DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register) 
 

DPChallenge Forums >> Tips, Tricks, and Q&A >> Preparing images for printing - aspect ratio???
Pages:  
Showing posts 1 - 12 of 12, (reverse)
AuthorThread
 05/23/2006 12:29:11 PM · #1
I have my first solo exhibition for digital photography coming up in 2 months, and Ihave no idea how to prepare my images for prinitng. i'm getting them done at a pro lab, as I don't have a printer of the requisite quality.

i have pscs2.

so, i don't want to crop the images to fit the paper, i want a white border around them, so their ratio stays the same. i know i can do this with enlarging the canvas of the image, that far i've got.

my main questions are: are the ratios of 4x5, 8x10, 11x14, and 16x20 the same, or do i need to do print-ready images for all different sizes? and, how do i figure out these ratios? (i failed maths...)

also, should i resize to the paper size i want? i tried a trial run on my dinky printer; resized an image to fit an 8x10, printed it out, and the pixels were huge, and it looked awful. so, obviously, i messed up something there...

this is when i miss my darkroom...
 05/23/2006 12:30:58 PM · #2
Just posted this in another thread...

Originally posted by mkuberlinker:

The Help section of DPCPrints may help you as well. For example, here is a list of all the aspect ratios and their correlating print sizes.
05/23/2006 12:34:02 PM · #3
thank you!!!!
 05/23/2006 12:48:03 PM · #4
Some printers will let you turn of "zoom and trim". At least that's what kodakgallery.com calls it, other labs may have a different term for it. You should also ask them to turn off any color corrections, since you've presumably already done all that yourself in your photo editing software.
05/23/2006 01:10:30 PM · #5
Alright guys, I have another question <---shocking right? I was fiddlin around with DPC prints, and uploaded one for the first time to the selling part of the site. Of course they come across saying that "you will be reviewed for these sizes", now is it right that the 300D at the maximum quality setting can only get to a size 10x13 or whatever was closest to that size. And that, I assume, would be because of the aspect ratio.
 05/23/2006 01:14:55 PM · #6
Here's another tutorial on resizing for prints: //www.dpchallenge.com/tutorial.php?TUTORIAL_ID=35

Message edited by author 2006-05-23 13:15:02.
 05/23/2006 01:14:59 PM · #7
how are you framing ?
are you matting or dry mount ?

my process (matting) print (or have printed) the image to the correct size
(usually 8x10 or 11 x 14 )
then matte to crop the image to the frame
(8x10 into a 11x14frame & 11x14 into 16x24frame)
though the actual matte 'hole' depends what i want to crop in hte image
(this is providinf you cut your own matte, which i highly recomend)

05/23/2006 01:29:09 PM · #8
Not true. Your Rebel takes pics that are approx. 3000x2000 pixels (6 megapixel camera). If you print at the minimum print quality of 150dpi required by DPCPrints, you'll get a 13.3x20" print. Now I doubt that DPCPrints offers that particular size, but by cropping and then carefully upsampling your pics, you ought to be able to achieve very nice 16x24 prints. That's the largest size that I offer, but I know of people who have gone larger - successfully - with a 6 megapixel cam.

Originally posted by sacredspirit:
Alright guys, I have another question <---shocking right? I was fiddlin around with DPC prints, and uploaded one for the first time to the selling part of the site. Of course they come across saying that "you will be reviewed for these sizes", now is it right that the 300D at the maximum quality setting can only get to a size 10x13 or whatever was closest to that size. And that, I assume, would be because of the aspect ratio.
05/23/2006 02:11:07 PM · #9
I understand, what you are saying. Sort of...Im on my way to figgerin it out anyway.

I just studied a 20x30 print of mine that I took with a 4 mega pixel camera (optio S40), Shutterfly did the printing, and it is truly an exceptional print. I have not lost any clarity to speak of, it looks really good. How, and why is that. I mean were only talkin 2300x1800 if my memory serves me right.
 05/23/2006 02:16:27 PM · #10
There is a program called Genuine Fractals that can upsize your prints to whatever dpi you want and the prints are exceptional! I would never just "upsize" without that program!

Also, re: sizing---you have to work with what your camera gives you.

If you are fortunate to have a camera that mimics the 35mm film size, the full-frame is 8x12---you can certainly crop to all kinds of sizes but bear in mind that you will lose part of the photo.

I always ask the printer how they want the file---dpi, rgb or cmyk, etc etc.

Hope this helps!
05/23/2006 02:17:56 PM · #11
Originally posted by sacredspirit:
I understand, what you are saying. Sort of...Im on my way to figgerin it out anyway.

I just studied a 20x30 print of mine that I took with a 4 mega pixel camera (optio S40), Shutterfly did the printing, and it is truly an exceptional print. I have not lost any clarity to speak of, it looks really good. How, and why is that. I mean were only talkin 2300x1800 if my memory serves me right.


I think some of the larger more commercial services have automatic resampling capabilities. I had some really nice looking 16x20s made from 2mp camera shots earlier this year. I think it serves them well since it means they can upsell their prints to a wider market.
05/23/2006 02:25:54 PM · #12
What you're seeing is the result of the upsampling I mentioned. I do it with PS (using an incremental technique) but Genuine Fractels was mentioned in this thread, and has a reputation for producing excellent quality enlargements. It's all about starting with the pixel count you have, and then resampling the picture to produce more pixels - creating new data - in such a way that it retains sharpness. It CAN be done, you just have to know a little about what you're doing.

Originally posted by sacredspirit:
I understand, what you are saying. Sort of...Im on my way to figgerin it out anyway.

I just studied a 20x30 print of mine that I took with a 4 mega pixel camera (optio S40), Shutterfly did the printing, and it is truly an exceptional print. I have not lost any clarity to speak of, it looks really good. How, and why is that. I mean were only talkin 2300x1800 if my memory serves me right.
Pages:  
Current Server Time: 04/23/2024 01:29:04 AM

Please log in or register to post to the forums.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Prints! - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2024 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 04/23/2024 01:29:04 AM EDT.