FRUSTRATED with Digital

[msquared]

Please help me.

First I have to admit that I'm completely new to the digital photography world. Now that I've been totally honest I can vent with a clear conscience. I have a Canon s30 and I'm very happy with the camera but I'm completely FRUSTRATED with the printing process. All I want to be able to do is simply print my pictures on my personal printer or have them printed by an outside source (Wal-Mart, Walgreen’s, K-Mart, etc.) Every time I try this I end up getting pictures that are cropped in all the wrong places. Someone's head is always chopped off or I end up with half a sunset. I like most of my pictures in 4x6 glossy so I can share with friends at events. Of course there are some pictures that I might like to have in a larger 8x10 size.

Am I missing a really simple step that would help me get the end results that I'm looking for?? We have a new baby and take lots of pictures (hundeds). I can't imagine going through each picture and manually cropping each picture. Please help me. Thanks.

[phidong]

Your Canon S30 probably doesn't take pictures in perfect 4x6 ratio (I know mine doesn't; it takes pictures 4.5x6). What you can do is pre-crop them before you outsource them to Walmart or whatever. Hope this helps. :)

[msquared]

phidong wrote:
Your Canon S30 probably doesn't take pictures in perfect 4x6 ratio (I know mine doesn't; it takes pictures 4.5x6). What you can do is pre-crop them before you outsource them to Walmart or whatever. Hope this helps. :)

I'm using the ArcSoft software that came with my camera. Any idea how I could specify that I want to crop the picture to a 4x6? Thanks.

[pblevitt]

The camera takes pictures in a 4:3 ratio (1.333:1)

A 6"x4" picture has a 1.5:1 ratio.

You may want to look for a developer that advertises the 'new' digital format of 6"x4.5"

[Biff]

I may get flamed for this, but have you considered going back to a film camera? People go digital for different reasons, but there should be reasons. I use digital because I don't want a box full of prints and because I want to crop or otherwise adjust many of my images. I love my little s200, but I'm looking forward to getting a 35mm, because it will produce better digital images than almost all digital cameras.

I suggest you re-think why you have a digital in the first place. If you want prints, and don't want to manipulate the images, you could use a film camera and get both prints and digital images, and have the best of both worlds.

[stopbath]

Try taking your files to a shop that actually cares about your shots. Walmart and such are usually run by minimum wage employees who may or may not know anything about photography. They may just set up the machine to print and let it do it's stuff. A good printer will evaluate each print, and quickly tweak as required. Check your photo stores, perhaps they can print from digital.
Shop around for your service. Once you find a good shop, stick with them (even if you pay a bit more for each shot, it's better than paying for shots that have heads cut off)

[Jon77]

I feel your pain. Shutterfly cropped my photos in horrible ways.

Months ago, I posted about this very issue. I got the following response from a helpful reader that may help you. I haven't followed the advice yet, but if you do, please tell me and the rest of the board if you were satisfied:

sean000
Level: Active Member
Registered: 03-30-2003
Posts: 34
IP: Logged

Re: Printing S45 Photos on Shutterfly.com
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Shutterfly should be storing your photos in the same resolution and file size that you posted, but their website may not offer high-resolution viewing. Many websites allow only thumbnail and lower resolution viewing so the general public can't right-click and save a hi-res image of yours. They can only order high quality prints.

I prefer www.clubphoto.com for several reasons:

- They offer free memberships, but If you pay $25 a year, 4x6 prints are only 25 cents and you get 5% off all purchases.
- They offer 4xD (digital) which matches the aspect ratio of the Canon and other digital cameras (4x6 is a slightly differenct aspect ratio).
- You can choose to allow others to view and download high resolution (full size) copies of your images. I allow people to do this since I'm not a professional photographer and I'm not concerned with copyright issues. I know some of my friends would rather print the hi-res image on their own printer instead of ordering from clubphoto.
- You can order prints from 4xD (or 4x6) all the way up to 24x36 posters (they will alert you if the resolution isn't high enough to produce a quality image at any given print size).
- The $25 annual membership nets you 20 albums of 100 images each... no limit on file size so you can upload all high resolution images. There is a $35 membership that bumps you to 40 albums and includes more features for professional photographers.

Overall I'd say the quality is very nice with Clubphoto. Most reviews rank Clubphoto, Ofoto, and Shutterfly among the best in print quality. I went with Clubphoto because of the additional features. I also find their website easy to use, and the prints usually ship very quickly. I ordered some printed and bound photo-albums as holiday gifts and was amazed that I got them in just a few days (I had to pay for express shipping though).

My albums are viewable at
http://members13.clubphoto.com/sean646645/guest-1.phtml

____________________________
Sean S.

[stardis]

I have an S30 and bought a Canon S820 photo printer to go with it. I have no problems printing 4 x 6 photos using the software that came with my camera. I use EasyPhoto Print that I can access directly from ZoomBrowser; it works perfectly. Yes, some of the photo is cropped on the 4 x 6 but you can also choose not to print borderless and get everything ( I think--I just print borderless). A lot of times I choose to crop the photo a bit and do so right in EasyPhoto Print. If you are really wanting the best prints you can get no matter what camera you are using than I think that printing them yourself is the only way to go--either in a darkroom or on inkjet. I have a number of 35mm cameras going back quite a few years and still use them but the prints I get back from processing are inferior to what I print myself. I could go on... but bottom line: use the software I mentioned with a good printer using Canon paper and it becomes an enjoyable process.

[Jerry Vanderberg]

If you do a lot of prints, you may find it more satisfactory and more economical to buy a photo printer and do it yourself. You can either do it via your computer by "tweaking" your images with a program such as PhotoShop Elements (or similar software), or by getting a printer that bypasses a computer and allows you to print directly from your memory card. These allow a minimal amount of image manipulation, which is still satisfactory for many people.