If you plan to print the still image, you should know that standard-resolution video always translates to 72 dpi, regardless of the camera’s tape format. This is fine for small, low-resolution printouts. But if you want to create a press kit or other printed materials, be sure to take production stills with a film camera or a high-quality digital still camera.
If you plan to use the image in a still-image editing program (such as Adobe Photoshop®), export the highest image quality possible. Don’t resize the image or even deinterlace it. Photoshop’s tool set is superior for any image editing you want to do.
Most stills taken from DV or other video capture cards must be deinterlaced and resized to compensate for differences in pixel aspect ratios.
You can also export all or part of a clip or program as a filmstrip file. Appropriately enough, a filmstrip file in Photoshop looks like a filmstrip: a single still image that contains the frames of video arranged in a long column. You manipulate the frames of video using Photoshop’s tools, using a technique similar to rotoscoping in traditional film.
Article Series
This article is part 4 of a 4 part series. Other articles in this series are shown below:
