What fomat should I save images in if they are getting printed? And resolution issue.

Ive only been shooting for 10 weeks, but I have a few images that are just begging to be framed. My problem is that after processing EVERY image I have ever processed, I have saved them all as JPegs. Is this an issue?

Should I try to reprocess them and save them in a different format for print?

The other issue is that I bought my 40D used, and didnt realize until a few days ago that the image quality was set to "M" and not "L". Since they were shot at Medium, is there an upper print size (in inches) I should stay at or below?

Any advice/information would be GREATLY appreciated!!!


And, just for fun, these are the 3 images I want to print (all taken within 2 weeks of owning a camera for the first time...before I knew better than to have the Image quality set higher):

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/54805847@N06/5​136371726/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/54805847@N06/5​112809528/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/54805847@N06/5​192840154/

Oh, and how do I set up a photo for print? I mean, how do I know how to crop it correctly for different print sizes in inches?

Lots of people will recommend a print resolution of 300dpi for best quality. However, this can be varied depending on how big your final print is on the basis that a larger print will generally be viewed from a greater distance, so can get away with a lower resolution.

To see how big your prints can be printed at 'maximum' resolution, just divide the size of the image measured in pixels by 300. i.e. if your image is 3000x2100 pixels a high quality print would be 10"x7". You could print a bit bigger with a slightly lower resolution. I would speak to your printers to see what they would recommend.

With regard to cropping, this comes down to the ratio between the long and short sides. Straight out of the camera, this ratio is 3:2, which means that you can print at any size that is a direct multiple of this without cropping, so 6x4, 12x8 24x16 etc would all be fine.

If you want to print at a different size, you will need to crop your image so that it's aspect ratio matches the aspect ratio of the print you want to make.

Nice shots. Sorarse pretty much said it all with regard to printing and cropping. With regard to the in-camera JPEG quality, this is unlikely to be noticeable in prints unless they're pretty large. Your 40D manual (assuming you got one with the used camera) has a chart on p. 56 showing recommended maximum print sizes for the various JPEG settings. If you don't have a hardcopy manual, you can download one here http://www.the-digital-picture.com …/Canon-EOS-40D-Manual.pdf.

Sorarse wrote in post #11524183
With regard to cropping, this comes down to the ratio between the long and short sides. Straight out of the camera, this ratio is 3:2, which means that you can print at any size that is a direct multiple of this without cropping, so 6x4, 12x8 24x16 etc would all be fine.

If you want to print at a different size, you will need to crop your image so that it's aspect ratio matches the aspect ratio of the print you want to make.

My issue is that I have cropped two of the images Ive posted above in some form (to get rid of things that didnt look right in the image).

So what happens if I open these images up in PhotoShop and click on Resize Image and then resize them by using the "inches" option? Will it just randomly choose where the cropping is done? Like, will it just lob off a few edges until it matches the inches ive inputted?

MindlessConsumer wrote in post #11524377
So what happens if I open these images up in PhotoShop and click on Resize Image and then resize them by using the "inches" option? Will it just randomly choose where the cropping is done? Like, will it just lob off a few edges until it matches the inches ive inputted?

It won't lop off anything. If you check "constrain proportions" it will resize as soon as you put in your new size for one dimension. If you don't check that, it will "squish" your entire photo to match the dimensions.

Love those shots of yours!

ncjohn wrote in post #11524492
It won't lop off anything. If you check "constrain proportions" it will resize as soon as you put in your new size for one dimension. If you don't check that, it will "squish" your entire photo to match the dimensions.

Love those shots of yours!

No way!! It will just smash it into the size you type in? Haha. What kind of solution is that?

So what happens when you select "Constrain Proportions"? What is changed so that it fits, say, 11x14 (or whatever values i type in)?

you say it wont lop anything off, but how does it resize it if one side is too long or short?

Please forgive my super noob questions

Don't resize. Take the original image (the one that came out of the camera), apply adjustments as needed, then crop to the proportions you need. There are only a couple of times I can think of when you'd need to resize - to reduce the image size to post here or elsewhere on the Internet, or to increase the image size beyond the original in order to print larger than you could with the original image.

MindlessConsumer wrote in post #11524532
No way!! It will just smash it into the size you type in? Haha. What kind of solution is that?

It's called freedom of choice, man! If that's what you want, that's what you get.

It's up to you to choose a size that fits the proportions of your image. Or to crop your image so that it fits the proportions of the print you want to make.

Question...why do these have watermarks that dont match the name in the captions?

Tim S wrote in post #11524621
Question...why do these have watermarks that dont match the name in the captions?

I'm guessing that OP is not actually Friedrich Nietzsche (the philosopher).

Tim S wrote in post #11524621
Question...why do these have watermarks that dont match the name in the captions?

I figured he was a newbie in search of the "right" one.

stsva wrote in post #11524577
Don't resize. Take the original image (the one that came out of the camera), apply adjustments as needed, then crop to the proportions you need. There are only a couple of times I can think of when you'd need to resize - to reduce the image size to post here or elsewhere on the Internet, or to increase the image size beyond the original in order to print larger than you could with the original image.

At least one of them has been cropped (to get rid of something that didnt look right in the picture) and i no longer have the origna). # 3 above is very slim and tall (it was cropped this way in PS), so how would I print it?

And I must certainly thank you guys!!! You guys are great!! I really didnt know I would get such great help here!!!

Thanks!!

MindlessConsumer wrote in post #11524778
At least one of them has been cropped (to get rid of something that didnt look right in the picture) and i no longer have the origna). # 3 above is very slim and tall (it was cropped this way in PS), so how would I print it?

And I must certainly thank you guys!!! You guys are great!! I really didnt know I would get such great help here!!!

Thanks!!

Important lesson learned - don't edit your original image file and then save over the original - save the edit as a separate file. For the third image, you could edit in PS and increase the canvas size (the background, not the actual image) to the proportions you want to print, then add a neutral color (say dark gray, but it could be anything you want) to the background with the image superimposed on that. The print will be in the proper proportion with the actual image in the middle and dark gray borders on each side.

So I tried printing the North Market photo on my Cannon printer (its not ver fancy or anything, but I just wanted to see how it would print. The colors are printer a good bit darker than they appear in the photo