Whether it's your grandmother's 100th birthday, your kindergartner's first-ever day of school or a check presentation to the nonprofit you spend hours volunteering with, your local newspaper is happy to print it or upload it to their website. It's a great way to commemorate a special and exciting event, and provides you with a keepsake newspaper clipping to add to a scrapbook or hang on a wall in a nice frame.
More often than not, as a managing editor in the newsroom, photos like this would arrive in my email with cursory information and a badly pixelated picture. After emailing or calling the person -- if a phone number was provided -- I'd await a response for the details, which sometimes would never come.
Most newspapers have a policy of not printing photos, if the detailed information isn't there, and if the photo is of too poor quality, it likely won't be printed at all.
To ensure your best chances of seeing your picture in the newspaper, here are a few tips you can use.
Tip #1: Make sure the original photo is large enough to print and not pixelate.
Large means the most inches possible at a low resolution or a very high resolution for photos no smaller than 5 inches.
If you zoom in on the photo on your phone, can you still see people's faces? If the photo is fuzzy, blurry, slurpy, sloppy or pixely, it's too small. Try adjusting to a higher resolution in your phone's camera settings to get the best version to submit for print.
Tip #2: Don't resize a small photo on your phone or computer and resubmit it.
If the newspaper requests that you send the original or a larger file, it’s because when the editor tries to prepare it for print, it pixelates or otherwise looks distorted. Resizing it on your phone doesn't solve the problem — think “Clueless:” faux Monet. "It's like a painting, see? From far away, it's OK, but up close, it's a big ol' mess."
If the original photo really is that small, let the editor know. While there's not much they can do other than give you some guidance on taking photos, sometimes they can help with the tools and resources they have for photo editing.
Tip #3: Don't use filters.
Filters are cute for your Insta, but not for newsprint. Filters make it difficult to prepare the photo to look right on newsprint paper.
The press prints in and photo editors work in CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black), and most photos are taken in RGB (red, green, blue). Filters distort the true colors and make adjustments in either color mode more time consuming, and it’s less likely that the photo will print properly when filtered.
The worst ones I've tried to reproduce in newsprint have been any photo that has a yellow-tinted filter or a vignette filter that shades the outer edges.
Newspapers are still produced the old-fashioned way — on a big ol’ printing press. The specialty paper runs through the ink rollers one color at a time, layering the ink to produce color photos on the page. The pressmen have to adjust the individual ink flows as the newspaper is printing, so having one photo that is too yellow, blue, green, washed out or faded makes it more challenging to get all the photos to come out well. A filtered photo that is too yellow, for example, will look washed out next to other color photos on the same page.
Tip #4: We don’t know who the folks are in your picture.
We are not, unfortunately, psychic like that.
As a rule, if there are faces smiling into the camera, newspapers need names for each and every person and are not likely to publish a photo if they can’t get this information. Provide the first and last names of the people in order of left to right in the front row, back row, etc., even if it’s just two people. (Two men in a photo are named John and Don. Which name goes with which face? I promise, the newspapers don’t know.)
A lot of times, there are kids in the photos, and who doesn’t love seeing their children or grandchildren recognized in the newspaper for doing something awesome? Being able to identify the people in the photo makes the photo better.
Bonus points for every name that’s spelled correctly. Again, newspapers don’t know and have to take your word that it’s “Bradon” and not “Brandon.”
Other info to provide:
When and where was the photo taken?
Who took it?
Why was the photo taken?
If there are kids, what are their ages?
Where is everyone from?
Are business names and titles important for the photo?
If a check is being presented or funds donated, how much was it?
Tip #5: Always provide your contact info with the photo and then respond when someone tries to get in touch with you.
Sometimes the newspaper needs more information or needs to clarify the information that was provided. Maybe there’s a problem with the photo. Regardless of the reason, if needed, they will contact you. Be sure you check the email you provided or answer the phone when they call.
If the editor is planning on including your photo in the next edition, they are probably on a deadline and need the information as soon as possible. Otherwise, they will reschedule the photo to run in a subsequent edition, once they get the missing information. If they don't get the missing information, it won't run.
Tip #6: Don't send flyers except as supplementary information to an actual photo.
If you want the flyer printed, someone will be happy to refer you to an advertising rep.
Newspapers don't print flyers to promote your event or service, even if a photo is included on the flyer, but especially if the flyer has a lot of graphics and basic information.
Sometimes, newspapers will print a brief -- an article that is about 150 words -- using the information provided and if there is enough of it.
But, if there is a photo, there are additional things to consider: Are there words or graphics covering any portion of the photo? It won't be published. Are there several small photos on the flyer? More likely than not, they are too small and will not be published.
Check with the editor of your local newsroom, if you are unsure if the flyer can be used. If you insist that the flyer is printed exactly as-is, you will be referred to an advertising representative.
Tip #7: Make sure you're standing close enough to your subject when taking the photo.
This is particularly true of group shots. A lot of us stand too far away for groups. Before you touch the photo-snap button, take three steps toward your subject, then shoot.
Why? People reading the paper want to see your smiling faces! It will be easier to identify the faces when you take them from a closer distance.
Sometimes businesses want their logo or sign in a photo that is not being used for advertising. While newspapers really appreciate their business advertisers, there is not always space available to include that portion of the photo when it is accompanying a news article or is being used as stand-alone art to celebrate a milestone. Sometimes the logo or sign gets partially or completely cropped out.
The reason is because the people in the photo are more central to the story or the milestone. And, again, space on the page for news is at a premium. Cropping out the logo or sign and enlarging the photo to better spotlight the people will encourage readers to engage with the photo and any article with it.
Tip #8: Know where the light is when taking a photo.
I know that having the sun shining brightly into your face is uncomfortable, but it's better than the alternative: back lighting.
Back lighting can provide an ambient glow in a professional photo, but if there is not sufficient lighting on the faces of the people in it, the people will look like they are standing in a shadow.
When photos are taken in a shadow, depending on how dark that shadow is, the photo editor has to lighten the picture to get the most detail possible. Often, this can wash out the rest of the photo and "blow out" the background, meaning it disappears. Too much needed adjustments will render the photo unsuitable for print, even in black and white.
The best light is bright. Taking a photo in a pale shadow will work just fine. If you're indoors, avoid pointing the camera toward any windows and glass, TV or lights on the walls. All of these things will create problems for the editor.
Finally, know that sometimes a photo that will not reproduce well in color may look just fine in black and white. While every newspaper has black-and-white pages, page designers nowadays create all pages in color to post online. The digital age has allowed newspapers to have full-color pages without the cost of color ink.
But it's still always best practice to follow these guidelines to increase your chances of getting your nonprofessional photo published.
Very helpful