Please help a newbie

[thadlo]

Ok, I am very new to the digital world. My husband bought me a 10D and I am so frustrated! There is so much to learn....anyway, for my question. Cam someone please tell me how to get 8 x10's, 11 x 14's, etc. I know that the aspect ratio of the camera is 3:2 (although I don't really understand). I have both Photoshop 6 and Adobe Elements to use. I want to be able to both print on my S900 and also sent files to a lab for printing. Is there an exact science to resizing these images without losing quality? I crop using the rectangular marque tool, but that doesn't get it exactly.
Any other tips would be helpful too! Thanks much.

Lorene

[CyberDyneSystems]

In Photo shop click on the "Image" drop down menu and select "Image Size"

then you can set the image measurement to inches and resize all you want. Be sure to "Maintain aspect ratio" and keep DPI at 300 at least.

[jhankins]

Greetings:

You might find this spreadsheet useful that I obtained from photocourse.com. It's a Resolution Calculator.

Are you trying to print these on a printer or order them from an online lab? Many of the labs will automatically give you the suitable options for size ordering after uploading your picture. Some do require that you size appropriatlely.

http://www.hankinsbay.com/rescalc.xls

I use fotoslate plugin to ACDSee from http://www.acdsystems.com for my printing to my local inkjets. Works quite nicely.

Best Regards,

Jim

[jhankins]

In re-reading your post, the previous reply is more correct in that you can resize to your requirements easily within photoshop. You will be quite pleased with 8 x 10's with the 10D I'm sure.

Best Regards,

Jim

[RGorrill]

[quote]thadlo wrote:
Ok, I am very new to the digital world. My husband bought me a 10D and I am so frustrated! There is so much to learn....anyway, for my question. Cam someone please tell me how to get 8 x10's, 11 x 14's, etc. I know that the aspect ratio of the camera is 3:2 (although I don't really understand). I have both Photoshop 6 and Adobe Elements to use. I want to be able to both print on my S900 and also sent files to a lab for printing. Is there an exact science to resizing these images without losing quality? I crop using the rectangular marque tool, but that doesn't get it exactly.
Any other tips would be helpful too! Thanks much.


Hi Lorene,

The 3:2 ratio came about from the first Leica camera which was based on using motion picture film. That film was 35mm and was designed for use in movie cameras that recorded an 18x24mm image. Oscar Barnack, the designer of the Leica, decided to double the frame size for use in his camera and thus we have the 24x36mm format which is a 3:2 aspect ratio. Since so many 35mm cameras are out on the market Canon decided to stick with the same aspect ratio for their digital SLR's.

The standard print being made from 35mm is 4x6 and a lot of labs print to 8x12 to accommodate the format.

Bob

[thadlo]

Thanks for the replies so far. I don't mean to be obuse, but when resizing using "image size" in photoshop as described, it still won't be 8 x 10. How can I get EXACTLY the size I want - is there a formula? Is it better to change actual picture size or pixel dimensions? Thanks.

[SoCal69]

An easy approach is to use the crop tool. Once you select the crop tool, enter the width and height in the crop toolbar (example: width=8, height-10). When you crop, it will maintain the proportions you have set. However, that may change your resolution to something less than optimal, so the image size settings might be a better alternative. The same thing can be done using the rectangular selection tool (just put in the aspect ration you want, select, copy and paste as a new image).