Help... Resolution Questions...

Hi there,

I did a portrait session for a family that has asked me to process their 7-year old wedding photos for them.

She gave me the images and the files are not very large. When I opened them in PS, the files are 1312 x 2000 @300 dpi (or is it ppi?). They are showing a size of 4x6.

The problem comes in that she wants them edited and processed to an 8x10. Can I push a file of this size to 8x10? And if so, what is the smallest resolution I can use without comprimising print quality?

Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated.

first, do they all fit well to that ratio, because you'll have to crop them to fit to 8x10, does anything get cut off in the process?

4x6 @ 300dpi = 1200x1800
8x10 @ 300dpi = 2400x3000
8x10 @ 200dpi = 1600x2000 so with your 1312x2000px, you'll have to interpolate a little or drop the res a little more, do some testing to see which is best for the way you're going to print them..

If they are perfectly exposed and shot with a good lens... you should be able to print satisfactory 8 x 10's. Some will turn out better than others. None will be razor sharp.

The 300 ppi is meaningless. It's the 1312 x 2000 that's important.

I would print 1 or 2 and show them... let them decide if it's worth printing all of them.

Bobster wrote in post #6189937
first, do they all fit well to that ratio, because you'll have to crop them to fit to 8x10, does anything get cut off in the process?

4x6 @ 300dpi = 1200x1800
8x10 @ 300dpi = 2400x3000
8x10 @ 200dpi = 1600x2000 so with your 1312x2000px, you'll have to interpolate a little or drop the res a little more, do some testing to see which is best for the way you're going to print them..

Thanks for the reply. Most of them will fit into the 8x10 ratio without a problem. There are a few that will not fit unfortunately, so maybe I'll try a 5x7 with a black border to make it 8x10 on those shots.

I don't understand interpolating.... sorry for my lack of knowledge in this area. How do I interpolate an image.

For resizing, typically I would just crop to the desired size and plug in the minimum resolution needed for print.

When I crop these images and leave the resolution blank, Photoshop applies it at 164, is that enough for a decent 8x10 print... One that will be acceptable to the every day average Joe?

I know it won't live up to my expectation, but the images don't either, so.....

bohdank wrote in post #6190050
If they are perfectly exposed and shot with a good lens... you should be able to print satisfactory 8 x 10's. Some will turn out better than others. None will be razor sharp.

The 300 ppi is meaningless. It's the 1312 x 2000 that's important.

I would print 1 or 2 and show them... let them decide if it's worth printing all of them.

They are not perfectly exposed or perfectly sharp.... and were not taken with a good camera.... I think it's a point and shoot.. what's a Nikon D1 anyway?

I tried to talk her into just doing 5x7's, but she's pretty insistent on having 8x10's..... **sigh** I almost wish I didn't offer to help with them.

My concern is that the images are poor quality, and she wants a very high end album for them... just doesn't make sense in my mind... but they are well-enough off that the money is not an issue for them I guess.

So will 163 dpi at 1306 1632 print okay? Is there a minimum guideline somewhere, or a chart on line that anyone is aware of?

As suggested above with 163 ppi they won't be great but probably will be "OK". Most labs recommend 250-300ppi for optimal results.

Interpolating would be if you resize it in Photoshop with resampling on and force it to 300ppi for a given size (for example)...PS will add pixels "in between" the data that's already there, this is interpolation. Whether or not this would look better that just sending the images as-is to the lab and letting their equipment handle them is something you'd have to test - in fact you'd probably be best off talking to the lab first and seeing what they say.

Kristy wrote in post #6190124
Thanks for the reply. Most of them will fit into the 8x10 ratio without a problem. There are a few that will not fit unfortunately, so maybe I'll try a 5x7 with a black border to make it 8x10 on those shots.

I don't understand interpolating.... sorry for my lack of knowledge in this area. How do I interpolate an image.

For resizing, typically I would just crop to the desired size and plug in the minimum resolution needed for print.

When I crop these images and leave the resolution blank, Photoshop applies it at 164, is that enough for a decent 8x10 print... One that will be acceptable to the every day average Joe?

I know it won't live up to my expectation, but the images don't either, so.....



They are not perfectly exposed or perfectly sharp.... and were not taken with a good camera.... I think it's a point and shoot.. what's a Nikon D1 anyway?

I tried to talk her into just doing 5x7's, but she's pretty insistent on having 8x10's..... **sigh** I almost wish I didn't offer to help with them.

My concern is that the images are poor quality, and she wants a very high end album for them... just doesn't make sense in my mind... but they are well-enough off that the money is not an issue for them I guess.

