Newbie printing help!

[luigi]

I am taking my G3 pictures at 2272x1704 pixels.
What do I have to do to then to have them printed for 4x6 prints without having the top and bottom of the pictures cut off?
When I do it on my printer they are OK. When I send them out to walmart.com they look great but are cropped as above.
I even changed the size to what I saw on the internet as the correct size for 4x6 prints is 1024x768. I did that and they were still cropped top and bottom. Another site recommended the same size. When I up loaded the pics to Walmart.com the site said the pictures were of poor quality. (they did however come out fine except for the cropping of the top and bottom) What am I doing wrong.
Also:
My pictures look fantastic when I view them on the Camera LCD they look super. However when I print them out on my HP 5550 they are dark and I have to lighten up most of them with software. The printer does a great job of printing them out so it is not my printer.

Many thanks for whatever help I can get.

[4walls]

When I do it on my printer they are OK. When I send them out to walmart.com they look great but are cropped as above.

This problem stems from film vs digital aspect ratios. Film aspect ratio is 3:2 while digital is 4:3. Simply put, if a film print is 6 inches wide, then at a 3:2 ratio, it will be 4 inches tall. If a digital file is 6 inches wide, at a 4:3 ratio, it will be 4.5 inches tall. This extra half inch is what you are losing at Walmart.


Two ways to solve this problem.

1. First open your photo in your favorite photo editing software. Now you need to crop you picture manually to the 4x6 ratio. The photo doesn't need to be exactly 4x6, but any ratio of that size is fine. For example, prints from the G3 are imported into Photoshop at a default of 180 dpi. At this resolution, the files are about 9x12 inches. Cropping that same file to a size of 8x12 will give me a perfect (uncropped by Walmart) 4x6 print. Save the file, but don't resample to a smaller size. It would help to know what software you are using for more specific help.

2. Second option is to crop using Walmarts website. Once the pic is uploaded, click on the thumbnail of the photo once you have selected what print size you want. Now you can adjust the cropping of the picture, because the aspect ratio is wrong for a 4x6 print.

Hope this helps.

4walls
YVR, G3, PhotoShop CS

[luigi]

Thanks 4Walls for the fast responce.
I am using Photophilia v1.8, and PhotoWorks Plus v2.41. I also have a ton of others such as PhotoShop 7 .............etc.
I have not taken the time to use the later 'cause it is a bit intimidating.

I will try the Walmart cropping that you suggested. I was unaware of that feature!

When I get this figured out and get the photos printed the way I want I doubt if I will ever go back to film cameras again. The idea of seeing your pictures and the ability to retake bad ones is fantastic.

Many thanks for your reply 4walls
P.S.
great user name LOL

[4walls]

Luigi,

I have not used either of those programs. If you can get used to using Photoshop, there are some really powerful tools there that will really make your photos come alive. There is also lots of help on the internet and in magazines for Photoshop users.

The basic adjustments in Photoshop (i.e. Levels, Sharpening, etc) are very easy to use and can really brighten up an otherwise boring picture. But at the same time, you have to be careful not to OVER-Photoshop your pics too, you want them to still be realistic.

___
4walls
YVR, G3, Photoshop CS

PS: Re: nickname, thanks... last name is Wall and there are four of us in the family.

[phili1]

What you need is a printing program. Qimage is a professional program, that lets you addjust for printing.

There are several problems you are comfronted with.
1- Lcd pictures will look differnt then Crt..
2- Crt, you will view it in a totally differnt way
3- Calibrated monitor will give you what you see is what you get for printing.
4- printed output. For the most part can look different unless you are using color profiles for the paper you are using.

Most proceesing facilities have specific cropping layouts because of ther projection equiptment. You cant make your pic 4 x 6 and expect no cropping from them. What you need to do is see if you can find out how there machine work and can you get a program that will render your pics to there sysytem.
Some photoprocessing places can do that.

[luigi]

4Walls,
I am at the moment going over PhotoShop on my note book. Might as well learn how to use it. My problem is I am a software junky and buy more than I can use, therefore never get to learn but one or two of them.

Thanks a again for your advice.

Re: your nickname, I was thinking of Johhmy Cash and a song something to do with 4 walls etc.......can't remember it right now!

[4walls]

luigi, Photoshop 7 is a great program. The new version (CS) has some improvements
and is worth the upgrade in my opinion.

If you want to open the G3 RAW files directly with Photoshop, you will need the 7.0.1
update to Photoshop and the JPEG2000/Camera RAW plugin from Adobe. Otherwise,
you could just upgrade to Photoshop CS which can open RAW files.

Calibrating your monitor is also important as Phil stated. But don't just do it once, you
should calibrate everytime the lighting in your computer room changes. It is tough to get
it perfect without a hardware device (called a spyder), but the Adobe Gamma program
does a reasonable job.

__
4walls
YVR, G3, Photoshop CS

[phili1]

4 walls I have searched high and low for the plug in for Adobe Raw and none to be found. Do you know where.

[4walls]

Phili1, Here is Adobe's link to an article about Camera Raw/JPEG 2000, but it would seem that they are no longer offering the plugin... it was just over $100 anyway, so it would be about the same price to upgrade to CS as it would be to buy the plugin for 7.0

http://www.adobe.com/support/salesdocs/10a7a.htm

The new RAW converter on CS is much more powerful anyway. So it is a better buy.

