I tried doing a search on this but can't come up with what i am trying to find out...so here's my very stupid question...
when i crop a photo, and in the aspec ratio if i put in 8x10 does that mean my final print size with be 8x10...the reason i ask is i hate hate doing this...i normally use (no aspec ratio) then i loose things i don't want to loose...but if i use an aspec ratio do i have to do a seperate crop for each size i would like to order...for example..i crop a photo to a ratio of 8x10..i want to order 8x10 5x7 and wallets...different crop for each size...or is there a better way for me to be doing this??

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking, Mellisa, but I think the answer is yes, and no!

If you're talking about an image that you shot with a digital camera where the aspect ratio is 2:3, you dont need to crop for a 4x6, 8x12 etc. But if you want a 5x7 or and 8x10, it needs to be cropped. Either you do it yourself, or the printing place will do it automatically. It's better to do it yourself, IMO.

You can adjust the crop online when you order your picture...

that i know...about mpix will crop or that i can adjust crop when printing...let me give you another example...say i crop a picture to were I wont most of the background in the photo gone....ok i only want say a head shot....so i crop it during editing...when i go to print it it's cropped too much...should i not crop in photoshop and just adjust the croping when it's being printed...

Maybe it's different with Mpix, but with the lab I usually use, what I do is crop and size the image in PS, (obviously a copy of the original image) say to an 8x10, and upload that file, ordering an 8x10. If I also want 4x6's of the same image, I do the same thing. But it will look different than the 8x10. It will basically be a different shape. Different proprtions. Different sized rectangle. But the print will look the same as the way I sent it. Sometimes, if I just want a quick print of something I shot with a digital camera, I'll take the card to the machine at the printer place and put it in their system. If I want say, an 8x10, it will give me the option of cropping right there, which I do. Because otherwise it would be done randomly. I think that's the way it works most places. I know there are places where you can get a "non-standard" size printed, if you really want a certain crop. I'm not sure if mpix does it or not.

Is this what you're asking about, Melissa? I've been at the pool all day with the kids, in the blazing heat and sun. So I'm a little loopy right now......

Yes, If in Photoshop you put 8 & 10 in the Width and height it WILL yeild a Print size of 8 X 10  but in the resolution you have specified... So if the original photo was in 72PPI resolution... yes you will have a 8 X 10 sized image but in not enough resolution to make a good  8 X 10 print.

So what you do is make sure when you specify an 8 x 10 Crop in Photoshop you also specify, as Resolution, of 240 DPI or Higher (no higher than 300PPI) That will yeild you a Print size of 8 X 10 with a Resolution Great for printing (1920Pixels X  2400 Pixels)

Hope I made it clear enough to understand
Moose

Oh and I should have added... Yes it is better to do a separate crop for each size you want since the aspect ratio for a 8 X 10 is different than the Aspect ratio for a  4 X 6 or a 5X 7... so if you want to see exactly what you will get on a print. It is best to crop for the Final Print size

Moose wrote:

Yes, If in Photoshop you put 8 & 10 in the Width and height it WILL yeild a Print size of 8 X 10  but in the resolution you have specified... So if the original photo was in 72PPI resolution... yes you will have a 8 X 10 sized image but in not enough resolution to make a good  8 X 10 print. So what you do is make sure when you specify an 8 x 10 Crop in Photoshop you also specify, as Resolution, of 240 DPI or Higher (no higher than 300PPI) That will yeild you a Print size of 8 X 10 with a Resolution Great for printing (1920Pixels X  2400 Pixels) Hope I made it clear enough to understand Moose

thank you...you answerd my question right on...now i have ps element 4...do you know where i go to fix the DPI..

Well I have Elements 2 and PS CS but it should be the same in Elements 4. When you select the Crop Tool.. The toolbar above your photo will come up and it will have the area where you can select the Height and Width. Just to the right of that you can put in the resolution.

Or you can go to Image: Image size and then change the resolution just make sure the Resample image box is checked.

I can't get this darn thing to edit :)

 

Now you got me confused...  do you crop in Photoshop to make the aspect ratio fit the size you want or do you adjust the image size???

okay im going to go sleep now....  ill more than likly dream of cropping mechines coming to get my 8x10s or something,

ha ah sauder d

OK, let's say you have a Normal 8MB Photo at 300DPI. Doing the math that would yield you a 8 X 12 Print... Well you want a 8 X 10 Print... You would "Crop" to 8 X 10 cause if you just "re-sized" the image to 8 X 10 you would distort the Image By squeezing the 12" down to 10".

Or if you keep the "Constrain Proportions" box checked and you resized the 10" you would then have less than 8" width.

BTW... a 8 X 12 Print is the same Aspect Ratio as a 4 X 6 so no cropping is necessary but you would need to Crop for a 5 X 7 or 8 X 10 etc etc etc.

I too am trying to understand all the rules for croping.  If I take photos for someone and want to present them with an album of 4x6's and a cd so they can take to their local photo lab and have extra prints made up in any size they want, what size do I save to the cd?  I will be croping more for compostion purposes and not for size.  I can't save the original photo as it won't be the same as the photo they were giving due to my croping.  Does that make since?  So, what crop size do I use?????

