Photographing Print Work for an Online Portfolio
Scanning the pieces is one option. Photographing them may offer even better results -- you can take photographs of a brochure standing up and at an angle to show off the folds. You can use the angle of light to show reflections from metallic inks, subtle paper textures, or clear varnishes. You can create a still-life kind of photo of matching letterhead, envelope, business card.
- In 5 Business Card Photography Tips, get tips on photographing your business card -- or really, any print project.
- Close-up images are what you'll want for much of your print pieces. You may even want to go super close to highlight certain details. Taking Great Macro Photographs has tips on taking those super up-close photographs.
-
Lighting is important in any kind of photography. When photographing your print projects for your portfolio you'll want to play with lighting in order to show off texture and subtle features that might not be obvious in a straight on shot with standard room lighting. Photography Lighting defines common terms and describes ways to control the lighting.
- Much of what you create is similar to paintings or drawings -- flat pieces of art. So the advice in How to Photograph Art can also apply to photography of your print work for your portfolio.
- Even when creating a traditional portfolio (in a case, not online) there may be times when you want to use photographs rather than the actual item. Either way, in How to Create a Traditional Graphic Design Portfolio (With an Actual Case) (scroll a bit more than halfway down) you'll find 16 tips on photographing your work to include in a portfolio. They recommend hiring a professional photographer if you can and include some tips on what to ask and what to look for in a photographer for this type of work.
The Super Secret, Hush-Hush, Magic Key to Design
What? You were expecting it to be spelled out for you in a few short sentences? Sorry. But it is spelled out here -- the secret to doing good desktop publishing and graphic design is behind those tabs at the top of the page (Basics | Software | Tasks & Techniques). Happy Learning!
Google Blogger for Dummies is for Smart Bloggers
Is Desktop Publishing Sinful? (Repent and Redesign!)
Some nice additions I didn't address directly are hyphens for bullets (use real bullets -- there are so many to choose from) and underlining (except for hypertext links it's a bad idea).
Have a rule or something that must be avoided that's not in my list or on the poster? Write about it in this Reader Response form: Your #1 Rule or Best Practice for Page Layout (aka - The Missing Rules of Desktop Publishing)
And for more rules and things to avoid:
- The 13 Deadly Sins of Desktop Publishing (just the text. Credit says: Created for educational use by Don Starr, based off Robin Williams original work.)
- The Seven Deadly Sins of Desktop Publishing (includes things like busy layouts, bad flow, and no clear hierarchy of importance)
- 3 Deadly Sins of Print Design (color and resolution issues)
- The unspoken rules of graphic design (real and funny but not real funny when it's happening to you)
- 5 Design Rules Everyone Should Know (readers of this site should be familiar with most of these already... #5: It’s okay to break the ‘rules’. -- yes, but learn the rules first)
- Desktop Publishings 12 Most Common Mistakes
How to Hollow a Book
Ironic Sans
There's more than just design humor at Ironic Sans. There are practical ideas and tips as well. Idea: Word balloons as quotation marks is a nice variation on pull-quotes. And Designing Ironic Sans is a detailed, illustrated look at the stages he went through in coming up with the design of the site. And all of that is just a fraction of what you'll find in the Design category. There's much more as well. Enjoy. He's on Twitter too as @ironicsans.
Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies
After the Software, What Else?
What are your favorite desktop publishing extras? If you were helping someone else get started doing desktop publishing, describe the supplies (software, hardware, or otherwise) that you consider essential or very, very worthwhile. Use this Reader Response form to tell us what supplies you consider must-haves and why.
Do-It-Yourself 4th of July
Do you have pictures of your own 4th of July print projects? Point to them in the comments below. Or, have you found a great tutorial or template online for some great Independence Day themed cards or decorations? Tell us about them.
Bigger, Better, Simpler Logos?
And speaking of logos. @famouslogos writes about some changes to the Pizza Hut logo. And a few weeks earlier The Evolution of Logo Design in the United States showcased a handful of logos that are now mere shadows of their former selves.

