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"Personal Checks You Can Bank On!" ™
Photo checks offer you the opportunity to showcase a part of your personality, a component of what makes you unique. In a society that seeks to demonstrate what makes each of us different and special, photo checks put that uniqueness front and center each time you pay a bill. Needless to say, it’s best that you put the best image forward.
Ashley Green, a young entrepreneur who just started her own bakery, says that photo checks offer a wonderful chance to connect with her creditors. “They see what I look like, they see my smile, and it’s always easier to connect with someone you like and who has a face.” You wouldn’t want to go to an important meeting with your hair messed up, your face greasy, and your fingernails grubby, so you shouldn’t print photo checks when the picture is out of focus, off balanced, or distorted.
By following these tips, you will help ensure that your checks are at their best, representing you and presenting you in the best possible light.
The most basic step is to take the picture you want. As a general rule, you should not use professional photos or someone else’s photos unless you have their written permission or own the copyright. Otherwise, you could be in trouble for copyright violation.
Avoid taking the picture with a tablet or camera phone. While the photo quality from these devices is improving with each new release, the current quality is not high enough for a good photo check. Take several pictures rather than just one, and then select the best picture.
As you are taking the picture, check the following
Your software or web office will give you a maximum file size. The standard size is about 4 megabytes. Come as close to the maximum as you can. This may require that you save and check the picture size several times to get it right.
As you are working on sizing your photo, ask yourself how you want the picture on the check to be seen. If you want to have an image in the corner, almost like a postage stamp, then you will work in a rectangular image, slightly taller than it is wide. If you want the image to cover the entire check, then you will be working with a long rectangle.
If you are not certain, remember that horizontal images work best. Horizontal images are the ones you typically take with your camera. Vertical images are the ones that you get when you turn the camera on its side to take the picture.
Your photo’s clarity is determined by the resolution. The resolution reveals or obscures the detail, depending on how good it is. You measure resolution through pixels, the tiny dots that make up your picture. The more pixels per inch, the higher the resolution.
Most of the time, your pictures need to be a minimum of 36 dots per inch. If the program allows a 72 dots per inch, that will assure you some of the best quality you can get on a photo check, though dots per inch can go over 600. But this component will also affect the size of the picture.
At a minimum, your photo should be 800 x 800, but higher is better.
Touch Ups
Once your photo is at the appropriate size, take the time to go over it in a photo editing software. Do not do this before because you may end up doing some unnecessary work. Check the following to see if you are ready:
Saving and Exporting
For each photo editing software, you will find a new extension you can save your pictures under. They range from .gif to .jpg to .png and more. Check with your check printing company to find out what formats they accept. Usually the safest file types to save your pictures as are the following:
In some cases, you may not be able to save the picture unless you save it in the program’s preferred format. Check then for the Export function. This may be under File or Export. Choose Export File or Export Preview if the former is not available. Type in the appropriate file name, and then choose the file that you want to export it as.
Your photo is now ready to be printed onto your checks. Log into your preferred check printing software or choose from the selections above to place your order.