How to Present Images to a Client? (Pixels & Resolution)

DenaJoan · Dec 17, 2013

Hello, friends. I recently shot my first wedding (as lead shooter). Photographs came out lovely thanks to much of the help that I received here on the forum! I will be saving the files to a DVD and giving them to the client. I am looking for input regarding how I should save the files to the DVD, specifically with regard to pixel size (height & width) and resolution. I want to give them the option to make large prints if they so choose, so the images will need to be high-res files for printing. However, I am finding all sorts of different sizing guides around the Internet. I would love to know what sizes you save in.

Thanks in advance for any help and insight! :hug::

EDITED TO ADD: What would you say that the minimum resolution should be when you present print-ready images to a client? 72 would likely be substantially too low, but what is a good number to strive for?

KmH · Dec 17, 2013

How will you be displaying the images?

Your camera's native resolution (pixel dimensions) will be a couple of times larger than most displays you might use.
If you use a computer display, or just about any other type of electronic display, with an image viewing application, the images will automatically be resided to fit on the display and you would not need to make any changes at all. It is a good idea to make sure an electronic display is calibrated before showing a client images on it.
There are different electronic display technologies, and for image editing and client display on a computer display, an IPS type TFT-LCD display is desirable.

For electronic display the pixel resolution (height/width dimensions) are the only number that counts, but as mentiones image viewing applications will take care of making a photo fit the display.
PPI(pixels per inch) has no meaning for electronic display. PPI determines print resolution (size) relative to the image pixel dimensions.

The best way to sell large prints is to have finished samples hanging on a wall so clients can see and touch.
It helps them imagine what a big print will look like on the wall of their home or office.

Photography Business Secrets: The Savvy Photographer's Guide to Sales, Marketing, and More

Tutorials on Color Management & Printing

FWIW - If you don't have a good understanding of the technical details, do you think your client will, so the client can get high quality prints made on their own hook?

tirediron · Dec 17, 2013

What is your deliverable to the clients? Are you only delivering digital files, or are you hoping for print sales as well? When I deliver digital images, I deliver them already cropped for the client's specified print size at the maximum quality possible.

DenaJoan · Dec 17, 2013

KmH said:
How will you be displaying the images?

Your camera's native resolution (pixel dimensions) will be a couple of times larger than most displays you might use.
If you use a computer display, or just about any other type of electronic display, with an image viewing application, the images will automatically be resided to fit on the display and you would not need to make any changes at all. It is a good idea to make sure an electronic display is calibrated before showing a client images on it.
There are different electronic display technologies, and for image editing and client display on a computer display, an IPS type TFT-LCD display is desirable.

For electronic display the pixel resolution (height/width dimensions) are the only number that counts, but as mentiones image viewing applications will take care of making a photo fit the display.
PPI(pixels per inch) has no meaning for electronic display. PPI determines print resolution (size) relative to the image pixel dimensions.

The best way to sell large prints is to have finished samples hanging on a wall so clients can see and touch.
It helps them imagine what a big print will look like on the wall of their home or office.

Photography Business Secrets: The Savvy Photographer's Guide to Sales, Marketing, and More

Tutorials on Color Management & Printing

Thanks, KmH. I am really terrible at asking questions.

You gave me a fantastic answer, but because my vocabulary is awful, it's not the answer that I needed. I'm not presenting the images to the client for a viewing. I'm going to be giving them a DVD. So I need to know how to save the files to the DVD. The images need to be re-sized. They're too large at the moment. So, I am asking what the pixel height and width should be, as well as the resolution.

Thanks again so very much and I apologize for my poor vocabulary. I hope that this is more clear. I've edited the original post, too.

DenaJoan · Dec 17, 2013

Thanks! This is helpful. You better understood my question. I am only delivering digital images and I am not hoping for print sales.

tirediron · Dec 17, 2013

Set up an on-line proofing gallery, they send you a list of the images they want and in what size. You crop them to the print size they want, maintaining the largest possible file size and it's all good. The client should not have to ANYTHING with their images when they get them (and nor should you as the artist want them doing anything).

DenaJoan · Dec 17, 2013

tirediron said:
What is your deliverable to the clients? Are you only delivering digital files, or are you hoping for print sales as well? When I deliver digital images, I deliver them already cropped for the client's specified print size at the maximum quality possible.

Thanks! This is helpful. You better understood my question. I am only delivering digital images and I am not hoping for print sales.

DenaJoan · Dec 17, 2013

tirediron said:
Set up an on-line proofing gallery, they send you a list of the images they want and in what size. You crop them to the print size they want, maintaining the largest possible file size and it's all good. The client should not have to ANYTHING with their images when they get them (and nor should you as the artist want them doing anything).

