Crystal Photo Guide

Karen & Greg are here to help you...

	Email us your photo to sales@sharedmemories.com.au
	We will produce and send you a draft for your approval.
	We discuss with the you the engraving words.
	Once you are happy with the photo & engraving, payment is arranged.
	We make your crystal and ship it to you.

A bit more help...

If you are quite comfortable with computers and know your way round a scanner - this page isn't for you!
If however you are one of the many people who ask us for some guidance on how to scan and submit a photo to us, we hope you'll find this page useful.

What the best colours and background?
We have found from experience that greens or blues make the best backgrounds. Browns and yellows tend to look a bit 'washed out'. Night-time photos can also work well (eg. at a party or restaurant). Try and choose a photo with a simple background so we can focus on the subject. The better the quality of photo, the better the result.

Match your subject to the Crystal Shape
It is quite important to consider the crystal shape when choosing your photo. For example, a group of people would not work in a Teardrop Crystal. A wide crystal such as a Landscape Crystal would work much better.

What resolution/quality to set your scanner.
Our recommendation is to set the scanner to scan at 300dpi (dots per inch) minimum.

Preview your photo.
There should be a button called Preview. This does a quick scan with the current settings. Always a good idea, so you can check the alignment.

Selecting the scanned area.
All scanners have a means whereby you can marquee (select) only the bit of the scannable area you want. This means that you only scan the photo and not the entire A4 sized area on the scanner. This is helpful in reucing file size for sending to us yet maintaining quality. Essentially, you use the mouse to drag a box around the photo. If you can't do this part, that's ok, it's not critical.

Scan in Colour
Your scanners software gives you the option to scan images in colour, grayscale or black and white. Even if your photo is in grayscale, please scan it in full colour.

Dust, scratches, faded photos
Within reason, we will do our best to remove blemishes and defects on the photo free of charge. Please request this though in the notes section when you make your order, just to be sure that it is brought to our attention. Sometimes we need to extend the photo so as to allow it to fit. We will discuss this with you. Just remember, it's all about getting the best possible result!

Saving your file
We find that it's best to send us JPG files. Make sure you save it as a high quality JPG though as low quality JPGs aren't very good at all. We suggest the file size should be no smaller than say 500kb. If there are any issues about quality or size, we will discuss this with you.

Should I use the 'Scan to Email' Option in my scanning software?
We strongly advise you NOT to use this option. The result is very small images even if you scan the photo at 300dpi! It is best to use the output option 'Save to File'. You can then email it from there.

I dont feel confident in using a scanner or I don't have one. What should I do?
You can go to your local photo shop. They will scan your photo and put it on a CD for a small fee. You can then email the file to us. Just remember, if you need help, please call us.

I want to use a photo from Facebook or another web page. Can I use that?
The quality of photos on a web page is generally very poor. It would be best to look for the original photo or an alternative one.