Resolution for photo libraries: Heads up!

[timbo]

I've been on the verge of lodging a bunch of shots with a prominent Australian photo library as they were very keen on the strength of my tranny portfolio. I've been very happy with the general quality of my D70 images and 'pixel-peeping' resolution limitations hadn't even entered my mind.

I've been happily shooting away in RAW format, secure in the knowledge that I can interpolate pretty well up to 71.8mb at 8-bit RGB with the Adobe Camera Raw plugin, when I recently heard back from my contact that "We require 50mb hi-res files - not re-sized to 50mb..." and "I have put on the web that I will start looking at 8mb cameras but have found that they are not always ok for all uses so I may change this. Which camera are you using?"

Well, dang me. I must confess I haven't responded to this just yet. Several people have responded to Sheepie's fabulous POTW that it's worthy of National (or Australian) Geographic, but apparently if you haven't shot it on transparency or aren't capable of supplying a 50mb uninterpolated file, this particular photo library at least won't accept it.

Has anyone else encountered this kind of stonewall, or is it just me?

If so, maybe I'll just go back to fingerpainting

[Glen]

Timbo, have read about this before and it is a problem. I read on DPReview that Getty Images has just approved the D2X, and I know from shots I took with Birddy's that it produces 69mb file sizes. This might be a case of if you want to go pro you need pro equipment.

Personally I think the libraries are playing it a bit too safe, but it's their rules.

[Greg B]

as they were very keen on the strength of my tranny portfolio.

Do you have a whole portolio of tranvestites?

[Glen]

as they were very keen on the strength of my tranny portfolio.

Do you have a whole portolio of tranvestites?

One other trick Timbo, which I think I heard from sirhc55, so credit to him, is print the photo out at top quality then do a scan at the required quality. Might need some PS to clean it up, but there is a 50mb file.

[timbo]

Greg B wrote:

Do you have a whole portolio of tranvestites?

Not quite! But I did see "Bad Education" last night. They sure make great subject matter!

As for the idea of cleaning in PS, printing out & rescanning, that's a great idea and worth pursuing for a few shots. Thanks for that Glen (and Chris). Certainly in the long term the D2x is the go.

[sirhc55]

And, there is always Smart PixelScale and Genuine Fractals

[Onyx]

Yeah, with decent interpolation (and stripping of EXIF not to disclose your camera's native res), the library won't be able to tell whether it's been upsized or not.