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Choosing the best images for printing

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First time users of a service such as ours need to be aware that when you view an image on a computer monitor, the image immediately looks brighter and lighter as its being viewed on a back-lit device

Please read the following articles -

Dark images - why they don't print well

Why is my canvas not as bright and colourful as my image

So how do you know if your image will print well? Here are a few aspects to consider...

  • Bright backgrounds
  • Shadows
  • Not using a flash when required

Is your subject matter well lit?

Below on the left is an example of an image where the subject is well lit and will print out beautifully. On the right, not such a good image. 

jake_1.jpg nolighting.JPG
Well lit subject matter Badly lit subject matter. Bright background and lots of shadows on the subject matter

Is your image contrasty?

A high contrast image will have bright areas and dark areas and nothing much in between. High contrast images can be difficult to print. For example, the image below left is high contrast. There is a bright light behind the horse whilst everything in the foreground, including the horse is dark.The image on the right has been edited and lightened considerably

dark.jpg lb_mayo.jpg
 A contrasty image with areas of light and dark.  Same image that has been lightened considerably. Subject matter is still not well lit and would have benefited from a flash being used

 

Is your subject matter too small?

This may seem a little silly to cover off, but its important to understand a little about composition. Composition is a huge topic so I just want to mention one basic aspect that can make all the difference in your printed images. 

Below are two images showing similar subject matter. On the left, the shetland pony is very small, and there is a lot of stuff in the background. Now, you may want to show all the stuff in the background or you may just want to take a nice photo of your pony and print it out onto a canvas

Of the two images below, I know which one I would choose to print onto a canvas! Yep, the one on the right. (This is my personal opinion though!)

 

Picture_164.jpg 024.jpg
Small pony, lots of background distraction Pony is the main subject matter

 

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