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Photography for Your Jewelry and Craft Website |
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Photography for Your Jewelry and Craft Websiteby Lisa JayNot only is it important to take good photographs for your website, it is equally important to make sure that your pictures load quickly. In this article we will cover a number of important issues:
Your backdrop is your first concern. Where will you take pictures of your product, craft or object? Outdoor light seems to be the most recommended background. The outdoor lighting helps to create beautiful pictures. For jewelry, this option is not the best. It is harder to photograph jewelry than other crafts. For jewelry there are many other options for setting up a small photography studio. How to Make My $15.00 Photo Studio http://www.home-jewelry-business-success-tips.com/jewelry-photography.html Lapidary Art: Basic Jewelry Photography http://www.lapidaryart.com/projects_2.html Photographing Jewelry for Print and Web http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/lessons/vault/index.html Camera settings: Each camera comes with their own terms. You will have to read your manual to decide what term they use for each of these settings. There are a few settings that you need to make on your camera. Quality - I use the middle setting. This takes really nice pictures, but does not use up as much disk space. Picture Resolution - My camera has either High (1760 x 1168 pixels) or Standard (896 x 592 pixels). Use the Standard setting. Using a scanner to take pictures - Use the highest setting for you scanner to scan your pictures. Then edit as you would pictures that you have taken with a camera. Editing for Website: Before we begin editing your photos there are a few things that you should know:
1. Once you have taken your pictures, download them to your computer. Save these files in your photo editing programs format. Since I use Photoshop, I save them as .psd files. 2. Open your photo editing program and open your picture. Crop your picture two sizes. - Crop one picture for the "thumbnail" sized picture. I crop at 125 pixels x 125 pixels for square or 140 pixels x 125 pixel. You will have to decide how large or small you want your pictures. Just remember that the larger that they are, the slower they will load. (crop, save this file, then click "undo" to crop your next picture) - Crop one picture for the larger picture that people will see once they click on the thumbnail. I use 300 pixels x 300 pixels, or 300 pixels x 275 pixels. 3. Use your photo editing tool to sharpen, and adjust brightness. These are all tools that you will have to play with to get the look that you want. I suggest that you read the tutorial on the photo editing program that you are using. Once you have the setting that you like, write them down and use them for most of your pictures. 4. Once you are happy with the appearance of your picture, it is time to save it for your website. In Photoshop they offer an option to "Save for Web". Once you have clicked Save for Web, it will take you to a tool that allows you to save it at the quality that you want. You can save most pictures for websites at 60%-80%. You will also have to play with this to find the right balance between picture quality and load time. For example: - Picture saved at 60%, not real clear, loads in 3 seconds - Picture saved at 70%, pretty clear, loads in 4 seconds - Best Bet! - Picture saved at 80%, very clear, loads in 10 seconds If your program does not offer, Save for Web, you will have to read the directions on saving for a website. **Just make sure that you save all of your website pictures in the JPEG format.** 5. Always keep a copy of your original (saved in your photo editing programs format). You may decide to go back and change it. About the Author: Lisa Jay is a freelance writer and the jewelry designer behind Lantana Designwear. You can visit her websites at http://www.LantanaDesignwear.com and www.JewelryMakingHQ.com Be sure to sign up for her newsletter at http://www.JewelryMakingHQ.com/signup_newsletter to receive helpful information on making your business a success. Some craft projects on this site may be unsuitable for children. In any case, adult-supervision is required all children's craft activities and projects. This article is reprinted here with the author's express permission. ![]()
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