photo (approximately 1/4 size or 25%). For instance, a 4" X 6" photo at 72 dpi, will be only 1" X 1 1/2" at 300 dpi. So it is always best to start with a larger image.

File Size
The largest photo in a full-page advertisement requires a photo that is 8 3/4” wide, which is a file size of approximately 18 MB. This means that a photo that is to be used as the large main photo in the full-page advertisement should be 18 MB or larger. It is advisable that all photos be this file size to provide maximum flexibility when using the same photos in multiple promotional materials.

Size Requirements
Here are the file size requirements for the largest photos in each of the promotional material templates:

File Formats
The preferred file format for an uploaded images is TIFF (.tif or .tiff) and JPEG (.jpg or .jpeg).

Color Mode
Photos used for print (Brochures, Ads, Post Cards) must be CMYK. Photos used for HTML E-Mail Blasts must be RGB.

Creating new digital image files
The best reproduction will result from a digital file that was created by a professional photographer or an experienced graphics professional. If you are creating your own images using a digital camera to take new photos or using a scanner to scan existing prints or slides, the following tips will help you get the best results.

Taking new digital photographs

1. Select the largest JPEG pixel compression. Look in your camera manual for a section on image quality, image size, or compression to find out how your camera allows you to adjust this setting.
2. Generally, digital cameras save images as JPEGs by default. Check your digital camera’s user guide to see if you can save your photos as TIFFs.

Scanning existing photographs

1. Scan all images at 300 dpi.
2. Scale the image as necessary to enlarge or reduce the dimensions of the photo according to the Size Requirements above.

Uploading your images
Follow the detailed instructions in the D-I-Y User's Guide PDF.

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