Ladybug..but how do I print?

I took this cute shot of a Ladybug today, but when I try to e-mail it for print, even at the 4X6 size, it says "not ideal size for print", and looks really pixilated..and blurry. I wanted to have the pic enlarged to about 8X10 at least..what am I doing wrong? Thanks

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Difficult to answer without seeing the original but I'd guess it's a crop perhaps ?
You could try running it through the free de-noise version of neat image to see if it looks any better. Think most photo print sites just use the pixel size of the image to use as a guide for printing so you could just resize the crop assuming it is one up a bit to say 1500 X 2250 pixels or larger keeping the DPI constant.

Brian V.

So..in order to get a clear enlargement, I have to send in the original? I won't be able to use photoshop to enchance the color at all..nor will I be able to add text, or my cute little border? Thanks Brian.

PhotoGuru13 wrote in post #6383987
So..in order to get a clear enlargement, I have to send in the original? I won't be able to use photoshop to enchance the color at all..nor will I be able to add text, or my cute little border? Thanks Brian.

You shouldn't have to send the original, but you do have to have a high enough pixel count to keep it from having the jaggies. I suspect you are saving it in a very low quality output or the original image was shot in one of the extremely low quality capture modes. My bet would be that you saved it at a low pixel pixel count at a specified size, like 4x6 at 72dpi, so you could email it or some such. If you didn't change the original, then I suggest you go back to the original, make a copy of it and perform whatever changes you want on the copy, but when you save it, make sure you don't change the original size of the image. Then if you want versions to email, make a copy of the copy and resize that however you want.

Your image above is 72 dpi, with a long edge of 640 pixels - likely insufficient resolution for a 4x6. Also be aware that 8x10 will crop your border because the aspect ratio is different than your image above. It will probably crop from the center equally on either side, potentially cropping your text on the left.

Okay..I've been having a problem printing any and all my pics. I don't know what I am doing wrong. I have my camera set to "large" format or high quality. I download them to my computer, and save them as a medium to large size (unless it's too big to e-mail, then I make them smaller). If I want to take a pic (like the lady bug) and add special effects, and make it an odd width/length ratio and print it that size (I hate standard 5X7, 8X10..why not a 8 X 20 or something like that). I don't want my borders and text to be cropped off by Costco (which is what is happening), even with small pics that are being printed the 4X6 size. Grrrrrrrrrr..this is so agrevating, to have pics on the computer that I can't ever print, because they always look like crap. The advice the lady at Costco gave me was to calibrate my monitor..that has NOTHING to do with pics turning out so blurry and pixilated I would think!! I wish someone would just sit me down and teach me this stuff...crap! (can you detect the frustration? Anyone want a fairly new Canon XSi, before I pitch it out the window..along with my computer??)

What it has to do with is trying to print to a non-standard size. You can't just take a 4x6 image and say print it at 8x20. The image must be sized to match the desired printer output. If you wish to make an 8x20 print, you will have to add some white space to the image size...since the standard size is 16x20....you would have to add an area of 8x20 white space to get an adjusted 16x20 print size. The printer can then make your print and trim away the white space. If you do not size your images in this fashion, the printer will just crop them to the best of their ability, which will give you missing areas of your photo.

Your picture above is 72ppi which is fine for the web, but for printing it should be at least 180 or higher. The link below will help you understand about resizing, but if you don't want to lose anything on your prints you'll have to crop them to print size (4X6, 8X10, etc.) before you send them out.

http://photo.net/learn​/resize/

THANK YOU Hawkeye..I did read it, and it makes sense to me, however, this is for viewing on the web, not for print right? Is there any info on how to adjust pics for print? Thanks

PhotoGuru,

Sounds to me as though you might need to invest in a photo inkjet printer. Then you could experiment at home, trying out the various options you have been offered.

To print at Costco you should crop your images to 300 DPI. That means that your 4x6 image should be 1200 x 1800. You should have a crop tool in your editing software that will let you not only specify the size you want but the DPI you want. You should also have no problem at all getting that size from your cameras original image after you edit. This is fine for 4x6 because it is the same ratio as your camera sensor (2/3).

If you go to 8x10 you have a different issue. That is not the sensor ratio so you will end up cropping someplace.

Put your text and borders on after you edit and crop.

Check Costco web instructions on their web site about cropping and how they print.

Here is a screen shot of Photoshop showing you the controls for cropping. This is set up for an 8 x 10 at 300 dpi. Start with your full sized file and do this when you are preparing to print. If you want an odd size, make sure the size you want will fit into a standard size print. Use a canvas of the standard size and make your image any size you want.
For the web...I size to 800 pixels on the long side. You don't have to worry about dpi in this case.

Thanks Poloman, I will have my photoshop software figured out...soon!

A simple and useful tool that my wife uses is The Print Shop by Borderbund.
It is easy to use and you can add borders and written text to the image that
you have created. I am still trying to learn my Photoshop Elements 6, which
is taking some time. The sample below is from The Print

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The Print Shop....opps!