 Jenny |
How to correctly size digital pics for printing I have a question about having my digital pictures printed. I, too, have had many pictures developed only to find that Costco or whomever printed them cut off the tops of them. I did see "Tops of Photos Getting Cut Off" from 10/3/04. There is a lot of helpful info under that question/topic. I understand about the 4:3 vs. the 3:2 ratios. But I wondered if anyone could help me with my particular issue, since my math skills aren't what they used to be! When I load pics off my digital camera (HP Photosmart 945) onto the computer, they automatically come out sized as 36.222"W x 27.111"H. If I want 4x6 copies of these prints (for frames, for example), I can crop these myself, one at a (painstakingly long) time . . . But I find that once I have cropped them to that size, they lose some quality. I sacrifice clarity when enlarging them again, such as for slide shows. My question (at long last, I know!) is this: Can anyone tell me what proportionately larger size I can save these as-- so film developing Kiosks can spit out nice 4x6 pictures for me, without me having to sacrifice the quality of my original file? 12x18? 16x24? Am I waaaayy off? My brain hurts! Jenny C.
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Dave Cross |
Hi Jenny. The quick answer is:- "DO NOTHING TO YOUR PICTURES". Then. Go to Costco (or wherever) and tell them "Please do not crop my photographs". You should end up with great 6x4's with a white bar down each side (your HP is 4:3 so it won't fill a 6x4 paper). If you want bigger prints ask same question but substitute XxY for the 6x4. Any half decent lab will tell you if they think you are asking for too large a print from the available digital file. It should be that easy... if it is not, go to a different lab. ALSO. Never, ever, ever work on the original file from the camera, they are the equivalent of your negatives. Make a copy to fool around with, then when it all goes horribly wrong you can go back and start again. Cheers
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Jenny |
Thanks for your reply, Dave. The problem is, Costco now only lets you use the Kiosk. They won't print the pictures without cropping them. I used to be able to hand them a disk, and their developer would print them individually as 4x6, making the best crop. They won't do that anymore. Now the tops are all cut off. They told me I had to bring my photos in on a disk, already in a 4x6 format and use the kiosk myself to input them. If I'm going to go to the trouble to make ALL OF MY PICTURES (sometimes 80 at a time) formatted for 4x6, I was just wondering if there is a better, proportionate size I save them as to preserve the clarity and quality of the large file. I really don't want to have to double up my storage to save all of pictures in two formats. Any other thoughts? Jenny
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Jenny |
I also understand Dave's point above about keeing my originals untouched . . but I'm basically just a mom taking pictures (though I'm aspiring to become better and better), so most of my photos won't be used much after they're printed, except for slide shows and stuff. I may have found my own answer . . . It looks like I can crop all my pictures to a 24x36, or even a 12x18 size, and be able to receive a correctly proportionate 4x6 print. (The white bar, even if it were an option, messes up the ability to use a 4x6 frame.) If I have to go to the trouble to crop them anyway, I'll just keep them as a larger file so I can get more use from them later. But if anyone has other suggestions, I'll be listening!
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Steve Mescha |
Jenny, Here's something you might look into. I know it involves work with each individual photo, but as a last resort it may be helpful. Read Jim Miotke's article on "automating Photoshop with actions". If you are unable to find a lab that will do what you want, this will at least speed up your editing. Also,if you use Photoshop you can set the dimentions of your crop tool to 4x6 without resampling the photo. Here's a link to Jim's article. http://www.betterphoto.com/photocourses/_samples/PSautomation.php
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