British Columbia Magazine

< Guidelines

Digital Submission Guidelines

These guidelines are established to bring uniformity to all digital files submitted for publication in British Columbia Magazine. Following these parameters in the capture and preparation of your digital images will help us to easily fit your optimized, high-resolution image files into our digital workflow. This, in turn, aids us in achieving the best possible reproduction of your images.

These guidelines presuppose that your monitor is calibrated, that you are working in the latest versions of file management software and that you have basic working skills in Photoshop. It’s also assumed that if you are using a digital camera for image capture, it is, at minimum, an 8-megapixel (but preferably 10-megapixel or higher) model with RAW file capture capabilities.

NOTE: These guidelines apply to photographers whose work we have requested for consideration, and for assigned work. First-time contributors interested in submitting a portfolio for our Art Director’s review should refer to “Guidelines for Photographers.”

Digital Capture and File Preparation

Digital images must be captured using RAW, and embedded, either at the time of capture or in post-capture file processing, with Adobe RGB (1998) colour space. These settings are the basis for files with greater bit depth and wide RGB colour gamut that are well suited for later conversion to the CMYK colour space used in high-quality offset printing.

Preparing Digital Submissions

All high-res images should be submitted to British Columbia Magazine on a CD or DVD with these profiles embedded:

RAW captures saved as TIFF files.
8 bit.
Adobe RGB (1998).
Minimum document size: 17 inches wide x 11 inches high (horizontal orientation), or 11 inches wide x 17 inches high (vertical orientation).
Resolution a minimum of 300 pixels per inch.
No sharpening.
Metadata: Photographer’s name and copyright, as well as detailed caption information.
A unique file name or number, ending with .tif or .tiff

We need image dimensions matching the size of our largest reproductions; a two-page spread in the magazine is 17 inches wide by 11 inches high. During the design phase, images may be cropped and resized to fit page layouts, so images must be of sufficient size. Make sure that all of your files meet the minimum specified dimensions at 300ppi or higher. No post-capture sharpening should be applied to any files submitted. Sharpening will be applied during the final steps of our production process when final image size has been determined.

It is vital that we receive accurate, detailed caption information along with the photographer’s name and copyright notice in the metadata of each and every digital file submitted. Our caption writers rely on your information in the metadata to compose magazine photo captions. Use the description fields to identify all landmarks, plants, animals, and people shown in each photograph.

If you are including photos of people be sure to get permission from them. Model release forms are the responsibility of the photographer.

Digital Workflow for Photography Assignments

When shooting a photo assignment digitally for British Columbia Magazine, follow this workflow for the editing, selection, file prep, and delivery of images.

Shoot camera RAW files. Do not alter RAW files, as they are the originals.
Do an edit of the images shot for assignment, paring the total shoot down to your best quality shots. Include verticals and horizontals where possible to allow design flexibility.
For the initial selection process please save RAW files as small, low-resolution JPEGs and submit to the photo coordinator. JPEG files can be either burned to a disk or uploaded to the British Columbia Magazine FTP site.
After the Art Director has made his initial selection, he will request higher-res files. Prepare the files following the guidelines in “Preparing Digital Submissions” above.
Create a folder labelled with the story name, and place all TIFF files in that folder. Burn the folder to disk, or request the British Columbia Magazine FTP site information for uploading.

Submitting Digital Files From Scanned Film

We maintain a parallel photography workflow for film, and still encourage submission of original transparencies, especially 4x5, for all our stock photography needs. Large, high-resolution files scanned from your original transparencies may be submitted for consideration for publication if they meet our quality and resolution standards.

All film scans submitted must adhere to the guidelines listed above in “Preparing Digital Submissions.”

Contact Us