DVD for client

[j_g21]

<p>For those of you who offer a DVD of wedding images to your clients (or portrait/senior for that matter), I would like to know what format you save them on the DVD for delivery? What size do you resize the images to, and do you save them as JPEGS or should I be doing something different? I am a little confused about the JPEG and the TIFF and what I should be saving/editing in using LR and Photoshop. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. <br>

PS - I did do a search on this and couldnt find answers specifically for this situation (saving to DVD for client, and editing in which format then saving to which format), hence this post. </p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

[mark_ridout1]

<p>All of of our weddings include a full set of files that are sized to 8x12 @ 300dpi. The price of the files is figured into our package and shows on are a la carte for $1499.00</p>

<p>If I shoot family or portrait sesions no files are included although they can buy complete file sets through our shopping cart below as well as individual files.<br>

www.markridoutphotography.com/RedCart/index.php?sid=60</p>

[savagesax]

Some companies offer a special dvd case. You may wish to call some of the wedding companies that carry albums.

 

If you read past posts you will find that I'm against giving out CD/DVD's, because it wrecks your reorder sales.

 

Anyway, check out Epson printers. Some of them will spray your image on to the CD/DVD. I have thePhoto RX595 thats around 3 years old but it still works well.

 

As far as what to give your client, this depends on your sales approach. If you want to simply give them a CD save the files to large jpegs.

 

I only use tiff files for something like a book publication, making huge posters, things that are huge in size. Tiff files are huge and a lot of companies will only accept tiffs. These files can be several megabytes. A nature photographer friend that has shot with National Geographic has images over 100 megabyte tiff files. You can google Dave Welling if you are interested in seeing his images. I hang out with him on local nature trips around California. Dave has been all over the world, so I'm only able to take 3 or 4 day trips. Like Ansel Adams spending 8 or more hours in his darkroom working on 1 print, Dave will spend a day just working on 1 digital image, but in photoshop. This is when you what to use tiff files.

 

Jpeg files have much less information, so depending on your camera and the size of the jpegs you saved will vary from about 2 mg's to maybe 9.

 

A guideline for the smallest jpeg can still make a decent 5X7 prints. A large jpeg can go very high. You won't have a problem printing 20X24". Of course the image has to be spot on as far as exposures, low ASA settings and if you shot in raw.

[picturesque]

<p>Most all wedding photographers would include jpegs on a DVD, not TIFF. Sizing varies--you will find discussion on sizing in threads in Post Wedding Questions or Processing. Here is one previous.</p>

<p><a href="00X3qb">http://www.photo.net/wedding-photography-forum/00X3qb</a></p>

[Marcus Ian]

<p>Ditto for jpegs. Even though there may be some quality advantages to providing tiffs, the universal compatibility of jpegs makes them preferrable to me, and most end users never utilize those marginal advantages anyway. If I'd ever had (or ever do have) a client request them specifically, I may reconsider that general policy.</p>

<p>As far as size goes, personally, I don't resize at all when the client's package includes a copyright release. Native resolution is high enough for nearly everything concievable these days. When they don't purchase the reprint release, I resize them for convenient on-screen viewing (but not large enough to get a good print out of).</p>

 

[pete_s.]

<p>I provide two sets of images, one for online use that is free and one for printing that I charge for. Online is lower resolution high compression jpegs, optimized for file size and have watermarks. The larger ones are high resolution low compression jpegs and optimized for printing.</p>

<p>But DVDs do feel a bit 2005 though. I would consider using a USB flash drive instead or perhaps providing a website where the clients can view and also download all the images. Or maybe let the client decide how they want their images.</p>

[mcmanamey]

<p>If the purpose of the DVD is for the customers to take em to a printer, you absolutely need to stick w/ burning .jpg on the disk. I have not come across a photo printer (in the small format size) that will take anything else.<br>

And keep in mind, <em>most</em> mini labs are staffed by people who where trained for that machine, and pretty much have no idea what they're actually doing. If they saw something other than a jpeg, their little heads might explode.</p>

[daverhaas]

<p>Jpegs cropped to either 4x6, 5x7 or 8x10 - depending on the shot. I had one client insist on getting a CD of TIF files - since those don't degrade... (Tried to explain that he could just reload from the CD if he felt the quality was going, but he didn't want to do that)</p>

<p>Dave</p>