TIPS INDEX

TOP TEN

MANUSCRIPTS

PHOTOS

LINE ART

TECH ILLUS

SCAN OR DRAW?

FORMATTING

WEB PAPERS

PDFs— sample editorial stylesheets:

SEAS (2007)

EAS (2008)

• General Introduction
• Continuous tone images (convential photographs)
  • prints or negatives
  • scans of prints or negatives
• Digital photos
• Miscellaneous issues
• Author’s or editor’s restrictions and preferences

• Maps, charts, line drawings, art work
  • For reproduction with minimal changes (includes art work)
  • Custom maps, charts, and line drawings

These general guidelines apply to illustrations for print publications — books, journals, annual reports, newsletters, and other works. However, principles apply as well to illustrations intended for screen viewing or web publishing, though certain requirements (file resolution, e.g.) would be less stringent.

Illustrations generally fall into one of two categories:

1. continuous tone images, usually photographs, though sometimes certain art work, such as paintings; continuous tone images have seemingly infinite shades of gray or colors blending into one another.
2. line art and everything else — maps, sketches, technical drawings, many genres and formats of art work, pieced together maps and sketches, clippings and graphics from previously published works, hand-written or type-written letters, photocopies, source documents, and much more.

(Further details about technical drawings specifically are found at Tips for better technical drawings. Most suggestions therein are also applicable for illustrative maps.)

See Scanning originals or drawing anew for information about when new drawings might be advised.

 1. Continuous tone images (photographs)

Authors might submit

1. negatives or prints from from conventional cameras, or
2. scans of such negatives or prints

Color photos may be submitted even if final output will be black-and-white.

a. Prints, negatives, transparencies

For conventional photos, submit prints or transparencies (slides), positive or negative. Be sure to protect negatives against scratches. Almost any photograph — black and white, color, a slide, a negative, professionally shot, amateurish, old, new, in good condition or bad, cracked and scratched — can be scanned (and restored, if necessary). Nevertheless, the better the quality and condition of the source photo, the lower the production costs will be for the client.

b. Author’s scans

Authors’ own scans or those by a third party are acceptible if they are of suitable dimensions and resolution for the intended output. MetaGlyfix can advise about optimal dimensions and scanning resolution ahead of time. (By the way, almost any object that fits on a scanner can be scanned.)

For author's scans, submit two versions:

1. the scanned file — The file should be at its highest unaltered resolution. Do not submit a lower-resolution scan that has been resampled upward by photo editing software.
2. a print or printout of the scan, or a printed photo, to be used as a reference for editors and designers — This need not be of high quality. An inkjet or laser printer printout is acceptable.

Acceptable file formats for scans: TIFF, Photoshop (PSD), EPS.

 Digital photos (images captured by a digital camera)

For digital photos, submit two versions:

1. the digital file — The file should be at its highest unaltered resolution. This means the digital camera should have captured the image at a high resolution. Do not submit a lower-resolution image that has been resampled upward by photo editing software. MetaGlyfix can advise about optimal dimensions and resolution for the intended job.
2. a print or printout of the photo, as a reference for editors and designers — An inkjet or laser printer printout is acceptable.

Acceptable digital formats. TIFF, Photoshop (PSD), EPS.

(Note: JPEG, GIF, PNG, and PICT are acceptable for images destined for screen and web, but not for printing.)

 Miscellaneous issues

Never submit images embedded in word processing or spreadsheet files. Microsoft PowerPoint files are never acceptable. Contact MetaGlyfix for inquiries about other formats, including PDF.

Resolution: hi-res and lo-res. Imagesetters and most other high-end printed output require high resolution files. However, lower resolution files and prints are perfectly acceptable for estimates, proposals, and layout mockups. If an image is to be enlarged, the input resolution will need to be correspondingly larger. MetaGlyfix can advise for the intended purpose.

Media or means of transmission: CD-ROM, DVD; email; file transfer protocol (“ftp”). Contact MetaGlyfix for inquiries about other media.

Compression. Most common or cross-platform compression methods are acceptable; contact MetaGlyfix for specific questions.

 Author’s or editor’s restrictions and preferences

The designer may want to crop one or more edges of a photo to enlarge and focus on the subject. If an author or editor has any restrictions or preferences about cropping or other treatment of a photo, please attach a note with the illustration.