Page 94 - How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, 8th Edition 8th Edition

Page 84

Page 84

Chapter 15
How to Prepare Effective Photographs

Life is not about significant details, illuminated in a flash, fixed forever. Photographs are.
—Susan Sontag

Photographs and Micrographs

If your paper is to be illustrated with one or more photographs, which become halftones (see Glossary of Technical
Terms) in the printing process, there are several factors to keep in mind.

The most important factor to worry about, however, is a proper appreciation of the value of the photographs for the
story you are presenting. The value can range from essentially zero (in which case, like useless tables and graphs, they
should not be submitted) to a value that transcends that of the text itself. In many studies of cell ultrastructure, for
example, the significance of the paper lies in the photographs.

If your photographs (especially electron micrographs) are of prime importance, you should first ask yourself which
journal has high-quality reproduction standards (halftone screens of 150 to 200 lines, coated stock) for printing fine-
structure studies. In biology, the journals published by the American Society for Microbiology and by The Rockefeller
University Press are especially noted for their high standards in this respect.

Page 85
As with graphs, the size (especially width) of the print in relation to the column and page width of the journal is
extremely important. Thus, size should be important to you in making your material fit the journal page. It is
important to the journal because the costs of halftone reproduction are very high.

Cropping and Framing

Whatever the quality of your photographs, you want to have them printed legibly. To some degree, you can control
this process yourself if you use your head.

If you are concerned that detail might be lost by excessive reduction, there are several ways you might avoid this.
Seldom do you need the whole photograph, right out to all four edges. Therefore, frame the important part; this is
especially useful if you can frame the width to the column or page width of the journal. You can then boldly write on
the edge of the print or on the cover sheet: "Print one-column width (or page width) without photographic reduction."
Dealing with such a carefully cropped photograph containing a reasonable instruction from the author, most
copyeditors will be pleased to oblige. Figures 8, 9, and 10 show photographs with and without cropping. The greatest
fidelity of reproduction results when you furnish exact-size photographs, requiring neither enlargement nor reduction.
Significant reduction (more than 50%) should be avoided. Greater reduction of graphs is all right, if the lettering can
withstand it. There is no need for "glossy" prints, as requested by some journals, provided the matte surface is smooth.

Usually, you should put crop marks on the margins of the photographs. You should never put crop marks directly on a
photograph (except the margins). Margin marks can sometimes be used, especially if the photographs are mounted on
Bristol board or some other backing material. Otherwise, crop marks may be placed on a tracing paper overlay or on
an accompanying photocopy of the photograph. A grease pencil is often helpful.

A useful trick you might try is as follows: Cut two "Ls," perhaps 6 inches high, 3 inches at the base, and 1 inch wide,
from black construction paper. If you now invert one "L" and place it over the other, you have at your disposal an

file:///C|/...0208%20Books%20(part%201%20of%203)/How%20to%20write%20&%20publish%20scientific%20paper/15.htm[4/27/2009 1:00:07 PM]