So will 163 dpi at 1306 1632 print okay? Is there a minimum guideline somewhere, or a chart on line that anyone is aware of?

made me think for a bit that the nikon d1 is the 4 or 6 mp camera...but researched: http://www.dpreview.co​m …/specs/Nikon/ni​kon_d1.asp
and it's a 2mp camera....or you can round up to 3 :-/

you might be able to get away with 163. It's kinda hard to say but if you were to try a test print...I know the sams club near you has a great epson printer but not sure about the costco. anyways good luck

disneydork06 wrote in post #6190621
made me think for a bit that the nikon d1 is the 4 or 6 mp camera...but researched: http://www.dpreview.co​m …/specs/Nikon/ni​kon_d1.asp
and it's a 2mp camera....or you can round up to 3 :-/

you might be able to get away with 163. It's kinda hard to say but if you were to try a test print...I know the sams club near you has a great epson printer but not sure about the costco. anyways good luck

Yeah, I know... the camera is not even close to what I'm used to shooting with... I keep asking myself why I told her I'd do it for her. I felt bad that she was going to send them to a lab that wouldn't give them personal attention I guess. it's only 50 shots... The thing that concerns me is that she wants to put them in a Renaissance album... and the albums are so pricey.... and the images are not of that caliber... but.. they aren't my images, so I guess I shouldn't be obsessing about it....

Currently I'm at 200dpi on the resolution.... I hope that will print okay.

This is almost certainly a violation of the original photographers copyright and without their permission you should no be doing this.

Kurt

Interpolate basically means to add pixels, based on the existing pixels. If you want more pixels the new ones have to come from somewhere.

Yes it may be a violation of the original photographers copyright. I offer this kind of service, but I require a written release from the original photographer.

Twitch1977 wrote in post #6191758
This is almost certainly a violation of the original photographers copyright and without their permission you should no be doing this.

Kurt

Nope.... it was a friend of theirs that took the photos... at the time they didn't have a lot of money for the wedding and decided that pictures were not at the top of their list of important things....

I am not naive to the workings of the business and I would not go behind another photographer's back and process their photos... these images are certainly not professional images by any standard. But she asked if I could do anything with them, and I told her I could clean them up for her. She is a good client, and so I was willing to help.

I appreciate your efforts to remind us to work prudently. Which I do, and do so proudly.

tim wrote in post #6191815
Interpolate basically means to add pixels, based on the existing pixels. If you want more pixels the new ones have to come from somewhere.

Yes it may be a violation of the original photographers copyright. I offer this kind of service, but I require a written release from the original photographer.

Thank you for your explanation... And I'm guessing this is a common service to offer, since so many wedding photographers are now selling unedited CD's because they just want to cash and run... If it were my choice, I'd process them all and let my artistic work shine from start to finish.....

I'd rather not shoot weddings anytime soon... Babies and little children are just fine for me.

I would make a test print of the worst image of the bunch. Don't kill yourself tweaking it. Tell them this is how it is going to be.
Just for grins, when you upsize try setting the resolution to 360 and resample image to bicubic sharper.

Kristy wrote in post #6191869
Thank you for your explanation... And I'm guessing this is a common service to offer, since so many wedding photographers are now selling unedited CD's because they just want to cash and run... If it were my choice, I'd process them all and let my artistic work shine from start to finish.....

Interpolation isn't a service someone would offer, it's a technical process used to enlarge images. No wedding photographer would have a need to do this for CDs.

Incidentally wedding photographers who take the cash and run miss out on the majority of the revenue from a wedding - albums.

poloman wrote in post #6192177
I would make a test print of the worst image of the bunch. Don't kill yourself tweaking it. Tell them this is how it is going to be.
Just for grins, when you upsize try setting the resolution to 360 and resample image to bicubic sharper.

Call me clueless... but I have now idea what a bicubic sharpener is..... DUH...

I'd gladly give it a try... I'll have to do a search when I have some free time later tonight

tim wrote in post #6192189
Interpolation isn't a service someone would offer, it's a technical process used to enlarge images. No wedding photographer would have a need to do this for CDs.

Incidentally wedding photographers who take the cash and run miss out on the majority of the revenue from a wedding - albums.

OOps.... I didn't mean offering an interpolation service... I was referring to the service of processing someone else's images from a CD with their permission.

And I agree with you 100% that photographers that do not process their images are totally missing the mark... To me the job comes full circle... shooting, processing, and delivering a quailty product... and seeing the happy faces of a very satisfied customer... that is what keeps me going.

Thanks for your input.

You will see bicubic sharper in photoshop under edit/image size. Look under resample image.

poloman wrote in post #6193619
You will see bicubic sharper in photoshop under edit/image size. Look under resample image.

Ahhh.... I'll have to take peek at that.