Mike,
I was under the impression that if I kept my image at the largest
resolution I would get better quality prints at lower print sizes. I didn’t think I would have to still crop the images in order to get them to print correctly.<<<
If a picture is "oversized" (proportionately) on one dimension for the size selected in the print package it is going to get cropped.
Try this; take a picture that is 10X15 (resize one to this if you don’t have one) and with a sharp brush paint (one click at about 50 brush size) a dot on all four sides right at the edge of the picture about in the centers. Use a contrasting bright color (red) so you can see it easily. Save it. Now open picture package and insert the picture in a 2 5X7’s format. You will see that the bottom of the picture has been cropped and your red dot has a flat bottom.
So it is really best to select what gets cropped yourself before inserting in to the picture package and allowing the program to decide.
I’ve used the crop tool frequently and always struggled with losing
content. Then I spoke with a friend for advice and he told me I should only crop for content and not for size. But maybe resizing to close to the correct dimensions (i.e. 8×10 or 4×6) and then cropping off the fractional dimensions will work. I was afraid I would lose part of the picture otherwise.<<<
If you need a portion of the picture cropped to make it proportionately correct to fit a fixed sized frame, like the 5X7 in picture package, there is no way to easily achieve it without loosing part of the original picture.
That being said; you can resize the canvas to correct proportunate size and then "clone" or otherwise enlarge the side that is "short". (copy and paste; add something else like a thick bottom border).
So, are you saying that once I’ve got the image resized to the proper
dimensions that picture package should retain the correct size? So, if I were to have an original at 8×10 and attempt to print 4×5 prints it would work?<<<
Yes!
p.s. If I were to just upload these to a photo service in the original
odd dimensions would they end up just distorting the picture anyway in their attempt to fit it to a 4×6, 5×7, etc.?<<<
I do not have first hand knowledge but yes, the image would Have to be cropped if not in proportion to finished print size. If you give it to them out of proportion they will decide what gets cropped 🙁 I would have to believe that no image gets distorted to achieve correct proportions but if they do it manually….who knows.
OK, Now that you have that down and If you have not followed the threads on pixels and print sizes do a forum search on that because that will be the next area of questions that you will develop… I think anyway. And either you did not mention or I forgot; You are saving these files as either PSD of Tiff and at least 250 ppi right?
Pete