Hi Res/LowRes-JPEG CDs - how to create?

I have a chance to bid on an event and client has ask for 2 CDs of

all images - one Hi-Res format and one Low-Res viewable JPEG

(clients words).

 

I have only film eq. Before I call local labs to get cost of getting

film onto CDs, could someone enlighten me about this process. I

read alot of post about digital shooters shooting in RAW, but I know

that is a camera setting. What does client mean/want by "Hi-Res"

& "Low-Res viewable JPEG"?

 

This is a six hour job and client is out of CA. Anyone want to guess

what they expect to pay per hour? I have to quote them a price and

mostly I just shoot weddings. The job, as described to me and using

the shot list given, is within my ability, but not something I have

done before. Most of the shots would be very similar to doing a

wedding.

 

Any help is appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Cliff

To answer simply, my lab charges about 35.00 per 36 exposure 35mm film for high resolution scan (JPEG) and CD and about 28.00 for the low resolution

scan, (JPEG) The low resolution can really only print a decent 4x6 print whereas the higher resolution scan can do a good 8x10 or marginal 11x14.

Guessing what they will pay you an hour, I hope its more than $75.00 per

hour.

High res would be something they can enlarge without much grain or loss of quality -11x14, 18x24 etc. Also high res can be used for posters brochures billboards etc.

Low res would be used for websites, email or simple enlargements up to 4x6. If you shoot film you would need to have a lab scan the negs and make the cd's or you could purchase a scanner and Photoshop and do it yourself.

Most photographers say that a photo should be printed at 300 dpi (or ppi, pixels per inch)<P>

 

To print a 6x4 inch photo at 300 ppi, you would have to have a resolution of 1800x1200, 2.2 meg.<P>

 

1800/300 x 1200/300 = 6 x 4 inch<P>

 

To print a 10 x 8 photo at 300 ppi, you would have to have a resolution of 3000 x 2400, 7.2 meg.<P>

 

3000/300 x 2400/300 = 10 x 8 inch.<P>

 

Those are just guidelines. Many people say they get good results printing at 200 ppi or anywhere in between.

If you have your proofs printed on a Fuji Frontier or other digital printer, the film is scanned and printed from the scan. The scan would most likely not satisfy the "Hi-Res" requirement. The cost should be minimal ($4-8/roll). The "High-Res" may require a drum scan. I would ask them to clarify the resolution, color space, and other specs for the .JPG's.

 

If they require very high resolution images, drum scan can still deliver higher resolutions than all but the newest digital MF backs.

The key question for the high-res images is "what is the target size" - what size they want to print it to?

 

300ppi >IS< a high res scan whether it is 4x6@300 or 8x10@300 or any other physical print size @300ppi but a 4x6 and a 8x10 (or any other target size) are NOT the same thing in printing terms. File size per image can run between 6 and 90+Mb and that is a big range to be guessing at. At the higher end it may take several CDs to record even one roll of 36 images.

 

Low res is usually taken to be 72-96ppi at "X" target size - for screen viewing the target size is in pixels associated with the screen res. rather than a paper print size.

 

The requirement for "viewable" CD images also seems to imply that they want an image viewer / browser on THAT particular CD as well as the images. Three approaches are via an .exe type slide show (may not work on a Mac); an HTML index page view linked to individual images on the same disk - should work with any browser; or, what I often do, make a PDF file for cross platform self contained viewing (one page size image per page with resolution constrained to 72-96ppi)

You should be charging someplace in the $150 to $200 per hour range at a minimum, plus film, processing, scanning costs and mileage. It's OK to mark up your costs. You sure won't be making any money from reprint orders so you have to get it up front from the shoot.

You need to speak with your client as to how the images will be used. In lieu of specific information, "high" resolution probably means for printing, and "low" resolution means for viewing on a computer screen, placed in a presentation or transmitted on the web.

 

An image scanned at 300 dpi for 6.7"x10" will be about 6 MP and will look sharp at that size or even 11"x14" (with resampling). That's about as good as you can get without custom scanning ($$$). The same nominal size at 72 dpi is 0.3 MP, and considered "low" resolution.

 

The size in (mega)bytes for JPEGs is variable, depending on the quality of compression, and the amount of detail in the image. At high quality, the 6 MP image would be about 4 Mb in JPEG, and the 0.3 MP image would be about 100 Kb.

 

Processed in Adobe ImageReady (or whatever) for web optimization, the smaller file would be reduced to 30-50 Kb, and look better and load faster. This is the ideal format for PowerPoint presentations, because they load almost instantly. High-res images take several seconds, and don't look any better once displayed (hey! a CRT projector is 1024x758 at best).

 

For my part, I'd get the high-res scans from the processor, then create an action in Photoshop to produce the low-res scans. That maintains the best control over quality, which is spotty at best from a commercial processor.