First time printing, need help (update)

That's great! Glad it's working out for you. The advantage of cropping it yourself is your control of the cropping. Rather than just arbitrarily cropping equal amounts off each side, you can crop however you feel is best for the composition of the photo. You may decide to crop a little off the top and none off one side to focus on your subject more effectively. Now that you know you can get decent prints you are free to experiment how to get GREAT prints!!

Thanks ejwebb.

I have one more question. Noticed that all the photos were chopped from the sides, is that how it normally works or do they crop a bit from the top & bottom sometimes.

Thanks again.

Look at the number of pixels in your photos - it varies by camera and by size settings in the camera. As an example, my digital Rebel takes photos in large JPEG that have 3072 pixels by 2048 pixels which is an aspect ratio of 1.5. If I want to print a 5 X 7 photo, for which the ratio is 1.4, I must remove some pixels from the long side to get it into the 1.4 ratio. In this case, I could crop 205 pixels off of the long side to create an image that is 2867 X 2048 which now has an aspect ratio of 1.4. I would then resize the photo to 5 X 7 at 300 dpi with resampling on.

This same process can be repeated with any print size - I think most digital camera aspect ratios are "longer" than standard print sizes so the crop usually does come off the long ends.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, that's great info. Will copy & paste it for future reference.

I have one more (and probably dumb) question.

You said something very interesting:

And:

My question is once you achieved the 1.4 aspect ratio can you print it to any size or does each size has its own dimensions in pixels (hope that makes sense ).

I mean if you make the photo 2867 X 2048, can you print it in any size you like.

Thanks again.

Each print size has its own ratio - you can do the math easily by dividing the long side of the print into the short side. My example was a 5 X 7 (7/5=1.4), but let's consider an 8 X 10. In this case the aspect ratio is 1.25 (10/8=1.25).

So, to adjust the image size in my example to that aspect ratio, I would multiply the short side by 1.25 (2048X1.25) to get required pixels for the long size of 2560. Subtracting this amount from the existing 3072 pixels on the long side gives me a crop of 512 pixels to be taken off the long end in order to end up with a 1.25 aspect ratio for an 8 X 10 print.

Did not realize there was so much math in photography, huh? The easy way to do this, of course, is to use the crop tool in Photoshop or Elements where you simply enter the required print size and dpi and position the crop tool on the photo as you would like it cropped. However, it is good to understand the math involved. It is also something to keep in mind when composing photos in the camera, as you will likely lose some of the long end when you print.

Out of curiosity, what camera and editing software are you using?

Another great info (and will copy & paste it too).

Was trying to understand the concept. As you said the s/w will do the correct cropping for you.

I have the same cam as yours, the 300D/rebel.

Many thanks for the help.

As to cropping, this tutorial has a lot of great info & tips.

Aha, Scottes dropped by. I wanted to thank you but didn't know when, so...Thanks!

Yourself and ejwebb were of great help, Thanks again.

Btw, showed my bro the photos of his kids and he was stunned (he wanted to them, grr).

Great post Scottes. Being an accountant, I usually revert to the math - but you even included very useful pictures and screenshots!! Very nice...

Being an engineer, I *always* revert to the math - it's just second nature.



I think it was PacAce who mentioned a few of those tips - I didn't know half of the stuff mentioned a week before I wrote that tutorial. But I thought they were pretty darn cool, so I wrote it up. And they certainly make life easier!

I'm slightly confused.
I've never used the marque tool to crop, however it seems you can use the crop tool for a specific ratio (as you mention) but if you don't put in any units of measurement (simply 5 and 7 for instance rather than 5in and 7in) it throws up a box that is that ratio and can be made larger or smaller and moved about. If you leave the resolution box blank it preserves the resolution as it was or you can put in what you want (300dpi for instance) This would seem to have the advantage of the marque method without the limitations or an I missing something?

You're correct Nick, and you're not missing a thing.

Right now, I can't think of a disadvantage to using the Crop tool, and it's certainly more powerful and has more features than the Marquee tool. But for some reason I almost never use the Crop tool - I mean like once a year I might use it. Habit, I guess. But I also never use all the Crop features as I just happen to do one step at a time for maximum control. Even so, the Crop tool would still do the job.

Thanks

I also go one step at a time (mostly out of habit).

A little North of Boston is where my old man lives (or is it a little south) Gloucester anyway

Goucester is a bit north of Boston. It's one of my favorite spots for photography and sunrises, particularly during the winter months.