Sizing Pictures to Print Properly

[exaigre]

I am a new photographer using a Canon EOS Digital Rebel camera. The photo software I am using is Photoshop Elements which came with the camera. My photos look great on the computer screen and on the web but I am encountering a problem with sizing my images so that they will print properly. I have tried using the resizing and printing machines at Walgreens, printing on Snapfish, Sony Imagestation and Dotphoto.com. I have also tried resizing using Photoshop Elements. It seems that no matter what I do a part of my picture gets "cropped out" when I print my photos. Snapfish lets you view the image that will be printed and regardless of the size of the photo I choose 4x6, 5x7 or 8x10 part of the image gets "cropped out" so the final print does not look good. Should I be setting my image size on the camera? In Photoshop? Is there a proper pixel size or canvas size to use for a 4x6 print or a 5x7 print. Thanks in advance for any assistance.

[stopbath]

You should be able to print full image on 4 x 6 since 3072 x 2704 is 3 X 2 ratio (same as 4 x 6).

If you end up getting cropped images at 4 x 6 instead of full image check with the printer.

You won't get full image on 5 x 7 or 8 x 10 as the size ratios are not 3 x 2...

[Motorsports Photo]

Sometimes this is a printer driver quirk (Known to me for sure in the HP 7960!) but most of the time its just learning the software.

I dont use elements since I have had full photoshop for many years.

If your menu has a choice of Image/size use it. First change the resolution box to 300 fora decent print resolution, THEN change the size to whatever you are printing. Photoshop also has a handy box for inputting the size for cropping. It automatically sizes the print to whatever you have in the box. No messing with aspect ratios.

-Pete