Headshots are lightly cropped photo of the face from the shoulder up that is taken by focusing specifically on the face to give a professional look. Doing a reproduction headshot is not different from making a duplication of your professionally taken photograph and it is done in a more precise manner. Before doing the printing of the reproductions headshot and having a nice one, it should be well cropped and formatted aside from the good lighting and background which was used to take the headshot. Cropping goes a long way in telling how reproductions headshot printing will look if it will be highly engaging, have a professional look, or looks like that of an amateur.
Sometimes ago, headshots were specifically meant for actors and models which serve as a form of their resume. In this present time, the use of headshots has taken a new turn as it is not meant for actors, models of talented personalities alone again. As a professional in any field, you can have a business card with headshot as well, serving as a way of marketing yourself or your profession to the world. Before thinking of where to get comp cards printed for your headshots, it is essential to have done professional cropping of it. There are different ways of doing this which will be delved into here both for actors and non-actors.
How you should have your headshots cropped
Headshots reproductions are done in two basic professional ways which most photographers always put into consideration before taking any headshot. And this also determines how it will be cropped before doing the printing. These two categories of headshots are the actors’ headshots and non-actors headshots. When taking actor headshots, the way the image will be cropped is always controlled by the photographer who made the shot. This is because with it, a story can be told and influence can be made based on the positioning of the head in the frame. However, for non-actors, photographers make the shots wide to allow for cropping to whatever size and dimension you want it. Let’s take a more detailed look at the size of each of the headshots in cropping.
Actors’ headshots and the size they should be
Talking about the size that the headshot of the actor should have has to do with the cropping of it after the photograph has been taken before getting them printed for professional use. To give an accurate guide to this, you have to consider how far out your headshot should be taken and the size of the physical print. Headshot crop which is how far you should have your headshot taken is best done fairly tight from about your chest up. However, while doing the headshot crop photographing, you should have your photographer take a few shots further out. This is because some casting directors may want to see your body type and it’s a wider shot that can reveal this. The size of the physical reproduction headshot printing for an actor is always “8 x 10” either as horizontal or vertical. At times, the headshot does not need to be 8 x 10 in most cases. Once the paper the printing will be on is 8 inches by 10 inches, it has covered for it.
Business headshots and the size it should have
The dimension for business headshots is quite different from that of actors or models. Business headshots have no specifications which mean they can be in any format depending on where you intend to make use of it. If you are making use of it for social media, it will be formatted as a circle, if it is for website or business card printing, the specs can be horizontal or vertical and in any dimensional inches. For your business headshots cropping, your head should be in the upper third of the image, making use of the grid line, and align your eyes with the upper third line of the grid when doing the tight cropping. Also, ensure that your face is centered to the right or left and not off-center. Then, don’t do your cropping too wide or too close and make you face the focus.
Conclusion
Before embarking on where to get comp cards printed for reproductions headshot printing, it is very essential that the right cropping is done. In doing this, the purpose in which you are having the headshots should be considered whether it is for acting/ modeling or professional use as a business card with headshot printing.
