Damien Symonds

Can you tell us the solution?

When you open your PDF in Adobe Reader, and press Ctrl D to get the file info, what size does it say it is there?

Then may I see a colour photo example of a background you like? Or more explanation of what you want, exactly?

You're worrying about nothing, I promise. It's just how the lighting is. In the two "sample" photos, your lighting is way too dark. I've adjusted one of them so that the rug is the same as your photo. See how the background becomes light?

Hi Chelsee, do you intend for your photo to be black-and-white as well?

Hi Deinna, do you have another photo that shows what the backdrop should look like?

No, sorry. Generic numbers are incredibly dangerous.

Hi Paige, is this what you mean?

As hard drive space isn't your primary concern presently, I reckon don't worry about it.

Safe as a bank, yes. Very well regarded.

Next, run CleanMyMac.

You have to set that up manually, via Edit>Keyboard Shortcuts. Have you done so? By default, Ctrl L simply opens the Levels dialog, which is much different, and of course destructive.

Sure it will, just press Cmd - (minus), the same way you'd zoom out in Photoshop itself.

Oh yes, for sure. It will be easier to replace the entire thing, rather than trying to line up that squiggly pattern.

No, that's great!!! Perfect.

Hi Jodie, simply add a "Solid Color" adjustment layer, white in colour, and mask it on to the background. It should only be the work of minutes.

Oh gosh, this is such a tricky question. The face-value answer is: They'd need to be the same number of megapixels as your own camera (I assume you're combining them with some of your own photos?) so that their quality is a good match, if you know what I mean. However, it isn't always so. If you're using a stock image for a background, well, backgrounds tend to be blurrier than a subject, so you might get away with a smaller file. In fact, sometimes I've successfully used very small phone photos as backgrounds (artistically blurred, of course) for composites. I guess what I'm trying to say is, get them as close in size to your own photos as possible. If you can't get them that big, pay very close attention to how you use them, to make sure your composite doesn't end up with glaring disparities of focus.

Hi Donna, is this a new problem? I mean, has it been working ok in the past?

Oh yeah, jpegs must not enter into this. I can't stress this enough. That vector text is crucial.

The reason they say that stuff about text is to prevent problems with black text. But as far as I can tell from a quick skim, you don't have any black text anyway, so I think you'll be fine. Stick with your sRGB work. Please be sure to read this if you haven't already - it's vitally important.

My first thought with a question like this is, do you have an entirely clear photo of the backdrop you can borrow from? Did you take any snaps of your setup without any subjects in front of it?

Hi Jennifer, There's nothing wrong with the actual calibration, though, right? It's just this reminder thing?

Just save it as a jpeg for upload here.

They'll change your life, I promise.

Yep, that's what makes Image Processor completely foolproof. It is literally impossible for it to ever accidentally save over original files.