Photographs on front covers

I have used photographs on both front cover and inside the magazine for some years. When we were completely dependent on photo-copier, I would make a sheet of the photos that I was going to use in various grades of contrast and even different shades of grey, with notes under each one. I would then produce a "Test Photo-copy" to check which one gave me the best reproduction. The final master copies of the magazine pages on which the photos were used could then be generated after checking which of the various options had given the beat results. Much to my surprise, colour photos usually produced a better photo-copy than their grey-scale conversions. A couple of years ago we were donated an old colour laser printer so, from then on, our covers were always generated on that because even when we used a black line drawing on the cover, our "Mast - Head" has colour on it. That old laser printer died at the beginning of the year and we have just taken delivery of a new one and the improvement in quality is amazing — I thought the old one was acceptable. We must continue to use the photo-copier for the bulk of the mag because of the agreement with the photo-copier people but we can now produce colour photos as good as most people can generate on their ink-jet printers but at a fraction of the cost.

A few years ago, the estate agents who advertise on our back cover decided that they wanted their advert in colour. They print the cover (outside) on their printer as payment for the advert (we provide the heavy paper for that). We print the rest of the magazine on our Duplo machine in black and white. This means we get to use colour at reasonable expense. Initially it was different coloured text and a scanned painting of the church. Recently we are using seasonally-appropriate photographs for most months, with generally good effects. Apart from my own pictures, I am sourcing photos from various members of the congregation, and having to think ahead (December 2010's intended photo taken during December 2009!).

Our church blessed to have our own printing machine as we run a church printing service. However we can only print one colour at a time, so are unable to use the new colour cover (the cost of colour copying with a photcopier would be astronomical.) We often use the line drawings from Parish Pump and also the masthead (although we make the figures for the year a bit bigger) Our printing machine does give the option for photo and letter/photo, so we can do photos with a really clear print to copy from. We use coloured paper for the cover (slightly heavier than the white pages inside) and do the picture in a contrasting colour. We print 180 copies, some of which, I am reliably informed, go to many different countries. I also email a copy to some friends, and we put some of the content of the magazine on our church website.

To keep costs to a minimum, we do not use colour printing at all in our magazine. The only colour comes from the coloured paper used for the cover pages. I do, however use photographs to illustrate articles inside the magazine. Converting them to greyscale and increasing the contrast usually produces an acceptable picture. Even so, I find that line drawings are much clearer, so am more than happy to continue using the B&W cover pictures provided by Parish Pump.

I am looking to move printing to professional company. As the editor all my covers are photos. The church copier does a very good black and white copy but struggles in colour especially with red! I have been quoted for 230 copies for £200, does that sound reasonable? 8 sheets (32 pages) A5 booklet

I like to use a different picture every month, and I usually take it myself. It's full A4 size mag, and the photo fills the whole cover, with text overlaid. The object of a mgazine cover is to make people want to look inside- that's what all magazines do, so keeping the same old picture month after month is a recipe for boredom. Our offering this month can be read at www.trinitychurchinhonley.org.uk Happy Easter everyone.. Christ is risen!

Sorry, PP - I see it only becomes a link after you save it. We lean by experience.

Just like every other magazine that fights for attention, whether it be on a shelf in the library or on the doormat when you come home, a church magazine needs to grab people's attention. Even committed Christians lead busy lives, and won't persist in reading a dull, grey, swathe of print. I have always done the design work on our monthly publication (I have a background as a newspaper designer) and we used to then produce b&w copies from a photocopier. Frankly, the quality of the copies was so poor - especially given the content - that it defeated the effort in design. When the cost of the copier (click rate + depreciation) was added into the budget the cost off running off 750 copies was as poor value as the quality. At the end of the month there were a great many copies lying around the church - proof that our efforts were in vain. Then we did some research, both on what readers wanted and the costs of b&w, full colour, colour and b&w, the content, and the printing costs. We then wrote a report for the PCC who sensibly took the view that the magazine was our most important method of outreach and should therefore be funded adequately. I revamped the design, using a clearer font (Helvetica), more white space on the pages, use of colour photos (even if you print in b&w think about your website and emails, assuming you have these methods of distribution, as these are easy, quick and cost virtually nothing to manage). We now use a professional printer - albeit one who does charitable printing at a far lower price - and we have a professional-looking mag that flies off the shelves of our many outlets: local Post Office, library, coffee shops, etc., as well as from the church and church office, church hall, etc. We use full colour throughout three times a year when we produce double issues (Christmas, Easter and Summer) and settle for colour front and back for the rest. We keep to budget, at around £3000, and have an annual appeal to specifically help fund printing. This raises about £750. The cover image is vital - I either buy images, or use professionally taken shots of our own church events. Make every one different from the last so that your readers know it's a new issue. Go for simple, striking images and if at all possible go for colour, even if only on the covers. The new colour cover images that Parish Pump provide are a welcome addition, though for me to use them they would have to be without words - like most of us I would imagine we need space for a masthead (title) and some words about the issue and contents. If Parish Pump would provide both one with and one without it would satisfy us all.

I have a colour photograph on the front - alternating monthly between a picture of the church or village then a local scene. If I go too far afield with the picture, I generally write a story about the picture. The back cover is also in colour and carries our service information for the month - a better idea than the adverts that used to be there.