It snowed in Grahamstown recently, prompting many residents to rush out into the freezing cold to take photographs with their cameras and cellphones.
Some kind people even sent us copies of the photographs for publication in the newspaper. We were grateful for the pictures because we were then able to design a page full of photos from a variety of places around town.
It snowed in Grahamstown recently, prompting many residents to rush out into the freezing cold to take photographs with their cameras and cellphones.
Some kind people even sent us copies of the photographs for publication in the newspaper. We were grateful for the pictures because we were then able to design a page full of photos from a variety of places around town.
We are used to receiving digital photographs from our readers and we are happy to publish them because it enhances our interaction with the community we serve.
For example, every Tuesday we publish an Applause page carrying an array of pictures of people who deserve some serious ovation.
Most of the Applause photographs are taken by Grahamstown citizens and not professional photographers. While we are pleased to print readers’ pictures, the quality of these photos is sometimes a challenge.
Problems can arise from poor lighting or because the photographer is not able to approach the subject closely.
However, one of the most common problems – that of low resolution – is also one of the easiest to correct. A low resolution photograph is very difficult to print because they tend to get grainy or pixilated if we increase their size.
We find that pictures larger than 500kb or half a mega-byte print reasonably well, although we should go over 2MB to ensure good quality.
These sizes are easily within the range of most digital cameras and even cellphones today so most photos sent to us should be acceptable.
Unfortunately when people email pictures it is often difficult to send large files because they make demands on the pitifully limited bandwidth available in this country.
There are even some servers that refuse to accept large files so some people routinely reduce file sizes before emailing a picture and some programs automatically optimise photos for sending over the internet by reducing their sizes.
You will also find that most photographs posted on internet sites have relatively small file sizes. This is good for the internet, but bad for print.
So next time you send a photograph to Grocott’s Mail, or any other publication for that matter, try to ensure that it has a good, meaty resolution.
