Paint Shop Pro 7

[Mick]

I have been using Adobe Photo Deluxe 3.1 which came with my Canon Ixus for all my imaging needs untill I recently bought PSP 7, and I cannot crop images to a size in inches. With Photo Deluxe, you simply select whichever standard print size you want and adjust the area to be cropped.
With PSP, I have tried every imaginable way, but still can't crop them to a standard print size. I can re-size, but not size to any lineal measurements.

Any ideas ??

Mick.

[Ron Black]

I get your goals using PSP7 with this sequence:

Image, Resize, click on "Actual Print Size",
set Resolution as desired, and also click on "resize all
layers" and "maintain aspect ratio"

That works for me...

Cheers, Ron

[Ron Black]

To add the first step:

First do a crop in the proportions you want to print, (probably two pixel values), then do the resize as described below for "Actual Print Size".
When first cropping, note that you get a dialog page if you double-click on the Crop Tool Symbol first, which lets you enter the pixel dimensions for each edge, then you can move the crop frame around the image to get the exact area for the end crop. Following the crop it is easy to resize for the actual print dimensions.

Hope this helps.... Ron.

___________________________


Ron Black wrote:
I get your goals using PSP7 with this sequence:

Image, Resize, click on "Actual Print Size",
set Resolution as desired, and also click on "resize all
layers" and "maintain aspect ratio"

That works for me...

Cheers, Ron

[Mick]

Thanks Ron, I've tried all that and still can't seem to get it to work. I am trying to crop an image to 6 x 4 inches ready for printing. Even though I can crop it to 6x4, sometimes I still need to pick out a section (which for example) may only be a very small part of the original image. Maybe it's me ??

Mick.





Ron Black wrote:
To add the first step:

First do a crop in the proportions you want to print, (probably two pixel values), then do the resize as described below for "Actual Print Size".
When first cropping, note that you get a dialog page if you double-click on the Crop Tool Symbol first, which lets you enter the pixel dimensions for each edge, then you can move the crop frame around the image to get the exact area for the end crop. Following the crop it is easy to resize for the actual print dimensions.

Hope this helps.... Ron.

___________________________


Ron Black wrote:
I get your goals using PSP7 with this sequence:

Image, Resize, click on "Actual Print Size",
set Resolution as desired, and also click on "resize all
layers" and "maintain aspect ratio"

That works for me...

Cheers, Ron

[Ron Black]

Hello Mick,

>Thanks Ron, I've tried all that and still can't seem to get it to work. I am trying to crop an image to 6 x 4 inches >ready for printing. Even though I can crop it to 6x4, sometimes I still need to pick out a section (which for >example) may only be a very small part of the original image. Maybe it's me ??

> Mick.

You can crop whatever section of the original image you want, but if the pixels are too few in that crop, the printed output will suffer from poor reolution and will look "soft".... is that your problem?

I presume you are cropping to the desired proportions (3:2) and are ready to resize for the 6x4 inches output print size. In PSP 7 you should choose the "Smart Size" option in the Resize Type box, under Image, Resize tools.
Also, tick the Actual/print size window (under Image, Resize) and set the Resolution box at say 300 pixels/inch, then the width and height at whatever your printer can do on 6x4 inch paper (question of borders around the printed image), maybe 5.2x3.5 inches (still about 3:2 ratio).

Are you having problems with the actual output image size of your print, or is it poor resolution that is the problem? There are lots of pitfalls in getting the image printed with all the variables that can be adjusted, huh!
It isn't "just you" as we all stumble around at first getting a grasp of this flexible setup.

Good luck... Ron.

[Mick]

Thanks again Ron, but I have just figured out a way to do what I want by going to File / preferences / general
program preferences / rulers and units, and change display units to "inches". Then go to the crop tool and select a cropping size of 6 x 4 or any of the same aspect ratio such as 12 x 8 (start dragging from the top
left hand corner) . Move the selection toward the area you wish to crop and hold the shift key down to change the cropping area by pulling any side or corner ...... holding shift down will keep the aspect ratio intact.

[Ron Black]

Mick wrote:
Thanks again Ron, but I have just figured out a way to do what I want by going to File / preferences / general
program preferences / rulers and units, and change display units to "inches". Then go to the crop tool and select a cropping size of 6 x 4 or any of the same aspect ratio such as 12 x 8 (start dragging from the top
left hand corner) . Move the selection toward the area you wish to crop and hold the shift key down to change the cropping area by pulling any side or corner ...... holding shift down will keep the aspect ratio intact.


Hi Mick,

Your way works, but remember to do the resize on the uncropped image first, to get around 250 to 300 pixels/inch resolution, so the final crop will have the desired resolution for a high quality print. This will create an awfully large image on your monitor before the crop, since monitors like to have maybe 72 pixels/inch as display resolution.

Good luck, Ron.

[Mick]

Yes, I know all about that part of it Ron.
I don't know about the rest of you PSP owners, but in the first couple of days of ownership, I was ready to toss this program out the window and go back to Photo Deluxe, but I'm glad I didn't now !


Hi Mick,

Your way works, but remember to do the resize on the uncropped image first, to get around 250 to 300 pixels/inch resolution, so the final crop will have the desired resolution for a high quality print. This will create an awfully large image on your monitor before the crop, since monitors like to have maybe 72 pixels/inch as display resolution.

Good luck, Ron.