A Brief Guide on Image Quality

 

If you wish to use your own image, drawing or illustration on the front cover of your shoot card please note the following regarding the requirements for printing.

Image resolution refers to the sharpness and quality of an image, in simple terms the higher the resolution, the better quality your final printed shoot cards will be.

Images used in the design and print of your shoot cards must be high resolution, the standard for which is 300dpi (dots per inch). The lower the dpi of your images, the poorer they will look when printed.  So please bear this in mind when sourcing or manipulating images, as we cannot accept rejections due to poor quality or low-resolution images that are provided.

Images you see across the internet on a website or viewed on mobile devices are typically 72 – 96dpi, which is fine for viewing on a monitor, a tablet or mobile phone but not for printing, which requires a higher resolution.  So, images saved directly from websites are likely to be of a lower resolution and are therefore totally unsuitable for print.

In addition to the image being 300dpi, you should also consider the sharpness or focus and the visual quality of the artwork.  Here even if the image meets the required 300dpi but is out of focus or has a heavy colour cast, is high or low in contrast then again this will downgrade your shoot cards.  When sourcing images or photographs, you should always use professional images as low-quality images will only downgrade your shoot cards.

Finally, you should consider copyright and intellectual property ownership.  In simple terms owning an image, of any nature or a drawing, may not give you the right to use it on your shoot card.  You must check with the artist or photographer before it can be used, and there may be a fee to pay for the use.

We are always happy to help where we can during the design process, but sadly we can not edit any image that is of poor quality or low resolution, please contact if you have a question or concern with an image you are thinking about using on your shoot cards and we help where ever possible.