 

Awdrey

Awdrey:

I too am trying to understand all the rules for croping.  If I take photos for someone and want to present them with an album of 4x6's and a cd so they can take to their local photo lab and have extra prints made up in any size they want, what size do I save to the cd?  I will be croping more for compostion purposes and not for size.  I can't save the original photo as it won't be the same as the photo they were giving due to my croping.  Does that make since?  So, what crop size do I use?????

 

Awdrey

You can't!  One size crop doesn't fit all print sizes.  Common aspect ratios are:

4x6=1.5

5x7=1.4

8x10=1.25

8x12=1.5

11x14=1.27

16x20=1.25

20x30=1.5

8x10 crop is closest to most common print sizes, but some more croping will occure on 4x6's, 5x7's 8x12's and 20x30's

compose to allow room for this are save other crops.

The "photographic facts of life"

O.K. makes sense.  I am slowly understanding this.  I do, however, have another question.  If I first crop using the "keep aspect ration"  in Photoshop to get my desired look.  I'm not loosing any quality what so ever, right?  And then if someone wants a 5x7 I will go to that photo and crop again this time using the 5x7 crop.  Am I still getting a good quality pic?  And so on for the 8x10 and larger prints.  Basicly what I want to do is have a 2nd "original copy" that I can crop and re-angle the pics and such and be able to go back to that photo and crop it agian to the desired print size.  Would this be the way to do?

 

Thank you Joe for replying to my first ?

Awdrey:

I do, however, have another question.  If I first crop using the "keep aspect ration"  in Photoshop to get my desired look.  I'm not loosing any quality what so ever, right

 

Mpix recomends 250ppi (pixels per inch) and says 100 ppi is the mimumin for printing.  That means that you final file needs to be 2000 by 3000 pixels for a 20x30 print.  This is what will come out of a 6 meg DSLR.  If you crop using the crop tool and put a number in the resolution box you are resampling up.  Photoshop is adding pixels, to give you the total number of pixels you want.  Photoshop is guessing at what the pixels should me and is not adding any real resolution..  To see this youself 1st crop an original file to a 8x10 with the resoultion box blank.  Save this file under a other name Take the same original file and resize it (using imiage size with resample checked) to 4x6 at 72ppi.  Then crop it to the same crop as you did before with 300 ppi set in the resolution box of the crop tool.  You should see a big difference in quality when you compare the two files.

Good procedure is to avoid if possiable resampling the file up, and to use higher resolution (ppi) for smaller print sizes.  Larger print sizes can have lower ppi because the viewing distance is greater.

I open my original file SOOC and do my editing on it!  I then save this work in my "edit file" for that client.  I do not crop it or change anything regarding the size of the image as it comes SOOC . .. I save this file as a TIFF.  Then I crop to an 8x10 @72dpi and save that as a jpeg in a proof file for the same client.  these are hte images I upload for their online viewing . . . then when they place their order I go to my TIFF files and crop according to what they order.  if they order 4x5's I just crop to an 8x10 @ 250 dpi that way if they call later and decide they want an 8x10 in that picture I already have it there.. . 5x7's and wallets I crop to 5x7 and upload that . .. if they want any of the larger sizes(10x13, 11x14, etc) then I do a separate crop for those at the size they are ordering and 250 dpi.  This really works well for me. . . I then save the images they order in an "order file" in their master folder so if they want to reorder anythign later all I have to do is go to this folder to find it.  I have found that it just works much better to upload the sizes you need rather than try to upload the main file and crop your different sizes.  Plus I put my watermark on everythign in photoshop so by cropping to each size the watermark ends up where I need it. 

 

I open my orginal files in PSCS2 and I crop to a 8x12-300 resolution and edit it, then save as a copy in a folder marked "client name"cropped copies.  I try to leave enough room on the long side for 8x10 cropping. Normally I don't have to recrop any for the smaller sides, I adjust the crop if needed in the lab ordering software.  After all, these are just the proofs I offer the client. 

If they order larger than 8x12 prints I go back to the orginal file and work it up again.  The part I don't like is - if I had to do alot of editing because of retouching or my exposure/color corrections, it can make for a fustrating second editing. I like PrairieImages workflow, but does that take up alot of hard drive space?  I am limited right now on hard drive space.  I can't get the nerve up to delete the files I have backed-up on disc to free up hard drive space.  Hitting that delete button is hard!  You can tell, I am by nature a pack-rat!

 I read somewhere that using the aspect ratio and cropping with the marquee tool keeps you from losing or adding pixels (no resampling) and makes the image better quality.  But I could not find anyone else that used that method and couldn't think that a 16x20 at res 72 would make a very good print.  It was much easier to just crop.  I really haven't had any bad prints using my method, I have printed several 20x24's and 16x20's.  But I am new to this.

Thanks for the thread, I'm curious too!

In Elements 4.0, click the crop tool. At the top of your image window will be a place to enter the dimensions you want. To the right of those two files, is a spot for resolution. (Make sure it is in pixels/inch) Just put in 300 (or whatever you want) and when you crop the image it will size to the dimensions you want and at the resolution you want. Let me know if I have jsut confused the matter more.

 

bitohoney:

 I read somewhere that using the aspect ratio and cropping with the marquee tool keeps you from losing or adding pixels (no resampling) and makes the image better quality. 

 

By leaving the resolution box blank in the crop tool, you are resizing without resampling (not adding or losing pixels, other then the pixels outside the crop).