Photography & Image Rights
04 / Processing & Output
Key question
How does the image take shape?
Between the shoot and the finished picture lie selection, editing, and export. This is where it is decided whether an image loads quickly and looks sharp on screen, appears clean in print, and whether a series looks consistent.
Learning objective: You can select images, edit them discreetly and consistently, and export them in the correct size and format for web and print.
Selection is half the battle when editing.
4.1 / Selection and Editing
Less, but better.
Editing starts with selection. Three steps have proven to work well.
01
Select
Be ruthless when sorting. Out of 100 photos, you're often left with just 5 that truly work.
02
Basic correction
Straighten, crop, white balance, exposure, contrast.
03
Style
Consistent colours and tonal values across the whole series, for instance using a preset.
Shoot in RAW format whenever possible. It retains more image information and gives you more leeway with exposure and white balance.
Pixels for the screen.
4.2 / Resolution and size
Pixels for the screen, dpi for print.
On screen, only pixels matter. For a website, 2,000 to 2,400 pixels on the long edge are usually enough. In print, the rule is: pixels divided by dpi equals the size. For printed materials held in your hands, 300 dpi is standard, while 150 dpi or less is sufficient for posters viewed from a distance.
Upscaling doesn't create new detail. If you want to print an image, plan for the required resolution before taking the shot, and it's always better to shoot slightly too large than too small.
Extrapolation invents nothing.
4.3 / Formats and colour
JPEG, WebP, AVIF, TIFF.
WebP and AVIF are ideal for the web: smaller than JPEG with no loss in quality. JPEG remains the reliable standard for sharing. For printing, provide TIFF or high-quality JPEGs and check the colour profile with your print shop.
Images for the web are exported in sRGB, otherwise colours may appear washed out in some browsers. Metadata such as location or camera details can be removed upon export, which protects your privacy.
sRGB for the web.
Exercise
An image package
Task: Prepare the series for the Sonnmatt farm shop for the website and flyers.
STEP 1
Choose your six strongest pictures.
STEP 2
Edit them consistently: same white balance, same contrast, same colour mood.
STEP 3
Export them for the web in WebP at 2400 pixels on the long edge in sRGB.
STEP 4
Check in the tool which image is large enough for an A5 flyer at 300 dpi.
Evaluation: How large are the web files? Does the series look cohesive?