Ever Been Asked to Send a High Resolution Image?

Sometimes a printer, graphic designer or website developer will ask you to send a photo as a high resolution file. Great quality photos will give your project a professional appearance. Conversely, poor-quality images will reflect negatively on the project's overall look.

The quality of an image depends on two things

1. The original quality
2. How it is transferred

Original Quality

One of the most common questions we get asked about image quality for websites is if photos taken on mobile phones are going to be good enough quality. The short answer is yes, but there are a two things to consider.

1. Mobile vs Digital Camera
2. Lighting, Focus and Framing

Mobile vs Digital Camera

Even though a mobile camera can produce a good enough quality photo for a professional looking website, print project or newsletter, a digital camera, with a good photographer, is likely to produce a better photo. Digital cameras have more control over things like aperture, shutter speed and focus. A good camera, in a professional photographer’s hands, will almost always get a better photo than one taken by an enthusiast on a mobile phone.

Lighting, Focus and Framing

Luck might produce a great photo from a mobile camera, but planning, preparation and good photography skills are more likely to produce a photo that is feature image worthy. A blurred photo or one that has a messy background or a photo where the main subject is poorly lit, does not make a good image for your project, regardless of what camera it was taken with.

How it is Transferred

Often not much thought is given to how an image is transferred to your graphic designer, printer or website developer, yet this can significantly impact on the images fitness for purpose.

The reason why we come across poor quality transfer of photos is because mobile phone cameras are ubiquitous – they are universal and ever-present. Almost everyone has a mobile phone and all mobile phones have cameras. We’re all use to uploading our photos, from our phones, to Facebook, Instagram or texting or adding them to our What’s App chat. Many of us don’t know how to upload our photos to our desktop computers. But that is the first step in getting photos to your designer.

What Not To Do

Here’s several things we commonly come across that we ask you not to do

1. Texting photos
2. Sending photos via email or What’s App via the phone
3. Sending photos via email from a desktop that were previously transferred via phone
4. Taking screenshots
5. Downloading from Facebook
6. Cropping or manipulating the image
7. Sending the image as a pasted image in a Word document

What To Do

OK, so now we’ve covered off what not to do, where does that leave you?

Here’s a few tips that will hopefully help.

Uploading Photos to a Desktop

Uploading photos and managing image files on our computer might very well become a lost art. But if you’re responsible for starting or maintaining an image library for your business or organisation, this skill set is well worth having.

The old fashioned way of uploading a photo to your desktop (or laptop) computer was to connect a cable to your phone and with the two devices connected, the photo is transferred across. This may still be the best way for you, depending on your circumstances. Here's a YouTube video tutorial on how to upload your photos from an andoid phone to a PC or laptop.

Most often the method used now will be via AirDrop (iPhone / Mac) or Nearby Share or File Sharing (Android / PC).

You’ll need to be familiar with Wi-Fi or Blutooth and your own device and computer to master this.

Uploading your photo, taken on your phone, or with a digital camera, directly to your desktop or laptop computer will not compress the image. The photo will maintain its original size and resolution 😁.

From Desktop to Designer

Once you’ve got the image on your desktop or laptop, you can now email it (from the computer not from a phone) to your designer. If you feel it is too big for email, or there are too many images to transfer, consider using We Transfer.

We Transfer

We Transfer is free to use. You do not need to create an account or have a log in and password (although this is an option). If you’d like to send files without creating an account, choose the “I just want to send files” option.

Images for SEO

Images for SEO is your secret sauce to optimising your website for search engines.

In our Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) course and our SEO in 15 minutes video we talk a lot about the importance of text. Google loves text and the more keyword rich, and relevant text you can have on your site the better search engines will be able to find it.

How-ever images can also be optimised.

Image SEO is crucial for a website's engagement and user experience. Both these factors ultimately lead to higher traffic and better rankings.

You could be losing a lot of traffic by not optimising your images. So here’s our 6 tips to optimise images for search engines.

1. Choose an SEO Friendly File Image Format

There are lots of different image formats (eg. .tiff, .svg, .eps, .gif), but in this article we’ll focus on the main two file formats you'll come across on your website. They are:

• .jpg
• .png

JPEG

The most common file format is .jpg. Use .jpg in preference to .png, when the image file is a photo.

PNG

Graphic and logo files are often .png They support transparent backgrounds and this makes them ideal for logos, icons, and graphic files.

2. File Size

After selecting a file format, the next step is to resize or compress the images you want to use.

File size, that is whether your image is 100kB or 2MB, is very important to page load speed, and hence important to SEO. Most photos on websites need to be 100kB or under. Learn how to re-size your images using your own graphics software or using free online tools like jpeg.io.

