I uploaded a pic and now I want to order a print, but there are no printing options such as shrink to fit, or actual size, or to a specific PPI, or landscape or portrait, or any of the print manipulation options I’m used to having here with my cheap HP printer.  All I get is a preview that has the ends of my image cut off, and no way to get them in the print area.

 

What have I missed?

After you've picked your sizes, it takes you to the "Additional Options".  Under each one, it says "Edit Crop".  Go in here and you can change what appears in that box.

Yeah, I did that but it wouldn't let me expand the crop to fit my entire image.  How do you get your entire image to fit?

It all depends on the size of the image.  All sizes have different crop ratios.  If you want the entire image to fit in a particular size, you will need to add to one side, or live with the crop and what is removed.

Look at this ratio:

4x6 (typical ratio of an image SOOC)

8x10 (common print size)

4:8 is double

6:12 is double

Therefore an 8x10 is cropped smaller than 4x6.

Yeah I see.  This is way too limited.  I'm gonna have to find another solution.  Thanks for the help

Graystar:

I uploaded a pic and now I want to order a print, but there are no printing options such as shrink to fit, or actual size, or to a specific PPI, or landscape or portrait, or any of the print manipulation options I’m used to having here with my cheap HP printer.  All I get is a preview that has the ends of my image cut off, and no way to get them in the print area.

 

What have I missed?

You can't get the crop lines in the print area because your image is a different aspect ratio than the image you want to order. You are most likely uploading a 2:3 aspect ratio (4x6, 8x12 etc.) image but ordering an 4x5 aspect ratio print (8x10).  These are different shapes and therefore some cropping will occur.  That's pretty much going to happen all over the universe.

So, lets say you were able to "shrink to fit" the image down to fit within the size you want.  You would then be left with white space on either side of the print which I don't think you want that either. (?)

I'm not sure I understand the landscape or portrait issue.  Are you wanting to print a horizontal image on a vertical sheet of paper?  That's something online printers do not do, as far as I know, since that would open up all kinds of trimming headaches.

Graystar:

Yeah I see.  This is way too limited.  I'm gonna have to find another solution.  Thanks for the help

I guess I don't understand what you don't get.  You will run into this with any lab or printer, if you are printing sizes with different ratios.

If you want to fit the image to the size, you are going to get distortion.

jjhat1:

So, lets say you were able to "shrink to fit" the image down to fit within the size you want.  You would then be left with white space on either side of the print which I don't think you want that either. 

Actually, that's exactly what I want.

My images are 3:4.  That's how they come out of my Canon A710.  I don't understand why photographs MUST exist at only certain aspect ratios, or why photographs MUST fill the entire sheet.  That makes no sense to me.

 In any case, my local photo place can print anyway I want.  Only problem is that it's sooo expensive...30 bucks for a 16 x 20.  Guess I'll have to go there until I find another solution.  Thanks everyone for your comments.

It's doable.  Just take your file and increase your canvas size to the next paper size up - for example, this would be a 6x8 printed on 8x10 paper.  Submit your file with the white space built in:

 

OK - you can't see the edges on that.     Here's one with a border:

 

You know, I had thought about previously and dismissed it as too much trouble.  But I didn't want to just say that without trying it.  So I tried it using the free version of Ultimate Paint.  That's what I use for resizing my jpegs.

It wasn't walk in the park, but I was able to do it easily enough.  And I can save the left, right, top, and bottom values that I came up with for other images of the same exact size (which is all of them at the moment.)  Of course, if I want to crop then I have to do the calculations over again...but it really only took a minute to do.

 But still...it's a lot more trouble than I wanted to go through just to print an image.  But I think I might try it just to go through the process.  Thanks for the suggestion!

 

Well I added the whitespace and now the image looks like what I want in the cropping tool.  I guess I'll live with that for now.  Would have been so much easier to just click the "Print Actual Size" checkbox...if one existed.  Anyways, thanks everyone.

