• A video frame is exactly 640 pixels wide by 480 pixels high. Any title you make should be this exact frame size. I can batch-matte the odd sized pictures as needed.
• When scanning pictures, do not use a sharpening filter to try to clear up blurry pictures. They tend to sharpen the surface of the photo, not the subject, thus accentuating the dust and scratches.
• Turn the brightness all the way up on your computer monitor to try to simulate the video conversion. If a picture looks overexposed, it will look twice as bad on video. All you can do is try to darken it in software.
• Don't always scan the whole picture. Zoom on the subject if the pic is sharp enough, and try to make it 640X480.
• The edges of a video frame are not visible on properly adjusted televisions. This is called the overscan area and you must avoid placing anything in it. On a normal tv it extends approximately 10% minimum (called the action safe area) to as much as 20% (title safe area) (20% of 640 means 64 pixels at the top and 64 at the bottom). Anything you place outside this area will likely get cut off.
• You must use video-safe colors for titles. Although some programs such as Photoshop have video filters for this, I've never liked the results. Avoid reds completely - including browns and purples. Never use too much 100% white (e.g. no white backgrounds). Most patterned backgrounds will not look good on tv.
• Always scan or compose at no less than 72 - 100 dpi resolution. Or, as stated above, to no less than 640X480 for horizontal pictures or when zooming on vertical pics.
• Always scan or compose in true color. Sometimes referred to as '24 bit color','24 million colors','millions of colors', etc.
• Avoid small contrasting lines such as those in many fonts like Helvetica (Arial). Use bold sans serif fonts when possible such as Arial Black.
• Avoid too much text - it's difficult to read quickly from a distance. A lot of text such as a poem or a list such as credits can be 'scrolled' up the screen - submit as a plain text (.txt) file with hard line feeds after no more than about 20-40 characters per line.

Q: What format should I use?

A: For photos you can use .jpg (not too much compression). For titles you should use .png or .bmp. I can accept almost any file format though. Do not use .gif as they're limited to 256 colors.

Q: How should I title them?

A: In sequence, in order of appearance, and they must have leading zeros to line up properly. E.g.: scans for the Mary Gilbert wedding could be named gilb0001.jpg ... gilb0025.jpg. There are many freeware renaming programs available that will do this for you.

Q: How can I send them to you?

A: CDR is probably best. I can also handle email attachments but they can get huge - write first and make sure I'm expecting them. I can also download them from your website if you zip them all together as a single file.