Using Images

“But it's small on my screen” Images have two sizes: Physical size File size A “small” image can take up all your hard drive space Resolution makes the difference – usually recorded in DPI - “dots per inch”

Use the right Resolution for your Needs Web : 72 dpi Print: 600 dpi Photoshop's “save for web” option automatically converts to this. Images on the web are “blown up” - your tiny portrait may fill a page! Depending on your printer, you may not be able to get higher resolution than this – and an untrained eye won't notice anyway.

Use the right Resolution for your Needs Doing a professional brochure or ad? That’s a whole other kettle of fish - email Maria! For high-production printing, the higher the resolution the better, and your 600 dpi image might not be big enough, even though it looks fabulous on your research poster.

Don’t be confused - Pixels, Inches, and DPI The formula is: Pixels ÷ DPI = Inches Dots per inch = pixels per inch Online calculator to help: http://auctionrepair.com/pixels.html

How to do it in Photoshop Click on “image” choose “image size You can now adjust size by pixels or percentage. If “Constrain Proportions” is on, editing one dimension only is necessary. More on that later.

Or, In Microsoft Paint:

Or, In Microsoft Paint:

Or, In GIMP: Right-click anywhere on the image and choose “image” Then choose “Scale Image”

Or, In GIMP: Note that instead of a “constrain proportions” or “maintain aspect ratio” check box, you have two “Ratio” options - 1 is ‘same ratio’ so make sure both X and Y are 1 when you finish.

Why do we keep talking about “proportions” and “aspect ratio”? If you re-size without constraining proportions, you might not notice that you've skewed your image. DO NOT re-size images in Powerpoint or Word – 'grabbing' them and dragging to re-size does not constrain proportions.

Don’t Forget Cropping Photoshop has a “crop” tool that looks like the old photographer’s tool - two angle rulers on an adjusting bar. Cropping cuts an image - uncropped data is lost. It can change the focus or make it more dynamic. Rarely is a photograph good without cropping! Assume you’ll crop all photos.

Cropping in Gimp In Gimp you start by clicking and dragging to define your crop area, then you hover the mouse over the corners of this selection field until you see the ‘crop’ tool - a knife - appear.

In general, edit images in an image editor - not the final document. Even though the image displays small, if it’s a large file size your poster or powerpoint will contain the entire big file, increasing your file size and the chances for disaster!

“Did she say ‘Disaster’?” Computer crashes Printer errors Print version not looking like electronic Pixilated or blurry images Looking unprofessional Slow loading times Browser crashes Oh yes I did. Improper image formatting can cause:

What Makes a Good Image? Action! Proper Proportions Cropped tightly - not too much ‘empty space’ Unusual perspectives Proper use of focus (parts can be out-of-focus for a sense of depth) People and happy faces

What Makes a Bad image? Too Dark / Too Bright Blurry / out of focus Empty Space Backs of heads/ no faces Static, still - ‘mug shots’ Boring Unbalanced 17

Adjust Brightness in Photoshop More brightness will “wash out” colors, Note the “Hue/Saturation” Option to fix this. 18