Today, as I was handing off retouching to a client and explaining the next step in the head shot process (namely, getting them printed at a reproduction lab), I found myself involved in a discussion on the finer points of paper selection.

Wait… don’t click away yet…

Your headshots can be printed on a few different types of paper–glossy, matte, luster (or pearl) to name a few; and then heavy-weight, photo-paper, and beyond. These descriptions are somewhat self-explanatory as far as what you’re getting in your final headshot prints, but have you thought about why those options are available?

In most circumstances, you want a luster finish. A glossy shot will reflect a lot of light, and most auditions I know of take place in less than ideal lighting conditions. How annoying is it to keep tilting a headshot this way and that to get a good look? A matte finish will look dull, as it won’t reflect much light at all (this can make the whites of your eyes look a bit dead, and your smile not as crisp and gleaming as you might like after spending a fortune on tooth whitening). The luster (or pearl) finish is somewhere right in the middle, and therefore a perfect choice.

The weight of the paper is a different story.

No, it’s not really referring to the gravitational pull of the paper towards terra-firma. Weight is the thickness/sturdiness of the paper.

Most photographic papers have a slightly glossy blank side, and the prints themselves are rather thin. These feel and look high-quality, but have you ever tried printing your resume on the back? If you’ve used an inkjet for this purpose… yuck. The ink slides off! You can use a laser printer to print the resume, but let’s come bak to that…

Heavy weight photo paper usually has a matte blank side, and feels thicker to the touch (like a light cardboard). It doesn’t have quite the same glossy, upscale feel as the typical photo paper but… wow! You can really print easily on that surface!

So which is better? It depends on your career…

Musical theater and theater performers attend a lot of open calls. The casting people at these sessions end up leaving with literally hundreds of head shots and resumes–most of them stapled (or glued) rather haphazardly together. It is quite easy for the two to become separated, and then how successful was your audition? Not very if you can’t be contacted. These performers can benefit a great deal from having the resume printed on the back (but don’t print more than a few at a time, otherwise you risk wasting a lot of headshots when you need to update your resume).

Television, film, and commercial actors have a different set of needs. These actors often audition for casting professionals who have to communicate with producers, directors, and associates on the other side of the country, and sometimes the world. When they see an actor they like, they will frequently need to send a headshot and resume to another decision maker. Believe it or not, they do this by fax. Yes, I know that email and scanned documents look great… but time is of the essence for these people and faxing is quick and efficient. Unless your resume is printed on the back of your headshot. Think about it… when you send a two sided page through a fax machine you have to either quickly flip the document over (and risk screwing up the fax) or first make a photocopy of the back side so you can send both sides through the machine. This is extra work for the casting director, and quickly gets old. How much easier is it to fax a headshot with a stapled on resume? Simply pop the two apart, stick it in the machine and walk away. Done.

There will always be exceptions… Theater people who prefer staples, Film and TV people who prefer prints… but do you prepare for the exception, or the predominant rule?

Break a leg!

-N-

/// Coleman Photo/Graphix ///
Nick Coleman – Photography | Design | Graphics
nick[at]colemanphotographix.com
New York Headshots for Actors that Work!