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eMail
is a very unreliable method for sending print images and often has a 5Mb
limit
It only takes a minute to set up the free account then you can send us your files in ANY file format - as big as 100Mb and we will do the rest. IMPORTANT - ALWAYS INCLUDE YOUR PHONE NUMBER! We also need a 'NON EMAIL' way to contact you as some 'Freemail' services often block our return eMails! We reply to ALL emails but if your address is blocked by 'anti-spam' systems you can't receive our reply!
FYI: 'Making and sending perfect 'Print Ready' Image Files' You
can simply send us your file 'as-is' and we will convert and optimise it
and advise for free. 1.
Make sure all images are Adobe RGB, 150-400ppi print resolution at the required
size More detailed info... Check that you have print resolution images! Print resolution images range from 200dpi to 400ppi (Pixels Per Inch) at actual print size. Most people use 300ppi which became the defacto standard with the first laser printers. Web and screen images are only 72ppi so if we 'scale' them down to 300ppi they will only be a quarter of the print size!. If we 'sample up' web images four times bigger they will still only print a quarter as detailed and sharp as a true 300pi print with all the details captured by a 300ppi camera or scanner. Samplling up images in PhotoShop also magnifies all the image's low resolution problems like ''halos' caused by low resolution sharpening, image 'noise', colour 'banding' and edges with pixelated 'jaggies'. Yes we can do some retouching and sharpening 'fixes' after upsampling but apart from making a full 'painting' of the image the results will NEVER be as good as a true high resolution file. You don't always need 300dpi to make prints! The old 300ppi benchmark should no longer exist as it came from the first high contrast black & white laser printers that only made 12" text and line prints that were to be viewed up close. Modern large format printers 'blend' and 'interpolate' six to fourteen colours to produce smooth toned, soft edged, 16+ million colour images that are often viewed from many feet away. The further away you view a print the lower the resolution needed. As a rough guide Images up to A3 can be as low as 200dpi, A2; 150 - 200dpi and A1 - A0; 100 - 150dpi. You can also get away with lower resolution images much better with prints made on canvas due to the strong texture masking the lower detail. Low resolution files CAN be enlarged remarkably well with our 'Spline & Fractal' and 'Blow Up' software (see example) and we can do some 'fix up' retouching but you won't get detail that is not there to begin with! If in doubt eMail me personally for advice. Fine art prints and canvases have borders! We will add the 'Image Wrap' borders of choice for canvas art - Examples but remember that you are likely to want to get your print masterpiece professionally framed. If you take an expensive fine art 8" x 10" print and 'cram' it into a $5.00, 8" x 10" frame you have an ugly $5.00 result! Fine art images need 'breathing space' to 'locate' within the boundaries of a frame. Archival prints also need to be mounted on acid free board and located away from the glass under an acid free mat overlay. We always recommend a white unprinted border space be left around an image and maybe a keyline so that the framer's mat can be located around the image without cropping the image or showing the paper edge. Add the borders YOU want on oversize paper or we will print INSIDE the requested paper size giving a slightly smaller image with a thin border. See info. Archive
your layout as TIF' but 'Send as JPG'. We have been using JPG 'Intelligent'
image compression to enable the eMailing of large print images since the
1992 Barcelona Olympics in liason with Kodak (whose systems we set-up). JPG
software breaks the large image down into a 'checkerboard' of 64
pixel squares that are analyzed and compressed less or more according
to the detail and content. You should always keep your 'Digital Master' files
as uncompressed TIF with all the layers and channels etc. and back up. To
send the 'flat' print image from the file select 'Save As' with format 'JPG'
and tick the boxes 'As a Copy' and 'Embed Color Profile'. Use
the settings illustrated below...
PhotoShop JPG compression has 12 levels - 'level 12' is maximum image quality due to minimum compression. 'Level 1' is lowest image quality due to maximum compression. With JPG 'level 8' and above there is no visible difference against a print made from an uncompressed TIF file! Use the settings illustrated below...
Now
you can send us your
perfect 'print ready' files... Sending small files via eMail - Most internet service providers will allow 5Mb or more attachments. Check the size of your files after the JPG compression routines above. Most compressed files will be less than 1.5Mb so you can often put multiple files in a folder and 'ZIP' compress the contents. If you have a Mac you can click on a folder and select 'File' > 'Compress' from the menu bar. Be sure to use 'Get Info' to see if you have an attachment file under 5Mb and send as an attachment to a Digital Masters eMail. IMPORTANT:
When you drag/drop an image file into an eMail message look
at the bottom right hand corner of the mail composition screen. There may
be a drop down menu that is called "image Size" with automated
image resizing choices, 'Actual Size, Large, Medium or Small'.
ALWAYS select 'ACTUAL SIZE' to avoid any automated file size reduction and
loss of image detail...
For big files over 5Mb use an FTP Transfer service to send very large or multiple files! We can recommend the 'YouSendit' service for FTP (File Transfer Protocol) image transfer services. Sadly we have been let down by our Australian communications giants so many times that we can no longer trust delivery and justify providing this paid service when it is available as a 'light' service free to you as a client. Try YouSendit Light for free
IMPORTANT
- ALWAYS INCLUDE YOUR PHONE NUMBER!
Site design, imaging and creation © DIGITALMASTERS australasia by David Myers - Period 1994-2011
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