Trade fair photos for catalogues, brochures and print

Where show photos end up in print

Show photos are usually planned for social media and the website. Months later someone needs a picture for the product catalogue, the company brochure, an advertisement in a trade journal, the annual report or the graphics of next year’s stand. The show is often the only occasion when products, team and customers are together in one place, and its photos end up in print more often than anyone planned.

Print makes different demands from a screen. A photo that looks fine on a phone may be too small, too tightly cropped or too busy for a printed page. And a catalogue cannot be corrected once it has been distributed. It pays to think about print before the show, not when the agency asks for files.

Resolution and files: what the printer needs

For print, what counts is how many pixels are available at the final printed size. A common rule of thumb for high-quality print is around 300 pixels per inch (ppi) at the final size. For a full A4 page (21 × 29.7 cm) that means roughly 2,480 × 3,508 pixels. Large formats such as roll-ups and stand walls are viewed from further away and need fewer pixels per inch. Your printer will tell you exactly what they require.

• Use the full-resolution originals, never the versions from social media, messenger or the website. These are compressed and scaled down.
• Crops cost pixels. A detail cut out of a wide shot may be too small for a full page, even if the original file was large.
• Do not enlarge small files. Upscaling adds pixels, not detail.
• RGB is normal. Cameras deliver RGB; the conversion to the colour profile of the print job (CMYK) is usually done by the agency or the print shop. Ask which profile they use.
• JPEG at the highest quality is fine for most print jobs. Ask whether your printer prefers TIFF.

Tell your photographer in the briefing that some pictures are meant for print, so the selection includes full-resolution files and not only web versions.

Shoot with print in mind

Print layouts need different pictures from a social feed. If you know that the next catalogue or brochure will use show photos, put these motifs on the shot list:

• Pictures with space for text: a calm area of wall, floor or background next to the subject, for a headline on a cover or a chapter page.
• Portrait format: catalogue and brochure pages are upright. Most show photos are taken in landscape, so ask for upright versions of the key motifs.
• Room at the edges: printed pages are trimmed after printing, and designers need space around the subject.
• Calm backgrounds for products: a clean brand wall or counter instead of the aisle. If you need cut-out products on white, plan a separate shoot, because a stand is not a studio. See our product photography service.
• Series with the same look: several products photographed from the same angle and against the same background look consistent side by side on a catalogue page.

Selecting photos for print

On a phone screen almost every photo looks sharp. In print, small errors become visible. Check candidates at 100 % zoom on a large screen:

1. Sharpness where it matters: eyes, product details, lettering on the product.
2. Faces: eyes open, no half-finished expressions, nobody eating or looking at a phone.
3. Background: no other exhibitors’ logos, no bins, cables or coffee cups.
4. Up to date: product version, logo and stand design still match what you sell when the catalogue appears.
5. Retouching: dust, fingerprints and a stray cable can go. Changes to the product itself cannot, because the picture has to show what the customer gets.

More on this in our guide to selecting and retouching trade fair photos.

Approvals: people, products, rights

A post can be deleted. A printed catalogue stays in circulation for a year or longer. Approvals before print therefore need more care than approvals for social media.

Pixer packages include unlimited usage rights, so print use is covered. For the people in the picture, consent is a separate question; see our guide to image rights at trade fairs. Agree the credit line internally as well, whether it is your company name or the photographer.

From show day to the print shop

1. Before the show: note in the briefing which print products are planned and which motifs they need.
2. On the stand: shoot the print motifs at quiet times, ideally on the build-up day or before the doors open, when your stand (booth) is at its tidiest.
3. After delivery: mark print candidates in the selection, with the planned use.
4. Approvals: collect consent and product sign-off before the files go to the agency.
5. Handover: send full-resolution files with captions and credit, not a screenshot of a layout.
6. Proof: check a printed proof, not only the PDF on screen, especially for skin tones and brand colours.

Store the print selection in your archive with notes on consent and restrictions, so that nobody has to ask again next year.

The short version

Related guides and services

Common questions