I'm delivering some photos for a newspapers travel section. They will be printed in color, but not on glossy paper - a few probably fairly big but i don't what size they will use for each photo.

So should I just apply normal sharpening and color adjustment or are there some specific things I should factor in for newsprint?

You really need to talk to the prepress folks at that publication. There is more variation on newsprint than almost anything else and without specific instruction, it's just a guess.

In general, most newspapers are between 85 and 120 line screen, so 200 ppi at final size will be plenty. You really don't need 300 at all. Most papers will also want no more than 240-250 percent total ink, but you really want their profile, which most papers actually have. Because newsprint is so crappy you can run higher than normal saturation which almost always is an improvement, and since it's such a limited dynamic range, it's often better to not try to hold subtle highlight or shadow detail, forcing more contrast into the midtones, which adds to the perception of increased range.

I would sharpen more aggressively than with other print destinations - more sharpening and larger radius.

As Peter states there are a huge number of printing / paper variables which are adjusted for during the RGB > CYMK conversion process to compensate for the mechanical limitations of the printing process and different paper brightness/color. Those are best left to the printer who understands them and who will apply the optimal contrast adjustment and sharpening needed.

Speaking from a background in color separation and printing for offset publications on the receiving end of photographer's submissions I'd suggest that unless otherwise instructed by the publication you send them RGB files at camera resolution (i.e. cropped but not resized) edited and sharpened per your normal workflow for tonal range and sharpness. That way you will be giving the printer a "normal" baseline to work from. The technical staff of the paper will then be able to adjust the files per their press profiles for optimal results.

The appearance of the images will change as a result of the difference in ink gamut / printing and there is nothing which can prevent it. If you can obtain a copy of the profile for the press and paper the newspaper uses you'll be able to apply them in Photoshop and get an idea how the contrast and color separation will change. But part of the process of photo editing for publications is knowing how the images will change and selecting images which will reproduce well. For example if printing on newsprint you simply wouldn't select a photo with nuanced detail in the shadows or highlights. So its very likely that the photo editors will select photos based on the "normal" (i.e. un-manipulated) appearance of the photo and their understanding of how well it will reproduce.

When you have an ongoing relationship with a printing company or publisher its possible to anticipate the press outcome based on observation of previous results and compensate for them up-front in your editing process in the way Peter describes, but for a first-time submission you can do more harm than good if you try to second-guess what will happen during reproduction and manipulate your files based on those guesses.

Thanks a lot for the input! The paper haven't asked for any specific treatment or format of the pictures. I will try to follow your guide lines not trying to second guess and see how it turns out ;-)

Do nothing, production is there ball of fun not yours. Your contact is unlikely to know anything about production and some cynics would suggest most in the biz no nothing period Hope you getting some $. Enjoy the results just remember it's newsprint and you'll like it fine.

So the article was printed in a national newspaper a few weeks ago. The result was not too bad. A grabbed a couple of shots just to give an impression -->