Getting Photos Printed - Sizes

[Psycho]

Hi,

I'm printing my mum 4 photos I took in Italy. She wants to have them all framed in one frame for Christmas.

We haven't worked out the size yet but I just wanted to know if there are certain sizes digital photos are printed in?

I want all 4 printed separately and then will give them to a framers to frame with a nice card border, etc.

Cheers,

Psycho :nuts:

[Jacqueline1818]

If you took them on a digital camera - the sizes are generally 6'4, 5'7.5 6'9 10'12 (all inches)

If your not sure I would sugest going onto somewhere like http://www.photobox.co.uk Once you sign up you can upload you photos and then select the size you would like and then when its in your basket it will show you how much (if any) will be cropped.

Hope that helps.

;)

[Highlander]

I was given this link once, when I asked a similar question.

http://colormailer.co.uk/images/en/web/rez_guide.jpg

[Psycho]

If you took them on a digital camera - the sizes are generally 6'4, 5'7.5 6'9 10'12 (all inches)

If your not sure I would sugest going onto somewhere like http://www.photobox.co.uk Once you sign up you can upload you photos and then select the size you would like and then when its in your basket it will show you how much (if any) will be cropped.

Hope that helps.

;)

Thanks for that! I didn't know you can get canvas prints done so easily. I might get some of my photos done on them.

I'll stick with plain paper for my mum though.

Cheers,

Psycho :nuts:

[Psycho]

I'm confused! All my photos are 17.067 x 12.8 inches (180dpi) - why doesn't my camera take the photos in the correct size for printing?! :thinking:

Do I have to resize them to have them printed? Do I need to change the dpi?

There's no way I can upload 10 photos all at about 10MB each!

I think it will be easier to just burn everything to disc and get SnappySnaps to print them and resize them, etc.

Psycho :nuts:

[rwniel]

The original photos (files) as saved by the camera don't really have a size as such, just a particular resolution (a certain number of pixels wide by a certain number of pixels in depth). If you think logically, how would the camera "know" what size you'll want to print them? (- the resolution could of course vary by quite a bit anyway through manually cropping them).

What you're seeing when you have a size like 17.067 x 12.8 inches is the vertical or horizontal resolution of that file/image divided by a particular default density (dots per inch) applied in each dimension - but the final "dpi" ultimately depends on what is going to be used to print it. As long as the size you want to print allows for a value of at least 200-300dpi you'll have sufficient pixels for any particular size of print (- very large prints can get away with an even smaller dpi as they're generally not viewed from the same distance and way up close - anything that ends up being above 300dpi for a particular size of print is usually wasted). You don't need to change the dpi as it's set for you automatically, given the size of print you choose.

In the end though, it's more the ratio of the resolution matching a particular print that's important if you're not to require to crop them for each individual shot. However, most sites like Photobox (http://www.thedvdforums.com/jump2.php?url=http://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=1137&id=30372) also have a "shrink to fit" option so they can be printed without cropping. It'll simply add enough white space around the image to make it fit the particular paper print ratio you've chosen.

Robert

[Psycho]

I've uploaded a photo now and can see how the site works.

One problem though - because I do a lot of print work, I convert all images to CMYK. Should I be doing this with my photos or should I leave them as RGB?

On photobox.com the image I uploaded looks odd in the basket (bad colour) and when I click to crop the photo I just get a red x in the edit area - this usually happens when you try to display a CMYK image over the internet. It needs to be RGB.

Thanks,

Psycho :nuts:

[Psycho]

I just converted back to RGB and uploaded. This time I had the full editing and cropping options.

So I take it that I leave the images as RGB and they will either print in RGB or will covert into CMYK?

Psycho :nuts:

[rwniel]

You should leave them as RGB if you plan to print them through sites like Photobox (http://www.thedvdforums.com/jump2.php?url=http://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=1137&id=30372) (actually something called sRGB is used which is a reduced 'gamute' variant). This link on their site (http://www.thedvdforums.com/jump2.php?url=http://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=1137&id=30372&p=http://www.photobox.co.uk/quality.html) provides additional details on the optimum way to supply your files.

CMYK is more for use if you plan to do colour separations (as it's a subtractive form of printing). So doesn't apply here as none of Photobox's equipment uses it.

Robert

[Psycho]

Wow! That was quick! I ordered them yesterday and have them today! :thumbs:

They look great. The colours are perfect (I keep the files as RGB).

Psycho :nuts: