Submitting images to magazines

I'm new to this digital mullarkey but having taken some nice shots this week I thought I might submit some to the Railway Magazine. They advise to take pictures at the largest size, resolution and compression. I just started shooting stright from the box at the default setting which I hope is OK.
They also state that hi-res jpeg's should be re-sized to min 7x5 at 300dpi with no layers or sharpening. My files say, for instance, 4288 x 2848 (pixels), Horizontal resolution 72 dpi, vertical res 72 dpi, bit depth 24, resolution unit 2, size 5.56 mb.

Can anyone advise what I should do with my images to make them acceptable for submission?

Many Thanks in advance,

Steve

ultimately it's the number of pixels that counts; if their minimum size is 7x5 at 300dpi, that's the same as saying that they want an image that's at least 2100px (pixels) by 1500px - ie. 7 x 300 & 5 x 300.

your image is almost twice that, so more than meets their minimum spec. you -could- resize them down if you wanted to make them smaller in filesize for speed of uploading, but in this broadband world, 5.56MB isn't a huge file, so personally I'd just send them your image as shot.

If you want to submit images, then listen to what the magazine is saying. If they want JPEG files at 300 ppi and at least 7x5 inches, then that is what you should provide. There's no "it'll do" about it - if two useable images arrive and one meets the criteria and one doesn't, which are they going to use?

It's the same as entering a competition - if you don't fulfil the rules you won't win.

Odd thing is that 7x5 is small for a magazine. If the designer wants a full page A4 bled image then having a 7X5 is going to be useless. I am a page layout artist and the single most annoying thing is getting some low res, highly compressed (so loads of jpeg artifacts) image and being expected to 'do something with it.' I would far prefer the image to be as high res as possible - it gives me scope to resize and crop as needed. Your images are best left as RGB and saved at the highest possible JPEG setting. The designer will change it to CMYK and sharpen it if he thinks it needs it.

There's a significant difference between requesting 7x5 images, and min. 7x5 images.

The confusing thing is asking that images be resized.

If it's greater than 7x5 then you are not going to resize it anyway - just set the resolution in Photoshop to show 300ppi (which is going to have no effect on the quality anyway - it just sets what size it appears on the page when initially placed).

If it's under 7X5 then really it is too low res, so resizing is effectively rezzing up the image i.e. adding pixels by interpolation that are not present in the original.

Also asking that the JPEGs have no layers is a total nonsense - JPEGs can only ever contain a single layer.

The whole 300DPI thing is so misunderstood. People think that 300DPI means the image is high res. If the image is say 100 pixels by 100 pixels and set to 300DPI then on the page it could be reproduced at one third of an inch across! Totally useless. However, another image at say 3,000 pixels across could be set to 72DPI and yet some would think that because it's 'only' 72DPI it's low res - in reality it could be printed at 300DPI ten inches across.

Here is an excellent article on the subject.

Resizing is done all the time in Photoshop and the program will interpolate as required. Within reason, any theoretical loss in quality from resizing doesn't show in the final result.

Working for a couple of Magazines/Agencies as a Freelance I found right at the beginning do as asked.
There may be reasons beyond your understanding why it is that you are asked to provide your images to specific resolutions/size.
Also you will have to clearly label your images, and always send a contact sheet with your images. I always include the original DNG file as well as the JPEG file.
If you want your CD/DVD back include an SAE! ALWAYS send your pictures to the Editor of the magazine. A good practice is (at least I found it more then helpful) to call the editor, explain what I got and only send in what is of interest.
Anything unannounced will have at least a 'story' with the pictures so it can be used in a feature.
Also, check what your pay will be. Be realistic and do not get yourself away for free or on the cheap.
It is a cut-throat business out there and you will have many of photographers that will compete with you. It can take years sometimes before just one of your pictures will be chosen but if you be persistent without being annoying and get yourself known.
But to say it again, there is a reason beyond their request of the minimum standard of pictures and don't start of on the wrong food by sending in pictures that do not meet their minimum requirements.

According to the OP 7x5 at 300ppi was a minimum size. Therefore it would not be necessary to resize since the images are already larger than this. You could change the resolution to 300ppi without resampling the image (without resizing) if you wished but it's not clear that that is necessary.