Learn more
The Readers
Editorial Calendar
Working with Editors
Editorial Content
Advertising
Digital Edition
BZ List Services
BPA Statement (PDF)
Ad Specifications (PDF)
Media Kit (PDF)
|
Hints for better-looking portraits
|
|
How
to get a professional appearance. The
biggest element is a clean, uncluttered background. You may also wish
to have the subject wear business casual or formal clothing, such
as a shirt with a collar instead of a T-shirt. If you don't have a
photo like that, send what you have, and we'll see what we can do.
Side or front natural light
is the best and most flattering. Taking pictures outdoors
with overcast skies is best; a picture outdoors on a sunny day is
also good, but direct overhead sunlight (near noon) is too harsh.
If possible, keep away from indoor lighting, especially ceiling
or fluorescent lights. Avoid unpleasant backlighting by making sure
the subject isn't standing between the camera and a window or lamp.
If you must use electronic
flash... Reduce red-eye by asking the subject to look
at the photographer, not the camera. Eliminate harsh and unpleasant
shadows by ensuring that the subject isn't standing or sitting within
three feet of a wall, bookcase or other background objects. Another
problem is white-out: If the camera is too close to the subject,
the picture will be too bright and have too much contrast.
Maintain at least six feet separation
between the camera and the subject. If
the subject is closer than six feet to the camera, his/her facial
features will be distorted, and the results will be very unattractive.
For best results, hold the camera more than six feet from the subject.
It's better to be farther away and use the camera's optical zoom,
rather than to shoot a close-up from a few feet away.
|
Editorial Photo & Artwork Guidelines
If you are asked to submit a photograph, screen shot or a logo to BZ Media, for use in a print publication, supplement or conference materials, please bear the following guidelines in mind.
Note that we have separate guidelines for people/products, logos, and screen shots. We also have some handy tips for taking better-looking photos of people -- but send in what you have, we'll try to make it work.
Photographs of People/Products
|
Photos need to be high resolution.
Bitmaps that would look great on a Web page will look dreadful in print. The recommended minimum size for a bitmap file should be two inches across by three inches high, at a resolution of 300dpi -- that is, 600x900 pixels, at the least. A smaller photograph may be usable, but frankly, it will probably not be.
|
|
Photos need to be in a high-color format.
The best formats are high-resolution JPEG files (.jpg) and TIFF (.tif) files. We prefer not to accept GIF files (.gif) because they are only 256 colors. However, in case of doubt, send the file in and we'll tell you what we think.
|
|
Photos should be in color.
A color photograph will look better than a black-and-white photograph -- but if all you have is B&W, send it in. As far as electronic files go, a 256-color image doesn't reproduce well in print, so please use 24-bit or higher color depth.
|
| Please don't edit or alter the photograph. Please don't crop it, modify it using Photoshop or anything; just send us the raw image, we'll do the rest. |
Logos
| Please send logos as vector-based EPS files (such as an Adobe Illustrator file with fonts converted to outlines) if possible. If a vector-based EPS file is not available, send a 300dpi TIFF, JPEG or Photoshop EPS files (i.e., one that's at least two inches long). Web-resolution logos will not be usable in a print publication. |
Screen Shots
|
Screen shots should be the native bitmap file.
A native bitmapped screen capture from Windows will be a huge .BMP file. This may be converted to a compressed TIFF file, or compressed to a .ZIP file for emailing. Do not convert a screen capture to JPEG or GIF, paste it into a Word or PowerPoint document, or otherwise modify the native bitmaps. Screen captures on other platforms should also be native bitmaps, typically in TIFF. |