Expert: Glen Demers - 11/6/2008

Question
QUESTION: My camera takes pictures that are 6x10 at 300. I use photoshop 7.0 to crop them 8x10 but keep the 300 resolution. My problem is when I get them printed either a 4x6 or 8x10, a lot of my picture is cut off. How do I get the picture printed as I have cropped it in photoshop.  Please advise. My number is  if you actually need to talk to me about it. Hope you can help.  Thanks

ANSWER: Hi Shawnette,

First, If your originals are 6 by 10 at 300dpi you cannot crop them to 8 by 10 you have to be increasing the canvas and resampling the image. It is not a good idea to resample an image up as it only increases file size without adding quality.
Second, you didn't specify how the images were being printed. With most printers as long as the image is smaller than the sheet it's printed on and there is no scaling of the image in the print dialog boxes, then the image will print complete and as cropped.

Hope this helps,
Glen Demers
Adobe Certified Expert, Photoshop 7
Prepress Technician, Best Printing Online
www.bestprintingonline.com

For more Photoshop tips please visit our help pages here


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: The prints are being put on disk and printed at Wolfe or CVS, Walgreens, Wal-mart.  Where ever I go, it's the same output.  Is a 6x10 the same as a 4x6 as far as how it will look when it comes back from the printer and if I crop a 4x5 size, will it be my 8x10 size.  Do I have to crop each picture two different sizes before I give it to my customer?

Answer
Hi Shawnette,

In Photoshop 7, open a 10 by 6 image and go to the Image menu to Image size.... In the dialog box under document size change the units to inches, check constrain proportions and uncheck resample image. You can see that when you change the height from 6 to 4 the width goes from 10 to 10.667. The drugstore then takes original 6 inch height and scales it down to 4 inches for your 6 by 4 and crops the .667 inches off the width to fit the new format.
If you are taking the same size pictures all the time use the image size dialog box to determine how the images will proportion down and crop them accordingly. Yes, you'll have to crop two different sizes for 4x6 and 8x10.
If your images fill the print with no white border you have to allow extra image to bleed off the print and some printers may enlarge an image just to prevent the edges of it from showing on border prints. Depending on the print facility, you may be able to talk to a technician who can help you with your digital file preparation. Some offer software that allows you to crop pictures and upload them from your home computer or offer a workstation in the store but I haven't tried them and cannot vouch for their accuracy.

Hope this helps,
Glen Demers
Adobe Certified Expert, Photoshop 7
Prepress Technician, Best Printing Online
www.bestprintingonline.com

For more Photoshop tips please visit our help pages here