Guide to using photographs
Information on what kind of photo to supply for Be My Parent
Photographs make a direct, emotional impact on prospective families, and the quality of the photograph plays an important part in their decision to make enquiries about the children featured in Be My Parent.
Profile photos for Be My Parent online
Profile photos for the Be My Parent newspaper
Profile photo information for both services
Profile photos for Be My Parent online
How many are needed?
We can upload up to six photos for a web profile.
What format do I need to send them in?
You can post us real, glossy photos (taken with either a digital or non-digital camera) or email or upload a digital photo. Please refer to our guide on photo formats for more information, such as technical specifications and advice on how to get the best results.
What size do they need to be?
For the website, photograph size/quality is less important than for photos used in the newspaper. Please send us the photo and we will let you know in the unlikely event that we cannot use it.
What if I haven’t got a photograph?
Please refer to our guidelines if you cannot provide us with a suitable photograph to accompany a child’s profile.
Profile photos for the Be My Parent newspaper
How many are needed?
Only one photo is used for a newspaper referral, unless it is a half-page or full-page profile, in which case we can usually use more, depending on word counts.
If you are unsure which photo to use, send us a small selection and we will choose what we think is best.
What format do I need to send them in?
You can post us real, glossy photos (taken with either a digital or non-digital camera) or email or upload a digital photo. Please refer to our guide on photo formats for more information, such as technical specifications and advice on how to get the best results.
What size do they need to be?
We will only show the head and shoulders of a child for single or enhanced profiles so, if you are sending a JPEG of a child showing more than this (for instance, the child riding a bike, or standing up), we will probably need to crop the photograph. Can you please therefore make sure that the file size is large enough so that the cropped version we will use (head and shoulders) is a minimum of 250KB for a standard profile, or 500KB for an enhanced profile. Cropping affects the file size proportionately so, if the head and shoulder part represents a third of the photograph, you will need a JPEG that is at least 750KB for a standard profile, for instance.
Photos for sibling group profiles will need to be a minimum of 500KB. The same guidance will apply if it needs to be cropped.
What if I haven’t got a photograph?
Please refer to our guidelines if you cannot provide us with a suitable photograph to accompany a child’s profile.
Profile photo information for both services
Please read sections on supplying photos for Be My Parent online and the Be My Parent newspaper, as both will contain relevant information.
Please note that, if referring a child to both the Be My Parent website and newspaper, we will need the photos to adhere to the file sizes requested for photos in the newspaper.
Last updated: 26 May 10