3. Choose an SEO Friendly File Name

Unlike text, which Google can read instantaneously, with picture files you have to help the search engine crawlers understand the subject matter. The most effective way of doing this is to name the image file clearly, before you upload it to your website.

The best image file names

• Use keyword rich and descriptive words
• Don’t use stop words (such as in, a, an, as and the)
• Use hyphens, not underscores

The following are poor examples of image file names

• Dsc011345.jpg
• Image_rt_final.jpg
• Logo_v2.png

The following are good examples of image file names

• Mount-Fuji-In-Snow.jpg
• Texas-Plumbers-Bathroom-Renovation.jpg
• Bristol-Florist-Logo.png

Here’s an ok example of a product image file name

• Plastic-lid.png

Here’s a better example of the same product image file name

• Silicone-dog-food-can-lid.png

By re-naming the images before you upload them to the website, you will create a default URL path that has the keyword rich and descriptive text in it. For example, the image’s URL for our dog food can lid might be:
https://petfood.com.uk/silicone-dog-food-can-lid.png

4. Alt Text

Alt text (or alternative text) was originally designed, and still plays a large part, in giving access to image information to people who are using a screen reader (for example if you have low vision).

For best results for your images for SEO, add the alt text.

In most cases you can use the file name you’ve created earlier, and add it to the alt text field in you website media library. Most website builders, including WordPress, make it easy to add the alt text for an image.

5. Use Copyright-Free and Royalty-Free Images

Just because you find an image on Google does not mean it is free to use. Abiding by copyright is an essential aspect of good business, and for your image SEO.

Uploading photos from Google and ignoring their legal status can ruin your reputation and penalisze your blog or website if things get serious. Being careful is the key when selecting images for your site.

Any photo you have taken yourself can be used. If you have hired the services of a professional photographer ensure you have the appropriate documentation or sign off to use the photos on your website, social media channels, printed material and in your advertising.

Photos you have purchased from reputable stock images sites, like Stock Photos, and others, are a cost effective way to get copyright-free and royalty-free images to use on your site.

6. Good-Quality Images

Good quality photos provide a good website visitor experience, and therefore is good for your image SEO. Photos need to be:

• In focus
• Have good lighting
• Be well framed

Choosing high-quality pictures to begin with means that when they are resized and compressed, their colour contrast and resolution will still look good.

For the Professionals

There are even more things you can do to optimise your images for SEO, for example:

• add meta-data to your images
• use structured data on your website
• Create an image sitemap

If you are hiring an SEO expert, this is the type of thing they might look at for your site’s SEO.

The Opportunity

Given most websites don’t have their images optimised for search engines, you can make a surprisingly effective impact with the above 6 tips.

View our FREE SEO lesson

Like more? Check out our SEO course.

SEO Course

A practical, step-by-step video course with screenshots, examples, explanations and demonstrations. Carefully created and produced video tutorials for your learning.

Especially suitable for e-commerce sites or multi-page websites.

Using and finding images on your computer

Do you struggle with saving, finding and using images on your computer? If so, you’re not alone.

The basic images that businesses need to keep on file are:

• Logo
• Partner logos, for example
  • Member associations
  • Clients
  • Retail outlets
  • Accreditation logos
• Staff profile photos
• Social media banner and profile images
• Business card artwork

Working alongside images are also your brand fonts and colours.

A folder called Images in the computer is almost always the first recommended step in getting things in order. Having the images stored in such a way that they can be found and retrieved, when needed, is beneficial.

Typical image computer folders

A good filing system requires good labelling. Label the images computer folder and sub-folders with names that will make sense to you in six months time. Another method for deciding on the best names is to consider what would make sense to a staff member or partner should they need to look up images on your behalf. Images are not things you use everyday in business, but when you do need to find them it’s mighty helpful to have a system that makes sense.

When first procuring an image, save it as the biggest, best resolution you can. You can always make an image smaller and it will still look good. But you can’t make it bigger and still have it looking good. So start with big and then re-size downwards later if needed. If you’re not sure about image sizes take a look at our article understanding images file sizes.

As well as the size of an image, understanding that there are different file types can be useful. Here’s some common file types for images:

• .jpg
• .svg
• .tiff
• .eps
• .png

Most computers will open a .jpg file. Some of the other files types you may not be able to open on your computer, as you may not have the right software. Even though you can’t open it, still save the file in your computer folder as it may come in handy later on down the track to share with designers or printers who can open it.

