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Image Resolution Given to Clients


kevin_mora

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<p>For photographers that give their clients digital copies (as compared to having them purchase prints), I was curious what resolution folks give to their clients. What are the pixel dimensions (i.e. longest and shortest edge) and pixels per inch. I am running out of hard drive space and want to delete the RAWs after I have provided the clients with jpg copies. And I want to retain the jpg copies forever, just in case something goes wrong with the clients' copies. I currently give my clients images that are 3000x2000 pixels with a 500ppi. Others?? thanks much!</p>
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<p>I hope you'll take this constructively. <br /><br />If you're using the word "clients" in the same paragraph as "running out of disk space," then you need to re-examine your pricing.<br /><br />You can buy 3TB drives for practically pizza money these days. There's no reason to <em>ever</em> get rid of those RAW files, and there's no reason not to have three copies of them on drives stored in multiple physical locations. <br /><br />If something "goes wrong" with what you've delivered to a client, just re-batch the JPG output from the RAW files again. If you're going to ditch something, ditch the JPGs. Because having the RAW files means you can re-think what you're delivering, whereas the JPGs are a one-way street. But mostly, just find a way to charge for one more hour of your time every month, and buy another big disk drive. They're cheap!</p>
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Keven - " I am running out of hard drive space and want to delete the RAWs after I have provided the

clients with jpg copies."

 

I totally agree with Matt. The only difference is very minor. Along with the RAW I also save the jpegs. I

surely don't want to redo my editing.

 

This may help a bit. Save your images to a second and third hard drive. Also make a DVD. At the end of

each year take out the drives and label it for that year. For example 2013 is coming to an end. Label it

2013 and then put in some new drives. Heck, they are only $50 now! Same with the saved DVD. Label it

per client. If a couple calls you simply ask what year their wedding was and pull out that HD or the

DVD. Keep hard drives (HD) is a cool, clean, dark place, like a closet.

 

I never mess with the main hard drive, although I use a raid. There are 5 different types of raids. The one

I use is a called "Mirrored raid." It mirrors the main hard drive, so if the main hard drive bites the dust

you simply promote the mirrored drive as your main. Nothing is lost. The word "Raid," can also be

spelled "Reid," however you probably won't find or ever see that spelling.

 

Hope this helps.

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<p>Ian, thanks so much for the response. Glad to know that others provide 3000 pixels on the long side too. <br>

Bob, thanks for the input, however, I am hoping to get more info on image resolution.<br>

Can anyone else provide a comment about what resolution size they provide to clients? Thanks so much.</p>

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<p>I have to be deliberately redundant... you really need to hear what Matt and Bob said. Your responsibility as a professional (and <em>especially</em> as a photographer of weddings) actually extends to the archiving of quality images. Throw the jpgs away, KEEP the raw files. Hard drives are now cheaper than DVDs. If you can't afford new hard drives on a regular basis, I predict you will soon be engaged in a different line of work.<br /><br />You have the answer to your other, less significant question. The priority emphasis on creating a proper archive, as stated by almost every responder to your question, should be a clue... t</p>
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Since you asked for more details, most photographers usually use that magic number of 300 DPI, which was already stated. You can print something around a 16x20 if the image is of excellent quality.

 

However if someone wants a larger size, a 16x20 lets say up to a 40x60. I often save a raw file as a TIFF file. With jpegs lots of information (dots per inch) are lost when converted from RAW. This is a very good reason to save the Raw files as the others above have said. Tiff files are somewhat the same as Raw files, however if needed, you can actually add more information replacing the Raw file information. Yes photo labs can read Tiff files just like jpegs.

 

Hopefully this clears up your question along with managing a well organized studio and a computer system. For the most part I think that this is pretty much close to what the pros usually do.

 

I realize you didn't ask about the valuable input that the others have posted, but sometimes a simple question needs to be extrapolated to really answer your question.

