When uploading piccies to print do you...

Hi folks, I have got 20 free prints from Jessops on line printing which I have to use up by tomorrow.
I was wondering if people here know of an optimum size to upload piccies for 6x4 prints? Is it best to upload my originals and let Jessops do the resizing or is there an advantage for me to resize and sharpen a little before uploading?

I would be interested in your thoughts!

Olly.

I normally resize my shots to 6x4 @300dpi, sharpen them (in fact slightly over sharpen some of them) and then save them as high res jpgs in sRGB format.
To get the sharpest prints you need to sharpen at the finished size. And you MUST make sure they are sRGB and not aRGB.
Im not saying Jessops etc wont do a good job and it is more work for you but its the best way of doing it IMHO.
Of course there are loads of ways of doing the above so that's down to you.

Hope this helps

6 x 4 prints @300ppi = 1800 x 1200 pixels - This will give you the optimum quality at this size.
The will need a bit of sharpening, and as Dave said ^^^ slightly over sharpen for best results if getting prints done.

dave_bass5 wrote in post #3050346
I normally resize my shots to 6x4 @300dpi, sharpen them (in fact slightly over sharpen some of them) and then save them as high res jpgs in sRGB format.
To get the sharpest prints you need to sharpen at the finished size. And you MUST make sure they are sRGB and not aRGB.
Im not saying Jessops etc wont do a good job and it is more work for you but its the best way of doing it IMHO.
Of course there are loads of ways of doing the above so that's down to you.

Hope this helps

Thanks Dave, I wasn't sure whether to trust their downsizing / sharpening software or what really I will bear this in mind for next time!
In the end I realise I might have made a mistake in letting Jessops own software adjust the images to allow for faster upload.... It will be interesting to see how they come back as a result!
I spent ages making sure they were all the right aspect ratio i.e. adding black bands top bottom / left right do other people bother to do this as well?

kevin_c wrote in post #3050457
6 x 4 prints @300ppi = 1800 x 1200 pixels - This will give you the optimum quality at this size.
The will need a bit of sharpening, and as Dave said ^^^ slightly over sharpen for best results if getting prints done.

Hi Kevin, yes most shots ended up being exactly 1800 x 1200 but I don't know what size Jessops own software reduced them to! Aparently optimised for 6x4 though so we will see!
I bear the sharpening in mind for next time thanks for all the help!

Regarding the aspect ratio, I always crop and resize my image files to the exact size for the print, that way i'm the one in control of any cropping etc.

Olly
I think most people that care about their prints do all the editing before hand this but i know most of my friends dont (but then they dont have £3000 invested in camera gear).
I dont konw of anyone that puts black borders around the shots though. All mine are border less prints but each t his own i guess. There are also a few new sizes around now like 6x4.5 but ive not used them.
Also try PhotoBox if you can
Very good quality and i normally get my prints in less than 24 hours. They came out top in a recent magazine test as well.

dave_bass5 wrote in post #3052721
Olly
I think most people that care about their prints do all the editing before hand this but i know most of my friends dont (but then they dont have £3000 invested in camera gear).
I dont konw of anyone that puts black borders around the shots though. All mine are border less prints but each t his own i guess. There are also a few new sizes around now like 6x4.5 but ive not used them.
Also try PhotoBox if you can
Very good quality and i normally get my prints in less than 24 hours. They came out top in a recent magazine test as well.

Hi Dave, Yes the borders were for two reasons. 1. because some of the shots were from a 4:3 ratio off my old coolpix and 2. because I didn't want to spoil the composition of some of my cropped shots from this camera that's all. The bands were generally quite small and only on two oposing sides... A bit like widescreen on the telly!
I did notice Jessops now print straight to 4:3 this is the first time I have seen this!
As for photobox are they the ones that send you the print with giraffe and beach scene to calibrate monitor? I think I used these, but only used Jessops this time to use my free print credits, and I also like being able to pick them up at my local store which saves on postage

olly
I understand. Yes, ive noticed that a lot of labs now have other sizes to account for digital cameras having different aspect ratios?
Yes, Photobox are the ones that send you a test chart when you first order.
I agree about the postage. sometimes it can come to more than the cost fo the prints. I dont have many printed. In fact this lot from my Florida trip are the first from my 30D ive had done. Very impressed though and i have now gone a bit sill and have had a lot of older shots done. Still, always nice to look at a good 10x8 taken by yourself hanging on the wall.

ok folks thought I would give an update - I was initially a little dissapointed with my Jessops prints, but maybe because of my post processing, or maybe my monitor isn't properly calibrated? Basically, the contrast seems a little 'flat' to me, so while more details have come out of some shadows, the pictures are not true to how I intended them. I might scan a piccy tomorrow then post the original side by side to give whoever is still watching this thread an idea of what I am talking about, if you don't mind offering some assistance? I also might print some identical pictures with photobox but I would rather avoid this for reasons of cost.

Thanks,
Olly.

olly_k wrote in post #3070899
I also might print some identical pictures with photobox but I would rather avoid this for reasons of cost.

if you'd be interested in trying some other printing sites, there are several that offer free prints for signing up and either free shipping or otherwise really cheap. Snapfish, Shutterfly, Dot Photo, Kodak EasyShare Gallery, and PhotoWorks to name a few off-hand.

As a matter of fact, not too long ago I did this myself with the above sites. I had a handful of shots I wanted to see in print anyway so I took the same set of shots and got them printed by all of them. In total, it was 35 pictures for under $6-7 I think after the shipping costs added up (they all give you a few free prints when you sign up).
From my personal findings of that set, I noticed that the Kodak prints seemed to look not so great in comparison to the others. Even though I made certain to deselect any auto correct functions the sites offered, parts of some of the photos from Kodak had a look almost of being oversharpened or something.

In the end, of those sites, I'd go with PhotoWorks again for future purchases. I placed all my orders within 10-15 minutes of one another on a Friday afternoon. I got my prints from PhotoWorks on Monday morning and they looked the best overall, plus the envelope they were in was better made to prevent bending the prints. I got most of the others on around Wednesday I think, and Shutterfly lagged in last with theirs showing up eithet Thursday or Friday (I can't remember which). All the photos looked good (except the oddities in the Kodak shots) but the PhotoWorks ones just seemed to have the edge in quality of prints (both actual photograph as well as the quality of the paper it's printed on), speed in getting them to me, and the shipping packaging.