EWA DSLR camera submission guidelines.

As more and more of you are submitting images digitally we are increasingly receiving different file formats and sizes. Although we are aware that many of you are shooting for a specific commission, the files are often not acceptable for us to include in the library. As many of our clients insist on certain file types and sizes we are seeking to set a standard that will enable all of you to maximise your sales potential. We recommend that you save a tiff version of the raw image for EWA. From this we will carry out any manipulation in-house to achieve the best results. 

Dust Spotting: All images need to be spotless. Unless you are a competent Photoshop user please avoid doing any dust spotting, as we will do this in-house. It is far easier for us to remove dust spots than to remove poor Photoshop clone work. If you are ‘cleaning’ your images prior to submitting them to us, please ensure that you are viewing your images at 100% on screen so that you can correctly view the results of your work. We recommend that you have your camera sensors and lenses cleaned professionally if you are experiencing severe spot marks. There are also various pieces of cleaning equipment on the market that you may wish to invest in to use, though the results can differ greatly and some may damage your sensor if used incorrectly.

Colour Balancing / Levels / Sharpening: We advise that you let us do any work in-house as we have a trained team doing just this. Often we receive images that have been heavily worked resulting in blown out highlights, lack of shadow detail and colour distortion. Please do not sharpen your images to any degree. If the image is correctly exposed we will achieve a sufficient level of clarity in-house. We also recommend that you do not use any sharpening on your DSLR.

Upsizing & Interpolation: Once again we would ask that we do this in-house as we have specific software for this task. We are happy for you to send in tiff files from the original RAW files but as we need a minimum file size of 50mb we will upsize in-house. The reason for this is that our agents and partners around the world have strict submission guidelines. We also want to be able to cater for all our clients needs. Some small files may be adequate for editorial use but will not be sufficient for some larger advertising briefs.

Cropping & Rotation: All images should be submitted the correct way round. When editing the images we will crop out any anomalies or slightly rotate to the best aesthetic. If you are cropping the image prior to submission this is likely to decrease the file size and, in some cameras cases, we will not be able to upsize to our required 50mb size. We are also noticing that many of you are rotating images and leaving the background ‘canvas’ in the image creating an unwanted border. This should be avoided, as it needs to be cropped out of the image.

Sizing: Most DSLR cameras allow you to set the sizing of the image. We would advise the optimum setting allowing the largest file size. However, we would recommend that you set the dpi to an adequate size providing an actual size of around A3. This is usually around 300dpi. Often we receive images that are over a metre and a half wide or tall but only 72dpi.

Caption & IPTC fields: We always welcome any additional image information for keywording purposes. We would ask that any information be applied to the ‘caption’ field. All other fields are stripped prior to our keywording process and will therefore be lost. If you are unsure as to which field is the ‘caption’ field get in touch and we’ll help you out. Failing this we will always accept the information on a separate document.

Raw Conversion: If you have to convert from raw to tiff try not to over process your images. Ensure the exposure is correct and turn off any sharpening filters.

Always:

Send 8bit images

Do not send images with multiple layers or channels

Images should have the Adobe RGB 1998 colour profile

Include property and model releases whenever possible

Tips:

We recommend that you shoot at the lowest setting ISO on your camera. Although advancements are improving cameras the best results are still coming from the low ISO settings as the higher speeds increase the likelihood of ‘noise’ on the image.

Try to edit your submission so that we do not receive excessive similar shots.

Having your camera professionally cleaned, though sometimes pricey, can often improve your results and may be a worthwhile investment from time to time.

Cheap lenses with poor optics can often create poor images. If you are unsure when buying, ask for a demo and compare the results at 100% on screen.

Calibrate your computer monitor regularly.

Don’t forget that we still accept transparencies and negatives!