If you are an artists with an active practice you have to learn to prepare digital images of your work to be inline with the desires of each show you enter. For younger artists this likely isn't any big deal but for anyone who did not group up with a digital camera in their hands it can be frustrating.
Most exhibitions now require digital images for show entry. With this in mind here are the steps you can take to size your digital files and get good results. While these directions are written specifically for those of you who use Photoshop Elements, I believe this information can be translated and used with other photo imaging software.
Sizing
Digital Image Files In Photoshop Elements
1. Set your camera to shoot
at the highest resolution. If someone else shoots your images you should
stress shooting high definition.
2. Open the file you wish
to format. My files come from the camera in CR format. CR stands for
camera raw. Photoshop Elements will open this format.
3. Using SAVE AS - Save
this image under a new name as a tiff. I do not use any compression and I
save the file in PC format even though I work on an Apple computer.
4. Using this new file, crop any
excess background around image.
5. Under IMAGE heading-
open RESIZE - IMAGE SIZE
6. A new window opens – Check
the RESAMPLE box. Change the larger pixel dimension to the number requested in
the show prospectus - Click OK
7. The image will remain
open. REOPEN the Image Size-Resize window
8. UNCHECK RESAMPLE BOX
9. CHECK CONSTRAIN BOX - Now you
can change the Resolution to the desired number. EX: 240, 300 etc.
10. CLICK OK
11. SAVE the file using the
SAVE AS function. At this point your file is still a tiff. If you
want to keep a copy of this image as a tiff then use the regular SAVE function.
12. Most shows want
a JPG file so you can then choose SAVE AS and select JPG. The JPG OPTIONS
window will open. From here you can choose the size of file you want using
the sliding size function that moves from small file to large file. Many
shows limit the size of file to say 3.M so using the sliding function move the
slider until the correct number shows on the right side of the box.
13. Now you can give
your file its final name and SAVE AS a JPG.
12. Most shows want a JPG file so you can then choose SAVE AS and select jpg . The JPG OPTIONS window will open. From here you can choose the size of file you want to save using the sliding function from small file to large file. Many shows limit the size of file to say 3.M so using the sliding function you can see the exact size of your file.
13. Now you can use the SAVE function to save your file under it's final name.
Hope this information is helpful.