__
4walls
YVR, G3, Photoshop CS

[phili1]

Thanks 4 walls but you need xp or windows 2000 for CS and although I run 512meg ram XP will slow me up to much, so until I upgrade I am stuck with 7

[PFlor]

You're not missing much with the Adobe RAW plugin. It has some nice features but its output quality is not up to par with the Canon SDK-based converters such as BreezeBrowser or YarcPlus. Also, what's frustrating for me with the Adobe product is that it automatically tries to correct your original white balance to what it thinks is right. So forget about using Custom WB with this plugin. The converter in Photoshop CS is a little better but still has the same white balance quirk.

[phili1]

Thanks Pflor, I have been thinking of breeze browser and now you convinced me.

[4walls]

Luigi, did the Walmart cropping tips work for you?

[luigi]

Luigi, did the Walmart cropping tips work for you?

Believe it or not for some reason I have not been able to complete an order with them. I can get as far as uploading 19 pictures, fix them in preview but then can't get past ADD to Cart. Dumb and dumber.
I am giving up for tonight and will try again tomorrow.

I am still playing with Photoshop but there's a lot to learn.

Thanks for your help.
Luigi

[4walls]

Thanks 4 walls but you need xp or windows 2000 for CS and although I run 512meg ram XP will slow me up to much, so until I upgrade I am stuck with 7

phili1... here is a good read on Adobe's Camera Raw (http://www.sphoto.com/techinfo/rawconverters/pages/adobecameraraw.htm) and CaptureOne (another RAW converter).
Send me a PM if you would like me to email the PS RAW plugin to you.

[luigi]

Luigi, did the Walmart cropping tips work for you?

Success in getting through to Walmart.com. Must have been very busy at their site.

I should be getting my prints from Walmart any day now and I will let you know how they came out.

I have also decided that the simplest way to fix this problem is to just take the time to compose knowing that the top and bottom will be cropped.
I have been practicing that with very good results.

Best regards
Luigi

[4walls]

I have also decided that the simplest way to fix this problem is to just take the time to compose knowing that the top and bottom will be cropped.

My wife takes a lot of pics with the G3 as well, and I have to keep reminding her to zoom out a little more. She likes to get close up shots of the kids, but when cropped for 4x6's, they are a little too close.

Also, let me know how your Walmart photos come out... I found that the colors are a little off, but I saved all my pics in sRGB on Photoshop. Does anyone know if Walmart uses sRGB or AdobeRGB?

[getg3]

Luigi,

Download this easy to use freeware to crop your image to 4:6 (or other sizes) before sending it for print:
http://ekot.dk/programmer/JPEGCrops/

[luigi]

4walls,
Did not get them back yet. Maybe tomorrow. I'll let you know.

GetG3,

Nice find. Just downloaded it.

Thanks to all.

Luigi

[jpmccormac]

Luigi,

I second the recommendation for the JPEGCrops software.

Another home printing solution is Canon's Easy Photo Print software. It's strictly for printing, not image improvement, but it works nicely and will resize images automatically for the print size you select. You can download it from Canon's software site or from BeBit.com (Canon Japan).

PS. If you use WalMart's store kiosk printers, I don't think you'll have a problem with cropping - at least I haven't. Also, Walgreen drugs have kiosks for printing that are pretty good. The paper is more to my liking and the price is right - .29 cents for a 4x6" print.

[luigi]

Luigi,

I second the recommendation for the JPEGCrops software.

Another home printing solution is Canon's Easy Photo Print software. It's strictly for printing, not image improvement, but it works nicely and will resize images automatically for the print size you select. You can download it from Canon's software site or from BeBit.com (Canon Japan).

PS. If you use WalMart's store kiosk printers, I don't think you'll have a problem with cropping - at least I haven't. Also, Walgreen drugs have kiosks for printing that are pretty good. The paper is more to my liking and the price is right - .29 cents for a 4x6" print.

JP,
I will try that one also. And thanks for the tips.
Never thought of Walgreen!

Great Forum for us Newbies!!

Regards,
Luigi

[jpmccormac]

[quote="luigiJP, I will try that one also. And thanks for the tips. Never thought of Walgreen!
Regards,
Luigi[/quote]

Luigi,

To clarify, Walgreen Drugs just recently installed their digital print machines that accept CF, SD, etc. They may not be available at all Walgreen stores. I don't recommend the older Kodak machines they have. Expensive and not good quality, IMO.

[luigi]

ALL,

Just got back my Walmart order and am very satisfied with the results. I did use the online cropping tool as 4walls alerted me to and it worked great. The colors in my opinion are fine. Overall quality is very good IMHO.

Rather than uploading prints to Walmart I think in the furture I will just drop them off and should see a faster turn around.

Many thanks for all your tips and help.

Composition will be my best friend!

Best regards

Luigi

[4walls]

ALL,
Rather than uploading prints to Walmart I think in the furture I will just drop them off and should see a faster turn around.
Great to see you got it working... BTW, I have found that Walmart has the SLOWEST service I have ever seen for an online service.

[luigi]

ALL,
Rather than uploading prints to Walmart I think in the furture I will just drop them off and should see a faster turn around.

Great to see you got it working... BTW, I have found that Walmart has the SLOWEST service I have ever seen for an online service.

You nailed it 4walls.

Luigi