Giving the couple a CD of photos - do you crop to print size?

[jude_mcconkey1]

I've never given away CD's of my work to the bride and groom - I only do prints, but this year I offered a CD of the

processed photos if the B&G ordered a certain amount of prints from me. My question is: Do you crop each of the

images to specific sizes (i.e. one 4x6, one 5x7, etc) to put on the CD? The mother of the bride mentioned something

about the sizes and I didn't connect what she meant til I was off the phone so I think that she probably thinks they're

all sized up. At 300 photos, that's an awful lot of work for me to do on each image. Other photographers have told

me "no" .. that they put the processed photos in ORIGINAL size on the CD, but I can't for the life of me think of how

you tell the b&g to get them to standard printing sizes (if they don't have a program like photoshop, etc.). As I write

this, it seems stupid - there must be an easy answer. But I always crop my own and send to my printer, I never have

done it through Wal-Mart or wherever and am assuming that a person cannot take a CD with original size to a place

like that without them being all ready to print, size-wise.

 

I would like to avoid cropping them all, not only because it will take a week of work, but because they already asked

for two things I wouldn't usually do: The mother of the bride wanted to pool her order with the bride's to make up the

amount she needed for the CD - which means I lose the mom's seperate order. They were very nice people so I

thought "sure".. then the mother asked if she could have her own CD since she was helping with that initial order. I

had to think on that one but then thought, "why not". Of course, later I realized I was going to lose all the rest of the

relatives orders when the mother will surely tell them she was going to get the CD and be able to print for them. I

was hoping that offering a CD would not be another "lesson learned" for me, but I gather that never ends . ;)

[duncanholmes]

I pass the files at whatever crop I decided on for the final proofing stage. If they want to take prints from the digital file I advise them of pro labs online and in the area that will print the image to fit, with borders if they don't match the size of print chosen.

 

I'm still at the portfolio building stages so have not had to worry too much about the pricing. But I spend enough time with digital proofing and basic retouches without resizing for prints they may or may not make. I might consider it if I was only releasing the 30-40 "album" photos on a disc.

 

From the other posts you have to rethink your whole pricing structure once you begin supplying digital files to the bride/family. Start pricing the lost print sales into your overall fees. Other photographers release a disc only after a certain period following the wedding so that brides are still driven towards the prints and albums but get the disc as a bonus later. (and by a year later the album will be locked in a cupboard and they probably won't bother getting further prints anyhow)

[annealmasy]

Whenever you provide digital files, also recommend a lab for your clients to use. A good lab will know what to do with a

full-resolution file. :) MPix.com is a great consumer option. :)

[wclark5179]

No.

 

Software is available to do this by the end user.

 

Spend less time, make more money per hr.

[preston_harper]

I agree with Anne. I give them the images as they were shot, which has room around the edges for different crop sizes. I then recommend them to a few labs who will crop the image to their specification. Some peole have difficulty understanding that an 8 x 10 and 5 x 7 are different proportions.

[jude_mcconkey1]

thank you all very much. I'll recommend Mpix because I think they're probably easy to use.

[russ_konrad]

Since our main camera is the Nikon D3 set up to shoot in the 5:4 ratio (i.e. 8x10 crop) - we deliver all of the digital files in the 8x10 crop size. Cropping the smaller number of images from the other camera to that same ratio is not a big deal. (Usually, I can process 1000 -1200 rough images down to the final 300 to 400 images in about 10 to 12 hours.)

 

We do tell our clients that the images will be perfect in the 8x10 size and that if they want small prints - they should order 4x5 prints rather than the more common 4x6 images.

 

To address the CD copy issue: We post all the images online in a Smugmug gallery for the guests and relatives to order from directly so the bride and groom do not need to pass their DVD-ROM around to friends and relatives.

[steve_c.5]

Jude, one reason I never pre-crop my images, is that, as you've discovered, you never know what size the image will be printed to (or if it will EVER be printed), and it's a heckuva lot of work to do all this cropping and pre-sizing for various sizes.

 

Also, I produce a color laser printed proof book for all the images where the images are all printed 4 per page, double-sided, and spiral bound with a pretty photo cover and clear acetate sheets front and back. If your aspect ratio of the photos varies at all, then the edges of each photo won't line up with the others printed on that page, and it will look wonky.

 

I do frame each shot to allow room on the sides and edges for eventual cropping. It's a difficult subject to explain to many novice clients, and I suppose mine find out the hard way if they try to print them at home. I've never had anyone call up and ask questions, so no harm no foul.

[david_solimini]

You don't need photoshop to crop pictures ;-)

 

Most of the time, they will be ordering pictures through one of the online services -- ritzpix or similar. All of those services offer cropping options when the size of the photo doesn't match the size of the chosen print order.

 

And if all else fails, between iphoto, windows photo gallery, and other free options, they'll have no problem doing it themselves.

[jude_mcconkey1]

Thanks... you've all been a big help.

 

Russ, I post mine on a site and relatives and friends can also order - and have. What I was refering to is that they pay for the prints and if MOB has the CD and prints them at her cost they wouldn't bother buying them from me at my prices (which aren't that expensive compared to most)..

[cjogo]

We deliver 8X12 --the B&G have the choice to crop as they like ..........

[bill.akstens]

The other question to ask is how do you sharrpen the images you provide on CD? Sharpening is usually different for each output size. If you don't sharpen at all, does the lab where your clients get the images printed do appropriate sharpening?

[stephen_kinosh]

I make sure I ahve enough area around the subjust in the picture to be able to crop to what ever size they choose.

 

Early on, I had one bride call and tell me that all the pictuers she printed had the tops of heads cout off.

 

Now thats not a problem

[jude_mcconkey1]

Bill, I've always found that if I sharpen on the original, when the photo is cropped it still looks the same. You can't use the same constraints AFTER you crop, though.