MASTERPIECES IDEA BOOK CALL - HELPFUL TIPS

We want you to have the best possible chance to be published. You want true colors, and for your scan to look as much like the real layout as possible. If your current photo editing program is not sufficient, we recommend Adobe Photoshop Elements (you can get a free trial version on the internet). It is great for editing your digital photos & layout submissions (stitching, cropping, and more).

Scanning tips:
When scanning a 12x12 page, you will need to scan it (press down a bit on the lid to get the best results), in two to four parts and stitch all parts together. Practice makes perfect. You can find tips on the internet by searching for "stitching tutorial", a friend recently recommended www.retouchpro.com. Visible stitch lines, discoloration, too dark scans or too light scans are things that could alter the way we see your layout. Once you've scanned and stitched your pages, you may want to enhance colors, brightness and contrast so that the scan looks as close to the actual layout as possible.
Don’t forget:
Ø Scans must be a minimum of 300 dpi. (the publication will not accept anything less).
Ø Reduce scans to 900x900 pixels (3x3). This saves space and download time.

Photographing your layout:
If you're more comfortable photographing your layout, we recommend setting it on white poster outside in the natural sunlight which will enhance your layout colors. Avoid the bright sunlight & its shadows. Getting the picture is a little tricky, I stand right above the double page layout to avoid distortion & its easier to crop (my friends laugh at me all of the time, I look pretty goofy doing this).
Ø Please crop the background out of your layout (helpful tip, I try to line up the corner of the layout with the corner of my viewfinder of my camera to get the picture straight).
Ø Please resize the photo to meet the guidelines (no larger than 200 kb).

Now that you have cropped, edited, and enhanced your layout, you are ready to email it to us.
Please don’t forget to include in the email:
Ø Sketch number in the subject line
Ø Your full name, address, phone number, email address & alternate contact information
Ø All product information/supply list for the layout
Ø Text of your journaling if it cannot be read in the photo
Ø Check your file size it should be around 1MB, also be sure it saved as a .jpg or .tif file for proper dpi.
I can barely stand it, I can’t wait to see these layouts!!!