Before sending my photos for prints..

[starduzz]

Hi,

I am sending my Europe trip photos (1600x1200, 180 dpi) taken from my canon digital camera for 4R prints. This is my first time doing so and I know it's not as easy as sending your film for prints. Hence would appreciate any expert advice on

a) What (and how) to do first (e.g. cropping, photo adjustment)
b) attributes to look out for in printing (e.g correct dimensions, brightness, DPI etc)

Thanks.

[tim]

What's 4R? Most print sizes are expressed in inches, I don't have a conversion table here.

You really can send images to a lab as they came out of your camera, if you trust them to fix things like brightness and contrast for you. I prefer to do it myself, do any tweaks in photoshop, then send it to be printed "as is".

[starduzz]

What's 4R? Most print sizes are expressed in inches, I don't have a conversion table here.

You really can send images to a lab as they came out of your camera, if you trust them to fix things like brightness and contrast for you. I prefer to do it myself, do any tweaks in photoshop, then send it to be printed "as is".

4R, if i m not wrong, is 4 x 6. How to crop my current pics (in photoshop cs) which is, I believe is 4:3. Also is 180 dpi good enuff for prints? What is the recommended resolution for prints?

I prefer to do it for brightness and contrast. But the problem I m facing now is cropping to the correct size and resolution. What settings and any resampling required? Do pardon me if they don't make sense to you as I m really a newbie and need help! Thanks.

[tim]

Don't worry about ppi, just worry about the ratio. Use the crop tool in cs, enter 6in and 4in for width/height as needed. If your lab requires a specific ppi then you can enter the ppi in the crop tool, it can also make the files smaller which is handy if you're sending them online.

[kevin_c]

What's 4R? Most print sizes are expressed in inches, I don't have a conversion table here.

You really can send images to a lab as they came out of your camera, if you trust them to fix things like brightness and contrast for you. I prefer to do it myself, do any tweaks in photoshop, then send it to be printed "as is".

http://www.cellphoneshop.net/4r4x6glphpa.html

Google is your best friend :-) :-)

If you are using Photoshop just use the 'image size' dialogue to change the size and resolution or use 'crop' tool and set the width and height to 6" and 4" and ideally the ppi to 300 and simply crop as required.

As Tim said, the main thing to get right is the aspect ratio

[tim]

Couldn't be bothered googling.

[starduzz]

Don't worry about ppi, just worry about the ratio. Use the crop tool in cs, enter 6in and 4in for width/height as needed. If your lab requires a specific ppi then you can enter the ppi in the crop tool, it can also make the files smaller which is handy if you're sending them online.

Thanks. BTW, how to deal with dark or bright photos? Understand somewhere using blending options can help...

[starduzz]

Thanks. BTW, how to deal with dark or bright photos? Understand somewhere using blending options can help...

Anyone can advise?

[tim]

Yep learn to use photoshop. Levels helps.

[kevin_c]

Starduzz,

Try this link:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/instant_photoshop.shtml

Look at the section on levels, this may help you with the basics of Photoshop.

[starduzz]

If my photo is 640 x 480, I don't think i send for print @ 4' x 6' (or 4R) ? So what is the maximum size for such resolution?

[Curtis N]

Pixels divided by inches equals resolution (ppi, or pixels per inch).
300 ppi is ideal. 200 ppi usually makes decent small prints. 100 ppi won't look very sharp up close, but is fine for large prints which will be viewed at a greater distance.

A 1600 x 1200 image will need to be cropped to 1600 x 1067 to fit a 4x6 print. This will be 267 ppi (1600/6) which will work fine. I have made plenty of 8 x 10 prints from images that size (160 ppi) which look plenty sharp as long as you're 3 feet or more away.

I wouldn't bother printing a 640 x 480 image, but if you like to mess around with Photoshop you could create a collage of several images, each of them in the 4x3 range or smaller.

[tzalman]

Starduzz -
Since most Point & Shoot type cameras use the 3:4 aspect and since the bulk of the printing done by on-line labs comes from these cameras, many (maybe most) labs offer a 4.5x6 inch print. No cropping needed.
Elie