New Photo Post

A major European jigsaw manufacturer is looking for images for their 2008 season. Their specifications are very precise, and any images which do not fulfil their rigorous criteria will be rejected out of hand.

The Nikon D70 / Canon EOS400 class of camera won’t hack it for this Picture Call, I’m afraid. The images need to be 300 dpi for the size of the puzzle. A 1000 piece puzzle is 49 x 68 cm and a 500 piece puzzle is 35 x 49 cm. This means RAW pixel dimensions of 5787 x 8031 and 4134 x 5787, and therefore only top level digital cameras will be adequate. I suggest the best way to do this is by using large format film and superb scanning.

First, the minimum technical specification:
Upload data:
1. DEADLINE: Wednesday February 28th 2007
2. FILESIZE: 300dpi, 5787 x 8031 pixels, TIFFs
3. CODE KEYWORD: JUMJIG (input this among all your other apposite keywords and NEVER use the Code Keyword as your only keyword. Describe the image in full as normal)
4. CATEGORISE UNDER: The subject of your image

95% of jigsaw sales are made to women. So please bear our interests in mind when selecting your subject. And you all know what jigsaws look like. This is not New Dimensions In Photography, this is a very traditional and conservative market.

With jigsaws, landscape images sell better than portrait images.

Criteria. You need to be able to tick ALL the boxes here please:
Lots of detail
Lots of colours
A story line and/or humour
Everything pin-sharp; no soft focus or blur
No large areas of one colour such as sky, sea etc — unlike book jackets
One strong focus point
If there are people in the shot, they should be smiling people in contemporary clothing
If animals, then happy animals
Eye contact with people and animals
Natural look (animals/still life)
UK or Continental look (not American)

Suggestions for Subjects:
Old images (UK nostalgia)
Old advertisements (UK)
Cute animals (mum or parents with baby)
Food (including at the table)
Different cultures (such as China / Japan)
Holidays
Happy moments (romance / wedding / love / friends)
Flowers
Picturesque buildings / villages / towns