Challenge: Everyone in the company has a new digital camera, yet you can’t get a single high-resolution photo from anyone.

 

Solution: Determine what settings affect image quality on a digital camera and how to download photos without losing photo quality or file size.

 

How many times have we designers heard this: “It’s a brand new 12 megapixel camera and the pictures I just sent to you look terrific on my computer, so how could they be too small for you to use?”  

I’ve covered photo composition in previous articles: distance from the subject, using your zoom at a distance, placing a tape measure in the photo for scale. These are the environmental factors that will improve your photo taking. This month I will cover the camera, its settings and how to download and e-mail photos without losing image quality. 

I will not be jumping head first into the deep end of techy pool on this subject. Let’s keep it simple and stay on the basics that will help you take better pictures.

Here are a couple basic definitions that I have simplified for the purpose of this article. They will help illustrate why a digital photo can look great and not have the necessary detail for a graphic artist.

Monitor Viewing vs. Printability: Most people don’t realize there is a huge difference between the two. Vehicle wrap and large-format graphic artists live this reality every day; just because it looks nice on the computer doesn’t mean it will have the necessary detail for enlarging. All that you need to remember is that two photos that appear identical on the screen can be worlds apart when it comes to detail within the file. 

Pixel: A very small square-shaped point of color that makes up a digital photo. It is also used as a unit of measure when describing the physical size of a digital photo. You will also hear pixel used when referencing the resolution of a computer monitor.

Megapixel: A megapixel is one million pixels. The more pixels, the larger the photo dimensions and the more detail is present in the photo. More pixels mean more clarity of details and color depth. (See photos on next page)

JPG: A common file format used for saving digital photos and other graphics.

Megabit: Without being technical, it’s a unit of measurement for an electronic file. There are 1 million bits in a megabit. A web graphic image might be only 56 kb (about the size of a postage stamp) and a 3.1 megapixel photo will be about 800kb (2048 x 1536 pixels) where as a 12 megapixel photo will have a file size of 3 megabits (4000 x 3000 pixels).

Now that we have a better understanding of what “10 megapixels” means on the front of the digital camera box, let’s look at how we can adjust this setting for maximum clarity and detail in our photos. You don’t need a $600 Nikon to take great photos; however, if you have one of these high-end cameras, the recommendations in this article apply to you also.

 

Digital cameras 

For this article I am using an inexpensive pocket camera made by Kodak, which retails for less than $100. It’s lightweight, easy to use and has a large viewing panel on the back. For the most part, all digital cameras have about the same operation settings for image quality and photo size. A camera with at least 6 megapixels is necessary to produce images clear enough for today’s presentation drawings. 

 

How to set your megapixels

(the size and detail content of the photo)

Look at the back of your camera and open the Menu or Settings tab on your camera. (You may want to grab your owner’s manual, or go online and download it in a PDF document from the manufacturer’s website) You will see options for setting the megapixel size at 12, 10, 8, whatever your camera offers. Because we want the largest photo we can get with the most detail, we will choose the 12 megapixel setting. 

Keep in mind that the higher the megapixel size, the more room it takes up on your memory card. Keep several memory cards on hand so you’re not stuck in the field having to decide which vacation photos are “expendable” from your already full memory card.

Now that you have your camera set, you can capture your photos and download them to your computer.  

 

Downloading photos from your camera to your computer

Each camera manufacturer makes its own software that comes with options for photo editing, storing and archiving. Windows also offers a couple of photo download programs that are pretty utilitarian, but work fine. Just make sure that the settings on your software allow for downloading the images at full size. Some programs offer options to compress photos to save room on your computer. You want the full-sized image to be saved to your computer.

Note: After you have saved your photos to a file folder on your computer, take notice of their file size. 12 megapixel photos should download and save on your computer at around 3MB. Anything less than 2MB and something isn’t set right on your camera or download software.

After you have downloaded and saved your full-sized photos to your computer, it’s now time to e-mail them to your artist. Here is where one easy-to-overlook setting can undo all your hard work.

 

Photo 1: Be sure to turn off any compression programs if you want to maintain your file size when sending over e-mail.

E-mailing your full-sized photos

Microsoft Outlook, as well as other mail programs, have built-in compression programs that compress photos and any JPG attachment down to a smaller file size for emailing.

Find the settings tab on your email software and make sure it is set at “send jpg attachments at original size” (see Photo 1)

Most e-mail clients and servers will allow you to send an e-mail with attachments that total no more than 5 MB or 6 MB. You may want to Zip your photos to send more images per e-mail, just don’t let the software resample or compress your photos.

What does a digital photo look like to a graphic artist?

This is what a digital photo looks like to a graphic artist. When we try to zoom in on low-resolution photos, this is the result. As you can see, it’s difficult to find the edge of the door or any other architectural features. This lack of detail jeopardizes the accuracy of the placement presentation.

Photo 2: The photo of this church sign looks great on the screen.

In the church sign example (see Photos 2-4) this photo looks great on the screen. It was taken with a camera setting of 3.1 megapixels. A second photo was taken at 12.1 megapixels. On the screen they would both appear clear and rich in color and detail. Upon importing these photos into Corel (or any other graphic editing program) the truth comes out in the level of detail available in each photo.

Let’s look at the building photo. (See Photo 5-7) Notice in the 3.1 photo that the detail of the door handles is almost non-existent. The 12.1 photo provides much more detail (because of a greater number of pixels per square inch of photo) and allows the artist to identify and locate features on the building more accurately. 

As I mentioned, this was meant to be a basic introduction designed to help you understand the settings of most digital cameras for better resolution. Following these instructions should help you provide your artist higher resolution photos which directly relates to better looking presentations. 

Photo 3: At 12 megapixels, the sign continues to appear clear and rich in color.

Photo 4: At 3.1 megapixels, you can see that the photo loses some of its detail.

Photo 5: This photo looks great on the computer screen.

Photo 6: As a graphic artist begins working on the details of a photo, the 12 megapixel photo maintains its quality when zoomed in.

Photo 7: The 3.1 megapixel photo deteriorates when viewed at high resolution, making details harder to identify.