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To make sure you get the best artwork, your photos should be clear, closeup and without harsh shadows. The better your photos, the better you will look in the finished artwork! This page has tips and suggestions to help you get the most out of your custom collage artwork.
Please take a minute to read the paragraphs below with photo tips and information. Also, take a peek at the slide show below for more ideas of what works best. If you're not sure if your photos are OK, or if you have any questions at all feel free to email me and I will answer your questions right away!
You'll want to look for photos that are closeup of the face without cutting off their head or neck. Try to find photos without harsh shadows as these can be very unflattering when I convert the image to black and white. Soft and even lighting is best. The subject does not need to be smiling. I think the custom artworks look really cute if one person is looking to the side and then I can make the people face each other. It creates a more natural composition if everyone is not looking in the same direction. But that will be up to your personal preference. Please send a couple photos of each person to choose from it always helps so I can pick which image goes best. For pets please send one closeup of their face and one full body shot so I can see what they look like.
There's no need to send me black and white photos, I will do the converting. Because the final image will be black and white, you do not need to remove red-eye. If you will have more than one person in the custom artwork, I do not need them all in the same photo. It is actually best to send me good, clear photos of each person separately and I will put everyone together in the final artwork.
If might be obvious to say this, but please take your time choosing photos that you really like. Do not send me any photos that you only half like because I might end up using them. Once you find the photos that you like you can scan them to send them to me. Click here for tips on scanning. If you can't find any photos that you think will work, you will need to take new ones, below are tips for taking new photos.
Check your camera and make sure it is set to the highest image setting or "fine setting". If it is on a low setting it will compress the image and make it blurry. Try to photograph on a sunny day using a flash. Make sure there are no harsh shadows from trees or buildings across the face. Take your photos from your subject's eye level. Get as close as possible without cutting off the head or neck or blurring the image.
The best resolution to scan your photos at is 300dpi. Don't forget to check your scanning software to make sure you are scanning at 300dpi. If you don't don't know to adjust the resolution just type in "dpi" or "resolution" into the scanner help menu software and it should give you directions on how to adjust it.
I know that sometimes the subject in the photograph is no longer with us, or you only have one or two photos to work with. If you can, find the best photos available and I will do the best that I can.
Please rename all your images to the names of the people in the photo. For example rename photo 006759.jpg to "jacksmith_favorite.jpg" (to indicate this is your favorite of Jack Smith), that way I will know who is in the image. This helps me get the images to your correct file. If the photo is named 0067831.jpg, I may not know that it is yours. If you are on a MAC, make sure to save your image as "filename.jpg" with the three letter.jpg extension in the filename. Otherwise I might not be able to open the MAC file on my PC.
To make sure the image is a high enough resolution, check to see that each image file is around 1MB.
When you have your photos saved and are ready, click here to send them to me. If your files are too big to send via email (over 5MB). I recommend using yousendit.com which is a free and easy to use file sending service.
After I receive your photos, I will add them to your file and check them. If I don't think they will work well, I will email you right away so that we can get new photos for your artwork.
If you have any questions at all feel free to email me!
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personalized custom artwork
