Best Resolution For Printing 4 by 6?

[DavidSR]

Hey guys,

I cropped one of my pictures to a 4 by 6 and when I checked the image size it was basically 2 megapixels. I know that when you crop you lose megapixels. My question is..how do I get the best resolution for printing a 4 by 6? The print looked fine to the salesman, but it looked as though it could still be better. I'll will be getting the prints at Wolf/Ritz camera if that makes a difference.

Thanks guys!

[jonnythan]

The more pixels, the better ;)

[DavidSR]

haha I know, but I'm not sure how to crop my picture into a 4 by 6 and add extra pixels after the resize. I'm using Photoshop CS2 by the way.

[jonnythan]

You can't add extra pixels.

I get the feeling that you're keeping the ppi constant and cropping pixels out or resampling the image to get the resolution to match the size/ppi you have, though.

If you just want a 4x6 print of what you see on the screen, make sure the width:height ratio is 2:3. If it's not, you will want to crop to that ratio. Don't resample the image (that is, change the number of pixels).

Once the picture has the right width:height ratio, don't worry about the rest. Don't worry what the "size" or ppi is. It doesn't matter at all. Just tell Ritz or Wolf or whoever "I want a 4x6 print of this image" and that's what they'll do.

[cedm]

Hey guys,

I cropped one of my pictures to a 4 by 6 and when I checked the image size it was basically 2 megapixels. I know that when you crop you lose megapixels. My question is..how do I get the best resolution for printing a 4 by 6? The print looked fine to the salesman, but it looked as though it could still be better. I'll will be getting the prints at Wolf/Ritz camera if that makes a difference.

Thanks guys!

Did you cropped or resized your photo to 4 by 6 ?

If you resized it and did it properly, you won't lose any pixel. By properly I mean change the resolution (dpi) not decrease the number of pixels.

Say you have a picture of 1800x1200 pixels at 72 dpi, it will be printed as 25 by 16.6 inch. If you increase the dpi value to 300, no pixel are lost (your picture is still 1800x1200 pixels) but the print will be 6 by 4 inch.

However, if you crop your picture, you'll loose pixels.

[DavidSR]

Basically when I make a print I use the crop tool and set it to 4 by 6 and the ppi I always leave at 300. When I did this last it seemed like the picture still lacked resolution or it may have looked like I over sharpened it, but it looked fine on my monitor which is what I don't understand. Oh and I always leave the resampling checked, should I uncheck it?

[PhotosGuy]

I'll will be getting the prints at Wolf/Ritz camera if that makes a difference. Have you used them before & do they have a printer profile to give you? I've never liked their work here in Michigan.
Have them make a test print & see what you get: Test files at the bottom of...
http://www.gballard.net/psd/srgbforwww.html

[DavidSR]

Did you cropped or resized your photo to 4 by 6 ?
If you resized it and did it properly, you won't lose any pixel. By properly I mean change the resolution (dpi) not decrease the number of pixels.

I cropped it because I was not satisfied with the crop it currently had..there was too much empty space. If I were to change the image size to 4 by 6 how would I get rid of all that empty space that I would like to crop out?

Thanks guys!

[DavidSR]

Have you used them before & do they have a printer profile to give you?

I'm not sure what a printer profile is, but I don't think they have. I have had prints made there before and they are a heck of a lot better than Wal Mart. The pictures I have had printed there before were not cropped and they looked better which leads me to believe that I'm not doing something right.

[jonnythan]

You don't need to change the size to 4"x6". You just need the pixel width to height ratio to be 3:2. The printers don't care what the "ppi" setting in the file is, and they don't care what the "size" is.

[cedm]

I cropped it because I was not satisfied with the crop it currently had..there was too much empty space. If I were to change the image size to 4 by 6 how would I get rid of all that empty space that I would like to crop out?

Thanks guys!

That's fine.

If you want good print quality for a 6 by 4 inch photo, just make sure the pixel size of your photo is at least 1800 by 1200. That's 300 dpi, which is fine.

[DavidSR]

When changing the pixel width and height ratio...that'll bring the whole image down in size, correct? If that's what happens, than how will I crop out what I don't like in the picture? Just cut it out without cropping? Sorry if I'm not understanding something.

[DavidSR]

If you want good print quality for a 6 by 4 inch photo, just make sure the pixel size of your photo is at least 1800 by 1200. That's 300 dpi, which is fine.

Ok, thanks!

[jonnythan]

When changing the pixel width and height ratio...that'll bring the whole image down in size, correct? If that's what happens, than how will I crop out what I don't like in the picture? Just cut it out without cropping? Sorry if I'm not understanding something.

You simply want to crop the picture to that ratio, if necessary.

Do not resize the picture. Again, do not resize the picture.

The pictures that come out of the camera are 100% ready for printing at 4x6, since they already have the same width:height ratio as a 4x6 print.

Do not resize the picture. Crop the picture if you want, but be sure you're cropping in the correct ratio. Do not resize the picture. There is no reason to ever resize a picture for printing.

[DavidSR]

Ok, thanks! I'll try this later today.

[Bobster]

doh! read Printing as Painting - never mind