Resizing Pics

This is a message that my friend received on walmart.com when she tried to upload photos that I had taken for her with my camera. She printed them there last week and some where cropped off, so I edited them again in Lightroom 3 and resized them to 4 x 6 before exporting. The ones she tried to upload were the ones that I resized. Could someone please tell me what I am doing wrong? Do I have something set in my camera wrong? I have a Canon 5D Mark II and I shoot in RAW, edit them and then export as jpg's.


Walmart photo
Convert 4 x 6 to trueDigital?
There are 7 photos in your order that were taken with a digital camera that have a 4:3 aspect ratio. You can continue to
print them as 4 x 6 prints, which will crop the original image, or print them in our loss-free trueDigital size (4 x 5.3).
4x6 Prints 4 x 5.3 trueDigital Prints
Or
5.3
• Part of the image will be lost (cropped)
• Easily fit standard albums and frames
Entire image printed (no cropping)
Smaller size may not fit some albums or frames
Don't Change
Please note: trueDigital will only be applied to the 4 x 6 prints in your order that are in the 4:3 aspect ratio used by most
digital cameras. Pictures in the 3:2 aspect ratio, such as photos from film or scanned photos, will still be printed at the
standard 4 x 6 size. Other print sizes, including any 5 x 7, 8 x 10, wallet-sized and cropped or bordered prints, will not be
changed.

What were the pixel dimensions of those images? Are they in a 2:3 relationship?

All Canon EOS cameras produce an image that is already 2x3 (which is the same as 4x6), so unless you cropped them to another shape that is what they would have been. If you did crop them for aesthetic/compositiona​l reasons, LR would retain that shape even if you typed in 4x6 in the Export dialog, because to resize an image that is not 2:3 shaped to 4x6 would cause distortion.

Sounds like a P&S camera. I used to get that message before I got a DSLR.

Basically they want crop the top and/or bottom because your images are not wide enough to print 4x6. As long as there is room, you should be able to crop a little off the top and bottom to make it work.

What Walmart seem to be saying is that some of the photos are the wrong aspect ratio to be printed on 4x6 without being cropped. I don't see how this can be the case if you are resizujng them to be 4x6 before exporting them.

Can you post up what size (LxW) the exported images are in pixels?

Sorarse wrote in post #11458721
What Walmart seem to be saying is that some of the photos are the wrong aspect ratio to be printed on 4x6 without being cropped. I don't see how this can be the case if you are resizujng them to be 4x6 before exporting them.

Can you post up what size (LxW) the exported images are in pixels?

I suspect the OP cropped the images, giving them a different aspect ratio. When LR resizes it always constrains the ratio, no matter what numbers are put into the dialog. For instance, crop an image square and then try to resize it to 4x6 inches at 300 ppi. You will not get a 1200x1800 pixels image. You will get a 1200x1200 square.

tzalman wrote in post #11458624
What were the pixel dimensions of those images? Are they in a 2:3 relationship?

All Canon EOS cameras produce an image that is already 2x3 (which is the same as 4x6), so unless you cropped them to another shape that is what they would have been. If you did crop them for aesthetic/compositiona​l reasons, LR would retain that shape even if you typed in 4x6 in the Export dialog, because to resize an image that is not 2:3 shaped to 4x6 would cause distortion.

Walmart listed that the pics were in a 4:3 ratio. I did do some cropping off each side of them and it cut off the bottom of the pic. What do I do to keep this from happening again? I crop a lot of my images.

vickie.james wrote in post #11458876
Walmart listed that the pics were in a 4:3 ratio. I did do some cropping off each side of them and it cut off the bottom of the pic. What do I do to keep this from happening again? I crop a lot of my images.

When you crop in LR, be sure the lock icon is closed and select the crop preset ratio that fits your paper. It may mean that you can't crop exactly as you want because you will be limited to what fits inside the crop box, but that's one of the compromises that have to be accepted. It's better for you to make the compromise and find the best crop that fits your paper than for the printer to do it blindly.

tzalman wrote in post #11458960
When you crop in LR, be sure the lock icon is closed and select the crop preset ratio that fits your paper. It may mean that you can't crop exactly as you want because you will be limited to what fits inside the crop box, but that's one of the compromises that have to be accepted. It's better for you to make the compromise and find the best crop that fits your paper than for the printer to do it blindly.

Thank You. You have been very helpful.

vickie.james wrote in post #11458455
I have a Canon 5D Mark II ...

5D2 images have a 3:2 aspect ratio.

Either Walmart is mistaken, or you shot those images with something other than a 5D2.

no, the OP said she cropped the images basically freeform which changed the aspect ratio...

digirebelva wrote in post #11459685
no, the OP said she cropped the images basically freeform which changed the aspect ratio...

That's the problem.

vickie.james wrote in post #11458876
I did do some cropping off each side of them and it cut off the bottom of the pic. What do I do to keep this from happening again?

• If you want a 4x6 print, you must crop the image to a 4x6 aspect ratio.
  
• If you want a 5x7 print, you must crop to a 5x7 ratio.
  
• If you want an 8x10 print, you must crop to an 8x10 ratio.
  

Is there any "standard" aspect ratio that can used that will allow you to print a 4x6 , 5x7, or 8x10 of the same photo? I too am using 5D2 and have the same issue sometimes.

mebuck wrote in post #11738963
Is there any "standard" aspect ratio that can used that will allow you to print a 4x6 , 5x7, or 8x10 of the same photo? I too am using 5D2 and have the same issue sometimes.

No. 4x6, 5x7, and 8x10 are obviously different aspect ratios.

okay - im searching for more answers on cropping, aspect ratio and what not. trying to understand it to avoid problems in printing. Can you direct me to a good link or any information that will help me. Basically need to know how to properly crop the image so that nothing or as little as possible is not lost in printing. thanks in advance.

mebuck wrote in post #11739020
Basically need to know how to properly crop the image so that nothing or as little as possible is not lost in printing. thanks in advance.

Do you have Photoshop?