Struggling with images?

Many of the event registration forms we see at ePly are well-designed, with thoughtful layouts and well-considered information. But we’ve noticed that some of the images on these forms are out of focus, or of not as good a quality as they could be for the greatest impact or are too large and take a long time to load. It seems that some of our clients struggle with image files, and that needn’t be the case.

And it’s not just on the event registration form that our clients have problems with images. What do you do when your speakers all send you headshots for your event website, but the photos are different sizes, have different lighting and some are holiday snaps? What if you need to add 6 different sponsor logos to your web page and all the files are in different formats, some of which you’ve never heard of and can’t open?

This post is the first in a series designed to enable you to understand and effectively use images in your event marketing and registration. Here’s the plan:

Part 1:
Terminology and the different image file types; you’ll be able to talk knowledgeably with graphic designers after reading this

Part 2:
Understanding what image types to use when and how to work with them

Part 3:
We talk about the pros and cons of working with the images yourself or hiring a graphic designer, and give tips for each option

Taken together, this series of posts will provide a handy reference guide for you, your staff and your clients.

So, jumping right in, here’s an often asked question:

There are many different kinds of images and each have their own characteristics — for example, still versus animated, gradations of color or blocks or color, photos or line drawings. Different image file types work best with certain kinds of images. In addition, some file types are best suited for printed images and others for digital images.

Compression is the act of shrinking a large graphics file down to a smaller size. There are two kinds of compression: lossless compression reduces the file size without losing any data but lossy compression loses some data but produces smaller files. In lossy compression, the data loss is only noticeable at the lowest quality settings.

Pixel is short for “picture element” and relates to the smallest physical controllable point on a computer monitor and other digital screens. It’s the smallest single component of a digital image and can be independently coloured.

Resolution refers to an image’s clarity. People are still arguing over what the term really means in the digital image field, but it’s often used in conjunction with pixels. A common meaning of pixel resolution, and one found in the world of digital cameras, is as the total number of pixels in an image. So, in our example above, the image would have a resolution of around 3.1 megapixels. Resolution is sometimes given as pixels per inch.

The File Size of your image is measured in bytes and relates to several things:

DPI is the acronym for dots per inch and is not to be confused with pixels. DPI refers to the output resolution when printing – dots of ink per inch on the paper – and not when viewing or producing images for use on the screen.

Bitmap is a type of image produced by “photo” programs such as Adobe Photoshop. In these images, each pixel has an assigned colour and is mapped to a grid. Bitmap images are usually photos and photorealistic pictures.

Vector images are produced by “drawing” software such as Adobe Illustrator, and are great for precise illustrations which require curves or complex shapes. These images are easily scalable and can be printed at any size without distortion. Logos are often created as vectors.

Created: to store photographs at a high quality in very small files
Compression: lossy compression
Best for: realistic scenes; photos (most common format for this on the web)
Not for: line drawings; images with sharp contrast between colours
Can’t do: transparency; animation
Plus point: can adjust compression amount so can trade off image quality and file size

Created: introduced by Compuserve in 1987
Compression: lossless compression
Best for: low resolution clip art and drawings
Not for: photos; anything with lots of colour – only supports 256 colours
Can’t do: continuous colour and colour gradations
Plus point: small animations and low-res film clips; simple transparency

Created: in 1996 because of a patent battle over GIF
Compression: lossless
Best for: digital images of any kind
Not for: images to be printed
Can’t do: animation
Plus point: great for transparency at different levels

Created: for professional use in desktop publishing
Compression: handles lossy and lossless compression in the same file
Best for: professional use when need different image formats within the same file; images to be printed
Not for: non-professionals as no system can handle all the different TIFF formats
Plus point: supports various color spaces (RGB, CMYK etc); extremely high pixel density

Created: To handle graphics within the Microsoft Windows environment
Compression: none
Best for: moving graphics between devices using Windows
Not for: large files (but can ZIP them to compress them)
Plus point: portability of files within the Windows sphere

Created: for use by software including Adobe Illustrator
Compression: lossless
Best for: exchanging vector graphics (e.g. logos) to be viewed
Not for: images that need to be edited
Plus point: contains small preview image as well as larger vector image

Created: within Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements
Compression: none
Best for: editing within Photoshop software
Not for: regular use; can view it but files are large as contain image plus support info
Plus point: holds all the information necessary for editing by the Photoshop packages;
use with Corel Paintshop Pro

Understanding the basics about the different types of image files and some of the terminology enables you to appreciate the image requirements for your registration form and event website. In the next part of this series we’ll cover the specifics of the type, size and quality of the image files you need and talk about the basics of image editing.

Guide to Working With Images For Event Planners – Part 1 – Understanding The Jargon

Guide to Working With Images For Event Planners – Part 1 – Understanding The Jargon – ePly

Guide to Working With Images For Event Planners – Part 1 – Understanding The Jargon

Why are there different image file types?

Terminology that is useful to know

Image File Types – A Summary

JPEG or JPG – Joint Photographic Experts Group

GIF – Graphics Interchange Format

PNG – Portable Network Graphics

TIFF – Tagged Image File Format

BMP – Windows Bitmap

EPS – Encapsulated Postscript

PSD – Adobe Photoshop Document

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