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<p>Thanks to those who are providing responsive feedback. With respect to those who feel the need to discuss my decision to delete raws, please know that I have have been thorough in my deliberations. Hopefully this will end the side-conversation (please note, if you are going to throw in your two cents about what I should do with my RAWs, I would appreciate you providing a response re: image resolution, otherwise you aren't contributing in a meaningful way to photo.net's forums)<br>

Respectively<br>

Kevin</p>

 

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<p>Kevin,<br>

I am now intrigued by this conversation. In terms of ppi, it varies between 75 and 300, depending on their intended use. Rarely above 300 ppi.<br>

But more importantly, I am extremely curious as to 'been thorough in my deliberations' as many of us do not delete RAW files, but increase storage. I am sure most of us would be fascinated by your insight or thought process into this sort of puzzle. Perhaps you would be willing to share?</p>

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<p>I give clients a set of jpgs at 1040 long side at 92 or 120 ppi primarily for viewing on their computer and sharing with family friends. Or we will put a folder up on Smug Mug with a password they can pass around to friends.<br>

Sometimes I will create a simple slide show and give them that.<br>

I will also give them disks with full-size Tiffs.<br>

We will also have prints prepared if they want at an extra cost.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I am running out of hard drive space and want to delete the RAW...</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Sorry, I think this makes Matt's post relevant and good advice. For a wedding, never dump you raws. Rack them off and store them, hopefully in more than one place.</p>

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<p>In the past clients would perhaps want to print a 8x10. With the aspect ratio of current dslr (1:1.5) that would translate to an uncropped 8x12. Image resolution for a good print is usually sufficient at 300 dpi, which gives us an image size of 2400x3600.</p>

<p>However this is 2013 and not 1993 so I would suggest delivering your image in a resolution compatible with 4K viewing, aka ultra HD or 2160p. This is the resolution every electronic gadget will be heading for. The pixel dimension is 3840×2160. Since the aspect ratio of the image is 16:9 and your still images are likely not 16:9, stick to the 3840 pixel dimension on the long side. So <strong>3840 x 2560 pixels</strong> if it's an uncropped dslr image. With these pixels the client can also make a great looking print just like before.</p>

<p>An alternative to this to not resize the clients files and just let them stay in whatever resolution they are.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that the dpi information in the file has no importance as it is metadata only. The image resolution is in the pixel dimension. But you can put 300 dpi in there for good measure.</p>

<p>When it comes to backup it's unsuitable to use harddrives on a shelf as long term storage. A lot of harddrives will have failed after sitting unused on the shelf for a couple of years. There are a number of reasons for this. And you'll probably have a hard time even being able to hook up your sata or usb drive to anything in 10 years time.</p>

<p>From a professional point of view ditching the raw is a perfectly viable alternative. The client got the jpegs so it makes sense to be able to give them new jpegs should the need arise. I bet most photographers do not have in their contract that they need to safe keep their clients images for decades.</p>

<p> </p>

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<p>I know two professional photographer running very successful businesses who dump their RAW files unless the client specifically pays for archiving. ($500+) I keep mine, but that's just me.<br>

Why do people insist on giving this guy advice he didn't ask for?</p>

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I just shot my first wedding a couple of weeks ago. I gave them everything, all the RAW files, 300 ppi print files of the

best shots (131 of them) cropped to popular print sizes, and the same files in reduced size for emailing, Facebook, or

whatever. Now, keep in mind a couple of things; I shot the wedding for free, as the groom is a friend of mine, so I

considered this my wedding gift to them, plus, this was my first wedding shoot, so the experience was worth it.

Personally, if I shoot any more weddings (I have no real plans on becoming a wedding photographer, but I might do one

from time to time) I would do the same. If they pay for the service, I'll give them everything.

