Photo Guidelines: What Makes A Good Cover Image?

With cell phone cameras so prevalent nowadays, it seems like the younger generation has no shortage of selfies and photos. But that wasn’t always the case, and trying to obtain good portrait-quality obituary photos of our older loved ones can be difficult.

Here at BerylMartin, our skilled artists do their best to make the most of the images you submit. However, the better the quality and the higher the resolution of your images, the more we’ll have to work with and the more beautiful your tribute will be. Here are a few tips on how to submit the best possible photo for your programs and keepsakes.

Rules of Thumb:

• Choose a photo that shows the person in good focus, with their face and hair unobstructed and not cut off by the borders of the photo.
• The photo you provide for your cover should show the person’s face at least the size of a quarter when printed out. Larger is better!
• If you have a full-body shot (head to toe), it will likely not be large enough to give a good-quality image of just the person’s face. Consider using the full image for your cover portrait.
• What is “big enough”? Your image files should measure at least 600 pixels in each direction, with a file size of at least 100kb. For your cover photo, especially if you are ordering larger tributes such as a booklet or panel, we recommend at least 1200 pixels in each direction, with a file size of at least 200kb.

Do’s and Don’ts:

• DO try to get the original photo whenever possible. Whether it’s a physical photo, a photo uploaded to Facebook, or a screenshot, please try to track down the original. It’s a better quality file and allows us to do more to enhance your image.
• DON’T screenshot a photo sent to you by a family member. Whether it’s from your text messages or Facebook, it will likely be too small to produce good quality. This goes double for using your phone to take a picture of your computer screen displaying the photo! Please download or save the original photo file to email to us, or have the family member send it to us directly at wecare@berylmartin.com.
• DO collect photos from multiple stages and areas of your loved one’s life to include in your main program.
• DON’T crop the photos yourself before submitting them. It’s better for us to have the full original image to work with. Whether cropping the photo closer for use as the cover photo, or cropping other people or objects out of it, we will take care of that for you. Just include instructions like “man on left only” and we’ll do the rest.
• DO send photos as large as possible – always choose “Original Size” if it gives you the option.
• DON’T downsample the images or reduce the file sizes just because the attachments are too large for a single email. We would rather have multiple emails with the larger image files. Remember, for returning customers, our Quick Order Form lets you upload all your photos at once without worrying about attachment limits.

Scanning and Digitizing:

If you have printed photographs you would like to include, the best way to digitize them is with a flatbed scanner. Our Frequently Asked Questions page has some great instructions on scanning in physical photos to be emailed or uploaded to our website when placing your order.

If you can’t get access to a scanner, you may have to take a photo of a photo with your phone. Please try to follow these guidelines:

• Take separate shots of one photo at a time. This gives you the largest possible image size and helps us keep your tribute photos organized. Don’t try to include a whole photo gallery in a single shot.
• Take the picture straight on, not at an angle.
• Try to minimize glare on the photo if it’s framed or glossy. Whenever possible, remove photos from their frames before photographing. Indirect lighting helps reduce glare, so aim your light source away from the subject photo, or have someone hold a sheet of white paper in front of the light source. Dim lighting can actually produce better results than bright lighting if you are having significant trouble with glare.

These photo guidelines will help us produce the best possible obituary photo for your funeral tribute. In the end, though, any photo is usually better than no photo at all. When in doubt, send us what you have, and our art staff will do their best to turn it into a tribute you can cherish forever.