I just received my first order with Mpix and the images printed exactly as I wanted them.  Thanks for the suggestion Leigh.

Still, I wish there was an easier way to get your entire image printed, considering how many cameras have a 4:3 aspect ratio.  There really should be more size manipulation options.

Graystar:

Still, I wish there was an easier way to get your entire image printed, considering how many cameras have a 4:3 aspect ratio.  There really should be more size manipulation options.

How would that work?  What is the actual size of your image?  Sure you have a 4:3 aspect ratio, but that doesn't tell Mpix anything about the size of the image.  You can print that at 4x3 inches or 8x6 inches or an infinite variation of the theme.

So, you are left instead asking them to print it at a certain size.  Now long before there was an Mpix, the following sizes became standard for various reasons:  4x5, 4x6, 5x7, 8x10, 11x18, 16x20, etc...  So, most of the printers have equipment that prints at those sizes.  And you have to crop if you want a picture at one of those sizes.

Adding to the situation, there are very few framing options for odd sized prints.  Perhaps there are photo printers out there that print ANY size you want, but most of them print standard sizes.

If you are saying, "Hey, why doesn't Mpix print photos at a 4:3 ratio?" then the answer is, "because it isn't a standard size and if you can find a printer that prints non-standard sizes that is great, but I don't know of any of the top of my head."
 

I’m not asking for printers to give me any size paper I want.  The standard sizes are fine.  What I want is to place my image on that paper any way I want.  I don’t understand why every square millimeter of the paper must be printed on.  It makes no sense to me that all creative photographic endeavors must be limited to predefined ratios and paper sizes.

 

In my case, the “actual size” of my image (which is nothing more than me deciding on a PPI) was 15.36” x 11.52” (3072 x 2304 at 200 PPI.)  I printed on 16 x 20 and got (roughly) a 2 1/2" white border around the image (because 3:4 isn’t THAT far off from 4:5.)  Since there’s no “actual size” option I resized the canvas to 4000 x 3200.  It came out like this...

 

 

The prints go straight into a 16” x 20” frame without a mat and they look fine.

 

So how will it work?  The same way it works when printing from a computer.  Mpix would present the same crop screen they do now, but you’d have a few additional options.  You’d have a “Fit image” option to fit the entire image on the paper, which would leave a white border on two sides.  You’d have a resize option that would let you make the image any size you want (with an “actual size” sub-option.)  That option would leave borders on all sides.  This would be good for people who need a very specific size, or for people that want at least a 1/4" border for the framer because every pixel counts. Just those options alone would allow a great deal of freedom in determining how the image gets printed. 

 

As for framing...well that’s what the framing stores are all about.  You bring in your artwork and they build a custom frame and cut a mat for it.  They will cut the excess paper and do whatever is necessary to mount the image just the way you want it.

You can do this very easily before uploading to Mpix...

Create a blank (white?) image 16x20@ 300dpi... paste your image into the center of the blank image, upload for printing... That way, whatever the size of your image, it comes in a 16x20 sheet ready for framing.

Dan

That still requires some sizing calculations.

 

I just want what I get from the computer.  I select print and I get a little box and I can resize as I wish or fill page fit to page or whatever and just print.

 

Oh, and 11 in binary is 3.  10 is 2.

Graystar:

That still requires some sizing calculations.

I just want what I get from the computer.  I select print and I get a little box and I can resize as I wish or fill page fit to page or whatever and just print.

Oh, and 11 in binary is 3.  10 is 2.

No calculations necessary... just pull up the saved blank document, paste the pic you desire to print in the middle, save as something else, upload for printing...

About the binary, that is correct, 11=3, 10=2...

Dan

Hey I just tried mpix uploader ROES thing here http://www.mpix.com/MpixRoes.aspx

they had an option to fit it to print, with the borders on the side, like your talking about.  maybe that will help.

Thanks!  I'll check it out.