What is DISC?
Digital technology has transformed the making of color
separations and printing plates from film based to digitally
based by offering the benefits of costs savings in both
materials and time within the production queue.
A similar revolution has been occurring within the
magazine publication realm to take advantage of the
quality that is possible with digital cameras. Photographers
are using digital cameras to supply digital images and
replacing film based images in ever increasing numbers.
Many popular magazines presently report more than half
of all images submitted are digital, and those digital
submissions are growing so rapidly that for some publications,
100% digital submissions are expected within a few years.
This growth is not without its problems:
- there has not been any broad based industry supported
specifications for minimum level quality submissions;
- in this vacuum without minimum specifications,
photographers do not know what minimum recommendations
are needed for suitable publication submissions. Images
submitted are often either rejected or over color
corrected and unsuitable for color reproduction.
DISC was formed through IDEAlliance under the Chairmanship
of Kin W. Lam of Time Inc., and Michael MacNamara, Popular
Photography & Imaging. DISC conducted a survey of
publishers and from the results, developed a list of
high priority issues that needed to be addressed and
resolved.
Mission
The DISC (Digital Image Submission Criteria) Working
Group will develop a set of specifications for use by
Creative Professionals to include photographers and
illustrators as a standard format prior to submission
for publication.
These specifications will allow for maximum reproduction
print quality while expediting the production workflow.
The digital specifications for image submission will
address relevant key issues including size, resolutions,
compression, color space and metadata.
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