We highly recommend all NewsCactus clients review the principles and tools discussed on the BlogPerfume site.

Feel free to share your comments here after reviewing the article.

Also, for those of you who don’t own Photoshop, Google Picasa does a pretty good job of preparing images for the web. It’s free and you can use similar techniques described in the BlogPerfume post.

There are a couple, free tools that make this process rather simple.

First, we recommend Google Picasa image editing software. You can download and install it in a matter of minutes. A tour of Picasa’s features is available here.

For Mac users, you can use iPhoto which comes preinstalled with your computer.

When working with digital images, keep in mind the following guidelines:

Modules

The image needs to be 186 pixels wide. The height can be whatever you want.

News Highlights

The image needs to be 72 by 72 pixels. You can crop images into a square by holding down the shift key while you crop with your mouse.

Multimedia

Your original file can be whatever size you prefer. You can use your newsroom to post images for use by print publications or on the Web. We recommend you identify the file type and size in the title of the image. Thumbnails images are like News Highlights, limited to 72 by 72 pixels.

Format

Keep in mind that RGB files are for use on the Web and CMYK files are for print. If you’re using Photoshop, be sure to use the File > Save for Web option for your thumbnail images (you wouldn’t use this option for an original file intended for download by print publications).

Of course, there are still other options when it comes to your NewsCactus images:

• You could have a graphic designer prepare the images using the specs outlined above; or
• You could email the image to us to take care of uploading it for you.

It’s the multimedia functionality that makes your online newsroom more than just the standard news release distribution service. You should use images to add depth and additional information to your news. You know what they say, “a picture’s worth a thousand words.”