cropping for wedding work

I shot my first wedding and I am a little confused on how to crop for prints. I have been croping with the two thirds rule cropper on CS5 and saving it as a high res JPEG around 8-10 meg files. Am I going to run into problems making 4x6, 5x7, 8x10 prints like this?

I don't know what the "two thirds rule" is, but if you cropped an image with a 2:3 ratio then you're good for 4x6. The rest are obviously not the same ratio.

If you plan on doing more event work, I'd really recommend a site like smugmug pro, where you can just upload the images and they will crop for you, or allow the user to crop to their preference when placing an order.

BrandonSi wrote in post #12273238
... or allow the user to crop to their preference when placing an order.

IMHO, this is really asking for trouble! The average person has a hard time grasping the concept that a 4x6 crop aspect ratio does not fit 5x7 or 8x10, nor do they easily understand that you need an 8x10 aspect crop to fit what they want as a 16x20 for the wall. Heck, even photographers on POTN have a hard time dealing with this fundamental concept.

Thanks brandon. I still have all my edited RAWS in adobe bridge so I will just have to re do them for the larger prints.

Not all print sizes fit to the aspect ratio of your sensor, its just a fact of life. 4x6 and then 8 x 12 will use your whole image, the others that you mention will require you to lose some of your image. That's why when I shoot a wedding I try not to shoot too tight knowing that this is likely to happen.

Input your desired crop size into the appropriate fields in the crop toolbar

Thanks ssim!

I notcied the crop tool in the raw editor is slightly different then using 2:3 ratio and I couldnt figure out how to change it.

Assuming you are using Camera Raw, when you select the Crop tool, you can right-click on the image to choose an aspect ratio and the tool will be constrained to that ratio.

Here:

I pay no attention to it, I crop them however they look best.
The Vast majority of photos never see print so the crop doesn't matter.
If you are worried about it save the original uncropped versions, you can always go back to it later if the client should want a print size you are unable to accomodate with the way you cropped it.

René Damkot wrote in post #12273421
Here:

Ah, that too! Hold down the clicker over the crop button and it's like right-clicking on the image!

Personallly I would not crop until you decide on the size you need and then crop accordingly.

You can still crop to rule of thirds on a 5x7 but it will be different to the same image on a 6x9.

This is why prople always advise you to "shoot loose" otherwise you limit your creative options.

Wilt wrote in post #12273264
IMHO, this is really asking for trouble! The average person has a hard time grasping the concept that a 4x6 crop aspect ratio does not fit 5x7 or 8x10, nor do they easily understand that you need an 8x10 aspect crop to fit what they want as a 16x20 for the wall. Heck, even photographers on POTN have a hard time dealing with this fundamental concept.

Have you seen the smugmug re-cropping tool? It allows the user to drag around a box to show them exactly what the print they'll receive will look like when they go to order a specific size. It doesn't get much more simple than that.

If this was 2004 I might agree with you that the presentation / technology isn't up to conveying the concepts and requirements of cropping, but, IMO, smugmug has done a good job. I've sold a number of prints that people have had to crop themselves and never received any questions/complains, etc..

Now you're always going to run into those who can't grasp the concept, there's just not much you can do about that select group of individuals..

Here's the overview..
http://www.smugmug.com​/help/enhancing-photos

BrandonSi wrote in post #12280002
Have you seen the smugmug re-cropping tool? It allows the user to drag around a box to show them exactly what the print they'll receive will look like when they go to order a specific size. It doesn't get much more simple than that.

If this was 2004 I might agree with you that the presentation / technology isn't up to conveying the concepts and requirements of cropping, but, IMO, smugmug has done a good job. I've sold a number of prints that people have had to crop themselves and never received any questions/complains, etc..

Now you're always going to run into those who can't grasp the concept, there's just not much you can do about that select group of individuals..

Here's the overview..
http://www.smugmug.com​/help/enhancing-photos

Thanks for pointing this out. It would seem that you have to use SmugMug, have all of your photos on that system, and give access to people to that account and they do the cropping on line, and then order prints...Is that right?

So what do you do for people reviewing a CD or DVD full of photos, off line and not connected to the web? (after all, many folks have slow modem access only, even now, because of living in areas where high speed DSL is simply not available...I could not get high speed DSL mid-way between San Francisco and Silicon Valley, because I was too far from some access point, and that only changed finally about 7 years ago!

7 years is a lifetime when it comes to technology