Free Tip: Photos with press releases

[Simon Apps]

If you are planning on emailing a photo with your press release, you need to make sure it is in the right format.

If you do not intend sending a photo, then you should! Most of our business editor contacts say that if you send a photo you have a much higher chance of getting your story used. But do not be tempted to email loads of photos or you will do more harm than good. If you have more available, send the best one and say more are available on request.

Any photo you do send should meet this specification: the longest side should measure approx 8"; it should always be 300dpi; it should be RGB not CMYK; it should be in JPEG format at 9 - 11 compression (large filesize/high quality).

If you are sending photos to a national paper or agency, make sure you use the picturedesk email address and provide the name of the journalist who is looking at your release. It is especially important when sending to nationals to ensure the hidden caption fields embedded in the image are completed. (In PhotoShop use the File|File Info menu).

If you have any queries on sending photos to the media, feel free to ask.

[Jayne]

Great Info Simon, Thank You. That will be really useful to know, for when I do my first press release. :D

Jayne

[Simon Apps]

No problem Jayne.

Do the PR words specialists on here find they get similar feedback from business editors about always sending pictures with a release?

[LindseyMHC]

A picture always helps to increase the success rate of gaining coverage, but .... it has to be a good pic.

Experience tells me that it needs to be something different, slightly quirky rather than the usual boring business person in a suit looking at the camera.

Simon, you gave some really good tips in your post - keep them coming. You're never too old or too experienced to learn something new (even those like me who have been around in pr/marketing for longer than they care to think about!!).

All the best,

Lindsey.

[Richard Glynn]

Welcome Simon.

Image spec. I find a good rule of thumb is to ensure any image is at least 1MB (or as close to it as possible) in size and a jpeg. This way the file should contain enough digital info to reproduce crisply on the page.

Captioning. Because I deal with such a wide variety of media titles I assume the lowest common denominator with captioning - and that means emailing with the caption in the body of the email that the image is attached to.

'CAPTION: LtoR Geoff Sellingstuff opens the Acme Supermarket with Mayor Billy Politics' - or whatever.

I have included captions in the file info - but many smaller titles amazingly don't realise this yet! Until they do - I'll probably continue with the email approach.

Procedure. I NEVER email a 1MB photo with a news release. I have occasionally distributed resized smaller versions (thumbnails) to hopefully whet their appetite. But the risk with this is that journalists 'think' that that's the biggest file you have and conclude that the image will be too small.

If in doubt ask the journalist. Some like to receive the image themselves - some like to send it to the photo desk with the journalist's name in the subject line - as Simon advises.

And sometimes I've got images in the paper by going direct to the picture desk - and not even speaking to the journalist. Each paper, each picture and each story will be different.

When I email, my news release pre-amble always says something like : 'Hi <journalist name> Hope the following is of interest. Ive got a great photo to go with this - let me know if you'd like to see a copy.'

In addition, the 'Notes for Editors' at the end always say PHOTO AVAILABLE - followed by contact details to request it.

Following up. As is well - and shrewdly - documented, you should never follow up and ask a journalist if they've received a press release. NEVER. However, calling to ask a journalist if they'd like the photo seems OK - and amounts to the same thing anyway.

[Amber]

Procedure. I NEVER email a 1MB photo with a news release. I have occasionally distributed resized smaller versions (thumbnails) to hopefully whet their appetite. But the risk with this is that journalists 'think' that that's the biggest file you have and conclude that the image will be too small.

If in doubt ask the journalist. Some like to receive the image themselves - some like to send it to the photo desk with the journalist's name in the subject line - as Simon advises.



Totally agree with this. Especially if the journalist in question is a freelancer, it's always best to ask. I spent most of last week working on a set of articles for a national newspaper supplement, and this involved dealing with a large number of PR firms. As soon as I let them know I was working on this supplement, my inbox was filled with press releases, all of which included photographs which were sent in absolutely massive file sizes. I was sent over a hundred of these, and had to forward all of them on to the picture desk, because I was dealing purely with the words, not pictures!

I think it's best to do as Richard suggests and either send a thumbnail, or ask first!

[Greg]

Some good advice above.

Press releases should be sent in the body of a plain text email, without attachments - standard PR practice. If a journalist requires an image they will request one from you, and it should be provided in the format suggested above.

Alternatively, provide a link to a press office on your website - containing background information about your company, biographies of key staff, a service or product describer, and hi-res images that can be downloaded. This is particularly helpful to busy journalists and those working outside normal office hours.

[Simon Apps]

Great comments. I guess I'm so used to dealing regularly with the same editors, I know their preferences as to wanting a photo with the words.

And it is knowing the varying preferences of editors which is why it's best to use a professional PR person. Because they often have contact with them, they will have a much better chance of placing your story with the right editor/publication. So you're immediately a couple of steps further up the ladder to start with.