This
article was prepared by Alex Mustard of BSoUP.
It
is reproduced below with his kind permission. |
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There
are many brands of digital image manipulation software on the
market, and within each program there are usually a number of
ways of achieving a particular effect. Here I will describe how
to use resize images in Photoshop using the "IMAGE SIZE"
tool within the IMAGE menu (this is a one step process and is
available in all versions of Photoshop).
The
resolution of the BSoUP digital projector is 1024 by 768 pixels,
and we must adjust our images to this size for optimal projection.
This is actually a low resolution for a digital image (less than
one Megapixel) so resizing for projection reduces the resolution
of our original image. |
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This
means that horizontal images will be projected larger than vertical
images. You may wish to consider this when selecting your images. |
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1.
Focus On Competitions
You
should start with an image larger than 1024 by 768 pixels (all
digital camera and scanned images should easily exceed this size).
Open
the image in Photoshop and crop if required. Then go to the IMAGE
menu and open the IMAGE SIZE tool.
First
ensure that the TWO options (Constrain Proportions and Resample
Image) at the bottom of this box are checked. Then go to box
labelled "Resolution" (at the bottom of the 5 boxes)
and change the value to 72 pixels/inch. |
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DO
NOT click OK and immediately go to the "Pixel Dimension"
boxes (the top two boxes). If your image is a vertical you must
change the value in the "Height" box to 768 pixels.
If your image is horizontal you must change the value in the
"Width" box to 1024 pixels. (If you have cropped a
horizontal image to a square format make sure that both the width
and height values are equal to or less than 1024 and 768 pixels,
respectively.) |
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IT
DOES NOT MATTER IF THE VALUE IN THE OTHER PIXEL DIMENSION BOX
IS LESS THAN THE PROJECTOR RESOLUTION - it will be for most images.
NOW
CLICK OK!
Save
the image as a JPEG (.jpg) with an image title that includes
your name (e.g. j_smith01.jpg). |
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2.
Portfolio Competitions
Creating
a digital portfolio is more complicated, and there are many ways
to do it. Here I will suggest one approach. You do not necessarily
need to follow these instructions as long as you end up with
a portfolio of six same-sized images on a black background, that
measures 1024 by 768 pixels and is at a resolution of 72 pixels/inch.
First
select your six images and resize each to 320 pixels in their
longest direction at a resolution of 72 pixels/inch following
the procedure detailed above. |
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We
have already prepared a background with guidelines to help you
layout your portfolio. These guidelines are only visible in Photoshop
and will not be visible when you final portfolio is presented.
Download the BSoUP_Grid.jpg and open
in Photoshop. In the VIEW menu select the option (Snap to>
Guides), which means that Photoshop will ensure that each image
is exactly over the crosses in the grid when you position them.
Alternatively
you can create a new file (FILE menu, option NEW) with a Width
of 1024 pixels, a Height of 768 pixels and a Resolution of 72
pixel/inch (you are asked for these when creating a new file).
Fill the background of this new file with black (e.g. EDIT menu,
option FILL…, then fill Contents with black at an Opacity
of 100%).
Now
copy and paste all your images onto the black background and
arrange in two rows. As long as have Snap to Guides selected
Photoshop will ensure that each image is positioned correctly. |
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Each
image is in a separate layer and can be moved independently.
Once all the images are arranged correctly flatten the image
(LAYER menu, Flatten Image) and save the image as a JPEG (.jpg)
with an image title that includes your name (e.g. j_smith01.jpg). |
