MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => Alamy.com => Topic started by: boatman on December 24, 2007, 11:39
-
I am going to try and get in to Alamy, and have a question on upsizing.
My current workflow is RAW - Tiff - save as jpeg.
I will upsize the images as a tiff file then save as jpeg, but I normally delete the tiff, and just keep the RAW and jpeg images.
This means that all the images I have at the moment are only processed as jpeg. Are there any problems in upsizing the jpeg for submission, or should I reprocess the RAW file and upsize before saving as a jpeg again.
I expect jpeg upsize is ok, as many of you only deal with jpeg anyway, but thought it best to check.
Thanks, Bob
-
Upsize the Tiff or PSD file. JPEGs are lossy and introduce artifacts. Be sure to use Genuine Fractals to upsize. Thats what they require.
-
I'm not aware that Alamy requires GF for upsizing. I've always just upsized in Photoshop and save as quality 12 JPEGs.
-
You are correct. In side by side comparisons, GF wins.
"Interpolate (upsize) the file to at least 48MB using a specialist, professional software package. We recommend Genuine Fractals™ although other software is equally acceptable, including Abobe Photoshop versions 7 or higher (if the bicubic option is used). Do not use “step” or incremental interpolation. Check your software’s default settings to ensure that sharpening is turned off. All results are assessed on their merits, regardless of the method used."
-
They don't actually require you up size with GF they just recommend it and I think PS cs and newer versions up-size just fine.(make sure you use bicubic mode and bicubic smooth is recommended for up-sizing and bicubic sharper for down-sizing
as for up-sizing jpg question as mentioned above you will loose quality each time you save the file so I personally don't see much use of keeping jpg file I stick with tiff's(plus raw)I know tiff files are harddrive eating monsters but you ca at least have backups on DVD's to save your time I guess having to re-edit the files from raws would be very time consuming.
-
Thanks for the input.
I will be using CS3 for upsizing, and as stated, intend to upsize the tiff file before saving as jpeg. I think I will only upload a few of my jpeg images, so I can always reprocess the RAW file.
I have a few good ones I want to send to get accepted, so I want to get the best quality possible.
In future I will probably keep the Tiff instead of the jpeg as you sugested.
It would be a real pain if I wanted to do a couple of hundred though!!!
The plan is to mainly upload RM to them in the future (assuming they take me)
many thanks
-
good luck boatman with your application.
just one more thing (you may already be aware of it,they are not keen on sharpened images)
-
yes, thanks for that, I always have sharpening off,
Cheers
-
In my experiments, ClearerZoom worked better than GF, and I'm talking about upsizing 50-100% images with original sizes up to 2MPix. Of course, it depended a lot on the original - if it's sharp and low noise, upsizing works fine.
Regards,
Adelaide
-
my originals are from a 10 megapixel canon 40d.
I have upsized 4 images and submited them to Alamy, so now just have to wait a month and see how things go.
Thanks everybody for your input.
-
I am going to try and get in to Alamy, and have a question on upsizing.
My current workflow is RAW - Tiff - save as jpeg.
I will upsize the images as a tiff file then save as jpeg, but I normally delete the tiff, and just keep the RAW and jpeg images.
I do the same as you, but I always save the TIFF. You know, postprocessing means a lot of work (at least to me): setting levels, pop-up, isolate, selective noise-reduction, cloning out skin defects (models) or brand/logo names (public shots). The 16-bit TIFF is your capital, your eggs. The 8-bit lossy JPGs are the omelet you serve. Nobody can make eggs again from omelet. Imagine you forgot to clone out a brand name. Start all over from raw?
The 16-bit TIFF is always my central item. For Alamy, I upsize my D200 10MP shots 135% (bicubic smoother, best for upsize, PS CS3), then convert to 8bit and JPG. Make sure it's 300DPI. Got 100% acceptance at Alamy (till now). Expect a month to accept your shots.
-
It would be a real pain if I wanted to do a couple of hundred though!!!
Boat, I just had a look at the external disk promos here. About 110 Euro for a 500 Gig USB external disk. Space is not the final frontier any more ;-)
-
Thanks Flemishdreams, the problem for me with disc space, is for 6 months of the year (now), I am living on a small sailboat, and use a laptop with 80gb hard drive. I have also an external 160gb hard drive which I back up everything to. Everything is also backed up to dvd.
I dont have AC power on demand, so can't use the large hard discs, although I could just use one for backup I guess.
I am definately going to keep the processed Tiff's from now on, even if offline on dvd's.
Thanks.