Some business owners, particularly baby boomers, struggle with understanding how to save, find, rename, copy and move files on their computer. This is especially likely if tablets and phones are being used to conduct business. Knowing how to do this is significantly important to businesses who want to be able to effectively communicate and work with clients and suppliers. Files of all types (not just images) are regularly emailed between people to move a project along, and often these need to be saved for later reference. Struggling with this aspect of computers is a common symptom of the digital divide - the divide between younger and older Australians.

Book - Online Marketing for Baby Boomers

...and anyone else who doesn't speak geek

• 17 case studies - from lawyers to aged care products to an engineering firm to a cake shop
• Next steps to inspire you to get started, or re-energise, your marketing.
• 9 templates to hone in and clarify your ideas and thoughts for social media content, Google advertising and your marketing strategy.

There are many public libraries, private businesses, government entities and not-for-profit organisations that provide training and help for people who need to learn more about how to operate their computer. Here's a few of those places:

Digital Literacy Mentor
South Australia
https://emhdigitalmentor.com.au/

IT for Retirees
Australia
https://www.it4retirees.com.au/

Local Libraries in South Australia
https://www.libraries.sa.gov.au/client/en_AU/sapubliclibraries/?rm=DIGITAL+LITERA0%7C%7C%7C1%7C%7C%7C0%7C%7C%7Ctrue&dt=list

Catalyst Foundation
https://catalystfoundation.com.au/learning/digital-literacy/

National Seniors Online
https://nationalseniors.com.au/technology

Active over 50’s online
https://www.arpaactiveover50s.com.au/groups/computer-training/

How to Make a Logo

 A logo is one of the first things you’re likely to want when you first start-up a business. It is the face of your business. It will identify you on social media, business cards, banners and your website. Setting up your business from the very start with a logo will enable this promotional material to be consistent across all channels.

There are 3 options you may wish to consider:

1. Hiring a local, professional graphic designer
2. Hiring an online freelancer
3. Doing it yourself

In this article we look at these 3 options.

1. Professional Graphic Designer

Hiring the services of a professional graphic designer to create your logo is recommended. A skilled graphic designer will translate your business’s message using eye-catching visuals. Graphic designers know what’s on trend, the variety of font choices, what colours work well together and how to make your business look impressive.

One of the first things we did when we started out in business was to hire a professional to make a logo for us. We’ve been able have a unique look and use the logo right from the start. This has enabled us to create our social media channel art, website styling and business cards with a consistent, unique and professional look.

A professional graphic designer will also be able to play around with your logo for different uses. For example, in my book Online Marketing for Baby Boomers I wanted different images to capture different ideas being presented. My graphic designer was able to play around with the core DIY Digital logo to come up with the options below.

As website developers we love it when we can start with a professionally designed, creative logo.

Before starting on your website I highly recommend you hire a graphic designer to get the colours and look of your business sorted first.

2. Fiverr

You can make a logo using a designer from Fiverr or one of the other freelancer channels. Often times these services are provided on a budget basis and will limit the number of revisions allowed. The channels rarely allow for a rich conversation about your business or your wish list.

If you go down this path we recommend looking at the logos they’ve created before. If you see a logo you like, this option might work for you. Be very specific and informative about what you want – give them ideas rather than relying on them suggesting ideas to you.

For one of our side projects, we used Fiverr to create the logo. It’s not unique, as you can see by the comparison with the logo the same designer created and based our logo on. However, for our small side hustle, it suited.

3. PlaceIT

A number of online sites exist that allow you to make a logo yourself. We’ve reviewed a number of them and PlaceIT comes out front. PlaceIT first came to our attention from one of our clients who used it to create his logo.

PlaceIT is an easy to use online platform. The first steps are to:

• Enter your business name
• Pick your industry

The industry, or category, determines the picture choices you see from their large selection of pre-made graphics. In this example the industry of carpentry or builder would have brought up options of screw driver, paint brush and hammer. A yoga teacher or dog trainer would bring up different types of pre-made graphics.

In the edit screen you can change fonts, colours and the graphic you previously selected. Spending time on this edit screen is worthwhile. Play around with different layouts, graphics, colours and fonts until you come up with something that suits you. The system allows you to spend as much time as you like, free of cost, to try out different options.

If you create a logo you are happy with you can download it for a cost of about AUD$60.

Below is another example of a logo created using PlaceIT.

PlaceIT will also allow you to add your logo (whether created with them or not) to pictures of mugs, books, pillows and T-shirts. An example of which you can see with our logo on a mug floating in mid-air.

Canva is also a popular program people use to design their own logo.

Final Thoughts

A memorable, unique logo will make your business look professional and set your branding up for years to come.

We recommend getting one.

Grab your FREE ebook

Like more?  Grab our free 14 page .pdf images guide: Understanding Images for Online Use.