SIDEBAR
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Digital Reality
There's no doubt that digital technology in the stock photography industry is advancing constantly. But how far has it advanced, where is it going to, and when will it get there? Having recently finished a survey of editorial stock photography buyers, I've come closer to understanding where we are when it comes to digital submissions.
Most photobuyers welcome digital previews with open arms. But many are still reluctant to accept digital images for the final submission. Most editorial photobuyers have been disappointed with digital submissions from stock photographers in the past. They say they are not getting the digital quality they want and the way they want it.
How You Submit
With digital images - be they from a digital camera or a scan - the accuracy in how you submit to a photobuyer is crucial. A slide is a slide is a slide, but a digital image can be saved in the wrong format, the wrong size, the wrong resolution and so on. If one of these is wrong, that might be enough to make the image unusable for the photobuyer, and the photobuyer is forced to scramble to select a different picture for publication.
Photobuyers often prefer that you have scans made at a local professional service bureau (to assure publishable quality), or allow the publisher to utilize their own in-house services for the final scanning of the original slide or neg.
Photojournalist Mikael Karlsson has 14 years experience of working for magazines and newspapers in more than 30 countries. He moved to the United States in 1998 from his native Sweden. He lives in Nebraska and is currently US correspondent for 11 Swedish magazines and a regular contributor to a wide variety of American publications. Reach him at mike@photosource.com.
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