Advice needed: Cropping and developing

[sneezybum]

My image size is 1600 x 1200. I understand that to print 4R prints, I have to crop to 3:2 ratio. What does this mean? What else do I need to do before sending it to Standard Photo or Soo Kee for developing? Any advice would be greatly appreciated cos I know nuts about developing and cropping.

 

[baiyun]

for me, i set the crop size in photoshop... 1600 by 1066 pixels

 

[mpenza]

you may also want to "oversharpen" the photos a bit first before sending in for prints.

 

[StreetShooter]

Erm, no you don't.

If you are printing on an inkjet, you would want to oversharpen.

If you are sending in to Fujifilm for printing, your prints will come back looking, well, oversharpened. Trust me. Been there, done that. Just keep it at the normal setting.

 

[mpenza]

oh. okie, will keep that in mind. I guess the shops does their own "sharpening" as well right?

 

[sneezybum]

Do I have to reduce my image size? Or will the lab resize it to 4R size for me? I'm using C-2100UZ and my sharpening is set to soft. So do I still have to unsharpen using PS?

 

[mpenza]

don't reduce the size. 1600x1066 can be printed 4R or for that matter any size (but quality would be affected if it's blown up too big).

applying some unsharp mask would help.

 

[sneezybum]

Does that mean I have to crop certain portions of my image in order to resize from 1600 x 1200 to 1600 x 1066?

 

[Flare]

Well, potographs are usually around 3:2 ratio, but most digi cams don't produce the image at that ratio, so, to fit the image into a photo paper thingy, they'll need to crop, you may like to do this yourself so that you have a choice over how the image will be crop. I believe it is possible to print a little under size so that the whole image will fit into the photo with some black or white border(pls check with the developer). Or you can do this yourself by adding borders to the image to achieve a 3:2 aspect ratio before sending it in and manually cut out the borders later if you want boderless photos. Or print with a photo ink jet, a S$319 epson stylus photo 810 will work really fine given the correct paper, you'll have better control over how things are printed and get prints that rival photographs. But be prepared to get a paper cutter to remove the unprinted areas if required. Personally, I prefer the prints from my printer compared to developed ones... I like the colour better.

 

[itsmywill]

u can also opt for 4DSC size which is a thiner version of the 4R size, at ratio 4:3 instead of 3:2

will be collecting mine tonight, will let u know what is e effect.

another abt sharpening - if i do "auto-level" using photoshop, will fuji epic printing do another sharpening 4 me. will e effect be oversharpened like what u say?

 

[Flare]

I think they level the pictures to a certain extent if the image is traight from the camera... But Don't know about the sharpening part...

 

[itsmywill]

just got my photos from soo kee at lucky plaza. the effects are great. i dun see any image enhancement or sharpening done by them. quite stiafied with the outcome.

 

[sneezybum]

How much you pay for them? Got handling fee if you develop more like Standard Photo? One last question, how long did you wait to get your pics?

 

[itsmywill]

$5 handling charge. took 2 working days to collect back. e machines there look pretty new. dunno how bad e quality of other shops that dun use epic & dun charge e extra handling cost...

 

[La|n]

how much does it cost to develop the foto ?

 

[mpenza]

Originally posted by sneezybum
How much you pay for them? Got handling fee if you develop more like Standard Photo? One last question, how long did you wait to get your pics?

no handling fees for >$8 of prints.

 

[Snowcrash]

what if my image is 1280 x 960?

crop to what size for printing???

 

[sneezybum]

If I'm not wrong, should be 1280 * 853 to get 3:2 ratio.

 

[skystar]

PLease advice, What if my photo is 1280X1024. I have lots of photo and trying to send them for printing instead of printing them myself. Need to know more about cropping.
Thanks

 

[sneezybum]

Assuming you want to develop 4R prints, the ratio is 3:2. This ratio is the no. of horizontal pixels:no. of vertical pixels. As your image is not in the correct ratio, you will therefore have to crop to 1280:853 for 4R prints. 853 = 1280 * 3 / 2. For other size prints, will have other ratios. If I remen\mber correctly, 8R is 5:4.

As for cropping, you can use the rectangular marquee tool under photoshop 6 to do it. There's a tutorial in the help file. Me also a newbie experimenting with PS6 now. Happy printing. Hope that I have helped you and not confused you.