Wow... this is such a foreign concept to me. When I got married, our photographers sent us a disc with all of the images on it. Period. They didn't offer any further assistance, such as resizing, etc. I never considered offering this as an option to my clients, but it does make sense. I'm not sure if it will work for this set of clients as I already promised them a DVD of all of their print-ready images.... I guess that I need to clarify with them about what size (maximum) they plan to print. Definitely a conversation I should have had beforehand, but lesson learned. Will put this in the contract next time. Thanks!

A follow-up question, if you, will... what would you say that the minimum resolution should be when you present print-ready images to a client? 72 would likely be substantially too low, but what is a good number to strive for?

tirediron · Dec 17, 2013

To me, 'print ready' means print-ready. So, unless they're copped to a printable size, they're not really print-ready. You can certainly go the 'shoot & burn' 'here's your disc, have a nice day' route, IF you want to stay down at the bottom of the pond with all the other muck-suckers. Remember that in these days where everyone has a camera and everyone 'likes' every picture they see, what's really going to set you apart and help you get up to the surface of the pond is SERVICE... "Dena did such a nice job on my pictures, they were all ready to print and everything...." The other aspect is that you know how to crop an image; you know that you don't laterally bisect limbs, cut someone off at the knees, etc. Your clients aren't photographers; they don't know this. They probably wouldn't know what is wrong with a poorly cropped image, but they would know that they didn't like it as well as one that was cropped properly.

I strive for 300 ppi, but I know that the lab I use can turn out very good results with 200 ppi images, so on occasion I do go as low as that.

Derrel · Dec 17, 2013

How about 1,920 pixels on the long axis and 300ppi? That's a good sized image, 1,920 pixels wide on horizontals, and if they do make prints, the images will not "fall apart".

1920 x 1277 at 300 pixels per inch makes a beautiful on-screen image when down-sized from my camera's original 24 MP captures, which are just too danged large for easy handling in slide shows or for e-mail or web use.

At 1,920 pixels wide at 300 ppi, you'll average 1.8 to 2.8 megabytes of disk space used per image on most "normal" scenes, without too much compression.

In Lightroom, you can "cap" the file storage requirements at a reasonable size limit. It's easy to do two,separate Lightroom Exports; one for DVD/slide show use,which is the 1,920 picxel-wide images I mentioned above, and a second set that has been aggressively sharpened for printing at some lab.

For the lab prints, I would shoot for much larger file storage sizes, like 7 to 8 megabyte .JPG files of large size, meaning not down-sized, but right out of the camera large, which is 6,048 x 4,032 pixel dimension from my 24MP camera.

DenaJoan · Dec 17, 2013

tirediron said:
To me, 'print ready' means print-ready. So, unless they're copped to a printable size, they're not really print-ready. You can certainly go the 'shoot & burn' 'here's your disc, have a nice day' route, IF you want to stay down at the bottom of the pond with all the other muck-suckers. Remember that in these days where everyone has a camera and everyone 'likes' every picture they see, what's really going to set you apart and help you get up to the surface of the pond is SERVICE... "Dena did such a nice job on my pictures, they were all ready to print and everything...." The other aspect is that you know how to crop an image; you know that you don't laterally bisect limbs, cut someone off at the knees, etc. Your clients aren't photographers; they don't know this. They probably wouldn't know what is wrong with a poorly cropped image, but they would know that they didn't like it as well as one that was cropped properly.

I strive for 300 ppi, but I know that the lab I use can turn out very good results with 200 ppi images, so on occasion I do go as low as that.

Fantastic advice. Can't thank you enough!

DenaJoan · Dec 17, 2013

Derrel said:
How about 1,920 pixels on the long axis and 300ppi? That's a good sized image, 1,920 pixels wide on horizontals, and if they do make prints, the images will not "fall apart".

1920 x 1277 at 300 pixels per inch makes a beautiful on-screen image when down-sized from my camera's original 24 MP captures, which are just too danged large for easy handling in slide shows or for e-mail or web use.

At 1,920 pixels wide at 300 ppi, you'll average 1.8 to 2.8 megabytes of disk space used per image on most "normal" scenes, without too much compression.

In Lightroom, you can "cap" the file storage requirements at a reasonable size limit. It's easy to do two,separate Lightroom Exports; one for DVD/slide show use,which is the 1,920 picxel-wide images I mentioned above, and a second set that has been aggressively sharpened for printing at some lab.

For the lab prints, I would shoot for much larger file storage sizes, like 7 to 8 megabyte .JPG files of large size, meaning not down-sized, but right out of the camera large, which is 6,048 x 4,032 pixel dimension from my 24MP camera.