[Leica] RE: LUG 2006 Yearbook: questions, questions

[jshul at comcast.net (Jim Shulman)]

Jeff,

In the words of the immortal Butterfly McQueen, "But Miz Scarlett, I don't
know nothin' 'bout no target dimensions and sRGBs!"

You'll have to consult the other group members and blurb.com for more
technical information.

Thus far, the LUG members have sent me images ranging from 10Meg to 125K,
the latter well below my requested size, with a variety of formats, and I've
been able to place them on the pages (after sizing) without having the
dreaded red exclamation point appear. 

This book has been possible only because the free software is so simple that
a confirmed e-dolt like me could create the project.   

Please keep in mind that this is a yearbook, not anything Benedikt Taschen
would envy.  As such, it's intended as a keepsake. With that said, I can
safely say that from the last blurb.com book I created (a wedding keepsake
book, filled with happy snaps no larger than a meg each) the images were
more than acceptable for all concerned, including the photographer.

So yes, we'd love to have your images as well!  Send 'em along.

All best,
Jim Shulman
Bryn Mawr, PA
"Honest, I just stole the delivery truck--I didn't brew the stuff!"


-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Moore [mailto:jbm@jbm.org] 
Sent: Thursday, December 28, 2006 3:32 PM
To: lug@leica-users.org
Cc: Jim Shulman
Subject: LUG 2006 Yearbook: questions, questions

Thanks for taking this project on!

Of course, I have questions.  I don't *think* I see explicit answers to
all this in your posts in the LUG archives, but maybe I've failed in my
re-reading.

2006-12-17-16:44:31 Jim Shulman:
> One meg file size, .jpg format.

This is a minimum, I take it?  I assume the actual filesize should be
computed from the target dimensions x (at least 300ppi).

Might be... (rough handwaving occurs) more like 8M?  About how big a
file do you know should make it to you in email, before we need to find
an intermediate server so send you an address to?

And...  they don't make it easy to find, but those picture-publishing
sites seem to be saying that they'll accept png images, if you don't
want to subject something to jpeg compression.  Does that match your
current assumptions?

They don't seem to commit on the question of a preferred colorspace, but
can I assume that Adobe98 is safe?  (sRGB seems likely to clip some of
the printable gamut, doesn't it?)

> The 8.5x10 is the dimensions for the full page.  Anything that doesn't fit
> those proportions will have white space with the image.

Okay, I know you've actually said this, but I want to be absolutely
sure: this is landscape, 8.5 HIGH by 10 WIDE?

Is this the full page size (thus, the image size only if one's
attempting a full bleed), or is it the actual image size with a white
border already having been subtracted?  Either way, do you assume that
if we've encoded a particular physical size (less than or equal to that
allowed, per the question above), that will be respected by the printing
software?

If white borders haven't already been subtracted, can you suggest a
minimum border size consistent with your notion of how the overall
layout should look?  1/4" maybe?

And...  if perchance it should seem appropriate to paste up a little
diptych of two related portrait-shaped images into one page's image, in
addition to submitting another standalone single-page image, would that
be violating the spirit of the two-picture-per-contributor rule?  (In
other words, is it two pictures, or two pages?)

> Hope that helps!

Hope this isn't too much duplication...  and honest, I'll actually
submit something this time!

 -Jeff M