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<blockquote>

<p>Why do people insist on giving this guy advice he didn't ask for?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Probably because this is a forum for discussion of photography related techniques, equipment etc as it relates to wedding photography in particular. People learn by reading different viewpoints and can make up their own mind. The purpose is not simply to answer the question posted by the original poster.</p>

<p>Or put another way: Why did you post another question and not just give the OP the advice he asked for :-)</p>

 

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<p>Steven,<br /> Here is more info about my thought process. I give my clients about 800-1300 photos for weddings. If each RAW image is 20-40MB, it adds up. I edit the images and give them jpgs at 3000 pixels, so they can print them up. I then save copies of their jpgs forever. I also save their RAWs for one year. However after a year, I want to delete their RAWs. I see no purpose to holding onto client RAW images for any longer. If they ever have a problem (lose their images). I will always have the jpg copies ready to re-send to them. I give them a year grace period in which time I can edit their RAW images more, if they want it. But after that, they don't get any more edits, they will just get another copy of the jogs I sent them.</p>

<p>So that is my thought process.</p>

<p>I understand people have their own opinions on this, but once I asked for people to simply give me their thoughts on image resolution, I really wish they would have done so. Instead, many folks felt it necessary to give me their opinion on keeping RAWs. For instance, had I said I was unhappy with Nikon and was going to switch to Canon and wanted to know what Canon camera I should get, i would hope I wouldn't get tons of responses about why I should stick with Nikon. I would hope I got responses related to my request, namely, what Canon camera to get. If people really felt the need to tell me why I should stick with Nikon, the decent thing for them to do would be to also answer my question and let me know, which Canon I should get, if in fact I decide to make the switch. Make sense?</p>

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<p><em>"what resolution folks give to their clients" </em> -</p>

<p>and...</p>

<p><em> I currently give my clients images that are 3000x2000 pixels with a 500ppi.</em></p>

<p>Seems that you are preoccupied with image resolution, that is usually meaningless. You do not need to know how they will use the files.</p>

<p>Also, perhaps (?) you shoot with a 12 MP, 16 MP, or even with 24 MP numer of pixels camera, yet you provide only 6 MP images to customers. You are doing disservice to your customers. </p>

<p>Give all your pixels to the customer...do not worry about the resolution.</p>

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<p>Just to clarify dpi here, as it seems to trip a lot of people up.<br>

All images have a dpi figure in their metadata, I don't honestly know why, as at this stage it says nothing about the file size itself, which is completely determined by the pixel count.<br>

So my default dpi figure given to my exported files from Lightroom and photoshop is 240dpi. If I open the file in photoshop and select filesize, it typically will tell me the file is 2574x3862 pixels, the resolution is set at 240dpi, but this is the thing, it could say 72, 480 or whatever you assign to it in Lightroom, but the pixel dimensions, and therefore the file size would remain the same.<br>

Now at this stage in Photoshop if I select image size, and add or lower the dpi figure while the 'constrain proportions' box is ticked, it will add or subtract the same proportional pixels from the file making the file size larger or smaller dependent on the dpi set. However if I uncheck the CP box, the file size and pixel count will remain exactly the same regardless of the dpi figure. <br>

When it comes to making prints, as long as there are enough pixels to provide for the required print size at the printers dpi setting then it's fine, so in my case the maximum print size on the long side of 3800 pixels, printed at 300dpi would be just over 10 inches. I think you can get great results from an inkjet set at 150dpi, so my maximum print size then would be just over 25 inches. <br>

Hope that makes sense. I've had graphic designers and magazines ask me for 300 dpi files as the file is too small, and I just change that figure, send them back an identical file except for the change in dpi and they're happy. Sometimes it's easier than trying to explain.</p>

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<p>I agree 100% with DPI… there is no point in assigning any number when dealing with the <em>actual</em> number of pixels. We give clients 3000 pixel images. According to MPIX, this is enough for them to print a 16x20. I like to define the output for two reasons. One, consistency. Even if I have cropped an image, the pixel size remains constant. Two, that is roughly half the file size as "full-resolution" (depending on my camera). I have found that most clients find it less difficult to browse 100's of images with a smaller file size versus a larger file size. </p>
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<p>I give my clients their photos in two forms: high resolution images at 4500 pixels-300 dpi on the long side, and web-ready images at 1000 pixels-96 dpi on the long side.<br /><br />You should check out Crashplan. I pay something like $7/month for unlimited data so that I can have everything backed up into the cloud. I also back up onto external harddrives, but I keep all RAW's for 1 year, then I delete all the RAW's except for the corresponding ones that I sent to the client.</p>
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