 Julie |
Cropping Error Before I purchased my SLR digital camera I used a Fuji 7000. I never had a problem with my images coming back with too much cropped out. Even when I did my own cropping before uploading photos to be developed. I would order 5x7's and 8x10's and they would come back fine. Now that I'm using a new Fuji S5 Pro I'm scared to do any cropping because the one that I did came back with part of the heads cut off. How do I know how much cropping to do ahead of time?
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John P. Sandstedt |
There are several possible issues. Two might be: 1. Sensor size. My wife's Canon A630 shows a much smaller view in the view finder and LCD than actually appears in the image file. Hence, this might allow to much to caught in the picture, but would certainly allow for cropping during editing. But, it's difficult to frame/crop in camera. You might want to do a comparison between your Fuji 7000 and your dSLR. 2. With my wife's camera, the dimensions of the unedited, uploaded image are usually non-standard [like 6.2X9.3] at 180 ppi. With my Canon 30D, the unedited JPEG image has huge dimensions [say 30X45] at 72 ppi. Editing and cropping is a pain with her images; that is, it's more work to achieve either a 2:3 or 4:5 aspect ratio. Hence, cropping can be problematic. If I were to send an unedited file for developing, the finisher would have the problem. If the work is done by machine, it will be set to standard dimensions. This could easily account for the cropping problem you've described.
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John G. Clifford Jr |
Your best bet is to ensure that the image is sized appropriately for the print that you want. Most dSLRs have a 3:2 sensor (the width is 1.5 times the height). You can see that a 5x7 print does not fit into this ratio, and neither does an 8x10. Here's what I do to print 5x7 from my dSLR's 3:2 image: I go into Photoshop and set up a crop rectangle with the correct aspect ratio, e.g., 5x7, and then I size that rectangle so that the '5' side is the full length of the shorter side of the image. I then drag the cropping rectangle around until I have the print I want, and then I select Crop from the Image menu. I now have the largest possible 5x7-sized raw image file I could get from my original image file. Next, I'll use the Resize option to ensure that I have a 5"x7" print, WITH BORDERS, at the dpi setting I want, so I resize the image to be 4.75" x 6.75" @ 360 dpi (my Epson's native resolution). Once I'm done, I sharpen to taste, and then print. You would do almost the same thing, except you need to obtain the required dpi setting from your online service, and then do the cropping and resizing as described above. Seems complicated, but once you do this a couple of times it really only takes maybe 30 seconds.
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John G. Clifford Jr |
Oh... I forgot to mention as well that, if I can, I try to crop to a size such that no resizing is needed, e.g., 1710 pixels by 2430 pixels will give a 4.75" x 6.75" print @ 360 dpi. That tends to give the sharpest prints.
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Alan N. Marcus |
Cropping problems and their explanation can be thorny. As a veteran of the photofinishing industry, the question is not new to me. We are talking about aspect ratio i.e. width divided by height. As an example the majority of TV’s are 4:3 whereby the new standard wide screen HDTV is 16:9. Now a popular drawing paper early on before photography was 8 x 10 inches. Cameras evolved that accepted 8x10 film. As films and printing methods improved the film was quartered to 4x5 inches. Roll film produced a more rectangular picture 3 ½ x 5 was a forbearer. The 35mm camera evolved with an aspect ratio of 1.5 a near perfect match for 4x6 or 8x12 prints. Now your Fuji S700 spots an imaging chip that traces back to the digital video cameras. Its aspect ratio is 4:3. It matches the TV screen (pre-digital). Stated another way it produces a picture whereby the length is 1.333 times the height. Thus if you order a 4 inch high picture the length will be 1.333 x 4 = 5.3 inches. Now 5.3 inch length is weird so photofinishers crop this image to 4 x 5. In doing so, they cut off .3 inches taking a little from both sizes (.15 left and .15 right) you hardly notice. When making an 8 inch high image the length is 10.6 inches so .3 inches is lopped of left and right, you hardly notice. You did not tell us the make and model of your new digital SLR so I will assume it sports a full frame sensor. That sensor (same as the 35mm film camera) measures 24mm high by 36mm long. When you order prints they will be enlarged. Both height and width must be enlarged to the same degree (magnification) otherwise the image will be distorted. You see distortion on your TV all the time. Movies are shot wide-screen and so are the titles. Often, at the start of the movie, the image is shown distorted, people look tall and skinny, and this is intentional as it allows the tiles to be displayed without cropping. After the titles have been shown the projector lens is changed out and the image returns to normal. Now when you order prints that don’t fit popular paper sizes the photofinisher can’t deliver a distorted print so they must crop the final image. Now the Fuji S700 produces a picture whereby the length is 1.333 times the height. Thus if you order a print that is 4 inch in height the length will be 1.333 x 4 = 5.3 inches. In other words the S7000 is better matched when making 4x5 prints. However what actually happens, since your ordered a 4 x 6 print the photofinisher enlarges the image and makes a 4 x 5.3 image. You receive a 4 x6 print and the extra .3 inches is cropped off (half is .15 cropped off the left and .15 off the right you hardly notice. Now the SLR is likely a full frame format. That format ratio is 1.5. This sensor size in inches is 0.95 x 1.4 inches. If you order a 3 ½ inch print the magnification will be 3.7 x so the print produces will be 3 ½ x 5.18 inches so the extra .18 inches will be cropped away. If you order a 4 inch print the magnification is 4.2 x the print will be a perfect 4 x 6 no copping. If you order an 8x10 the magnification will be 8.4 x the print will be 8 x 11.8 inches so a whopping 1.8 inches is cropped off the ends. Maybe this helps you understand. The countermeasure you must use is to step back when you compose the image. This allows more room around the principle subject. With this extra room as insurance, your work can tolerated the crop. The other countermeasure is to order prints that are a better match i.e. order 8 x 12 not 8x10. Alan Marcus (marginal technical gobbledygook)
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