What Size should we crop before we send for Printing?

[tbteng]

Hi need some help here. I understand that the labs would further crop our images when we send for development .

What would be the size of the image we should pre-crop so that they don't touch our pictures pls? I am looking at printing 4R, 8R and Super 8R. Can someone please advise?

[wkcheah]

Originally Posted by tbteng Hi need some help here. I understand that the labs would further crop our images when we send for development . What would be the size of the image we should pre-crop so that they don't touch our pictures pls? I am looking at printing 4R, 8R and Super 8R. Can someone please advise?

If u use PS to crop, after selecting the crop tool, you will see the width and height dimensions on the top bar. So, all u need to do is set the right sizes for what you need - i.e. 4R is 4 inches x 6 inches, 8R is 8 inches x 10 inches, while super 8R is 8 inches x 12 inches. Then select the area you want to crop on your image. Voila !

[ethany]

Originally Posted by wkcheah If u use PS to crop, after selecting the crop tool, you will see the width and height dimensions on the top bar. So, all u need to do is set the right sizes for what you need - i.e. 4R is 4 inches x 6 inches, 8R is 8 inches x 10 inches, while super 8R is 8 inches x 12 inches. Then select the area you want to crop on your image. Voila !

cropped the photo to 4 X 6 in....
adjusted it to 300dpi....

and the final jpg file is around 1mb....
is this normal? good for 4R prints?? should e file size be larger or smaller??

how abt saving at 600dpi... would it help make e final printouts better?

and when saving e files, there is this final option for me to choose e quality of e file.... what quality should i save it at?? its a number from 1 to 12.....

first time sending images for printing... thanks for any help..

[Ah Pao]

A higher DPI will not help enhance your image quality. You cannot make data out of nothing (300 DPI -> 600 DPI...where are the extra 300 pixels going to come from?)

Reading from others in the forum, the Fuji Frontier machine prints at 150dpi. So you may want to use that as a guide.

As for JPEG compression level, choose the one with the least compression. This is very important as highly-compressed JPEG pictures have very obvious artifacts.

Basically, the workflow should be: Resize/resample to 150dpi -> Crop -> Save as JPEG with least compression.

[Madmax]

Pardon for my ignorance. Just started using digital but have yet to send any photos for processing.

Why do labs crop the photos? Do they crop a lot off?

[Poon]

Originally Posted by ethany and the final jpg file is around 1mb.... is this normal? good for 4R prints?? should e file size be larger or smaller??

Larger.

Originally Posted by ethany and when saving e files, there is this final option for me to choose e quality of e file.... what quality should i save it at?? its a number from 1 to 12....

12.

Originally Posted by Madmax Why do labs crop the photos? Do they crop a lot off?

Most cameras don't store the image n the same ratio as printed photo, thus general abit is cropped off the top and bottom of the image when printed.


Hope it helps.

[ethany]

Originally Posted by Ah Pao A higher DPI will not help enhance your image quality. You cannot make data out of nothing (300 DPI -> 600 DPI...where are the extra 300 pixels going to come from?) Reading from others in the forum, the Fuji Frontier machine prints at 150dpi. So you may want to use that as a guide. As for JPEG compression level, choose the one with the least compression. This is very important as highly-compressed JPEG pictures have very obvious artifacts. Basically, the workflow should be: Resize/resample to 150dpi -> Crop -> Save as JPEG with least compression.

okay okay thanks for guiding...
did a search on this forum, some say 300 dpi some say 150 dpi...
think i'll try both on e same photo and send for printing to see if there's any diff...

but i just adjust the dpi only mah... not really 'making something out of nothing'....
actually did an hour of searching in e forum b4 posting for help...
came across this thread
dpi vs image resolution

[ethany]

the largest i can get is a 1.3MB jpg......

baseline, lowest compression, 300dpi, 1200 X 1800 pixel, 4 X 6 inch...

is it still too small a jpg?? or is this due to my native image resolution?
working on a 2272 X 1704 jpg from a 4MP camera....

is the 1.3MB still unacceptable?

whats a normal jpg size you guys send for printing?

thanks again for any help

[Ah Pao]

Originally Posted by ethany but i just adjust the dpi only mah... not really 'making something out of nothing'.... actually did an hour of searching in e forum b4 posting for help... came across this thread dpi vs image resolution

Then you are changing the print size of the photo, that's all. It's still not going to enhance your image quality.

[plinius]

just got my pict back from development...this is the configuration i used: 300dpi, 1200 X 1800 pixel, 4 X 6 inch. shoud be 4R rite? found that some of my pict are cropped when printed on 4R, any ideal why?

thanks.