Expert: LizaL - 11/30/2005

Question
Dear Lisa,

In answer to your question - When you mention "processing lab machine," do you mean the self-operated ones they have in stores? - YES.  Apparently, those machines have some type of limitations or something.  I'm not really sure what I need to do (crop or resize).  All I know is that every time I go to, let's say, Wal-mart or Walgreens, I end up having to cut out the outer edges of my picture (sometimes significantly) when I go to print them out.  I've come to realize that what you frame in your camera viewfinder is not necessarily what you will be allowed to print out with those commercial processing machines.  It seems that I have to find a way to "reduce" my photo somehow so that I can print out more of an area.  I'm sure the solution is simple, I'm just not sure what the solution is.  I will continue to experiment.

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Followup To
Question -
Program: Photoshop CS2 (fairly new user but not totally lost).

Question: How do I go about sizing a photo that was taken with my Canon Rebel at 6 megapixels (3-4 meg file size) in order to get the processing lab machine to print out most of my photo?  I usually end up having to modify or cut off much of the edges.

I've tried re-sizing via the IMAGE SIZE dialog box...and all I get is a smaller file size but the same results when I try to print out a picture.





Answer -
Hi Eddie,

This isn't an answer to your question yet -- I'd like to get a little more information.

I'm kind of worried that I can't help you with the processing info. When you mention "processing lab machine," do you mean the self-operated ones they have in stores? If so, I've never used one of those! I print my photos myself with a photo printer, although when you get right down to it, it's probably more cost-effective to do it in a store, from CD.

Right now my advice would be to ask the people who maintain the machine exactly what you need to do. See what they say and if it's confusing, post back and tell me what they've told you and maybe then I can help you sort it out. The name and type of the machine would help greatly.

Also -- are you wanting to crop your photo, rather than just resize it?  If so, there are several ways to do this. Let me know and I'll be glad to explain.

Lisa

Answer
Hi again Eddie,

I wonder if all you need to do is first crop your picture to a size you want, then try to print it with the machine?

If you're not sure of how to do this, select your marquee tool from the Photoshop tool palette. Drag out a box over your image, and make it the size of the image you want. This way you can cut out any unwanted areas of the picture. Then go to the Image pulldown menu and select Crop. Your image will become smaller, and undesirable areas will be gone.

Like this:
http://little-works.com/all_experts/crop.mov

What you can do is make the image the right *size* you want using Image Size, and then crop off any areas you don't want with the marquee tool and the Crop command.

I'm sure you're right about the machines having limitations -- it's just that I've never used one. But I have cropped pictures in Photoshop, so that much I can be sure of :-)

If this doesn't help let me know --

Lisa