Distortion and cropping when printing 4X6 – New Elements User

MQ
Posted By
Mike_Quinn
Oct 29, 2003
Views
516
Replies
8
Status
Closed
I am a brand new Elements user(Not to mention a brand new Cannon S50 5MB and Epson 2200 user)and I am trying to simply print a borderless 4X6 or 5X7 picture.

When I make the adjustments in Elements to fit a 4X6 picture a large amount of cropping is taking place. When I resize the image to fit the 4X6 I look fat(Everything is stretched out).

I am not sure if the problem is with camera, software or printer. Most probably the user.

Can anyone advise on an easy step by step way to print a boderless 4X6 picture with no distortion or cropping that a first timer can understand?

Any ideas on good books or other ways to get new users quickly up to speed?

Thanks very much. Mike
Related Tags
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JH
Jim_Hess
Oct 29, 2003
I’m sure that before I get this message posted you will have some other answers. There is not a camera available that will enable you to print a full frame 4×6 photograph without doing some cropping. This size of the picture that comes from your camera is in a different aspect ratio, so you will have to decide what is the most important elements of the picture that must be included. When I want to print a picture that will be exactly 4×6, I select the crop tool, and then in the dimensions boxes on the tool bar I enter "4 in" for the height, and "6 in" for the width of the picture. I also set the resolution at 300 DPI. Now, when you crop your picture, it will force you to crop to those exact dimensions. Regardless of how little more how much of the picture you show, it will be in the dimensions that you specify.
KL
Kenneth_Liffmann
Oct 29, 2003
Mike,
I have found the following books just great, obtained them over time from Amazon:
1. Photoshop Elements Solutions by Mikkel Aaland. Ideal for your purpose. I refer to it very often, basic and pragmatic.
2. The Photoshop Elements Book for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby. Assumes that you are familiar with the basics obtainable in the Aaland book. Allows you to fine tune your work and enhance it. This book is a gem.

I don’t know if your printer allows you to make a borderless print – most printers require an edge for the rollers to engage the paper.

Regarding the cropping, suggest that you duplicate your layer via the layers palette, then click on the rectangular marquee tool,set style to fixed size, enter 4×6, move the rectangle around to embrace what you wish to retain, go to Edit>crop.

Don’t hesitate to repost if this is not clear.
Ken
MQ
Mike_Quinn
Oct 29, 2003
Thanks for the input.

The files that I am importing are 10.667 X 8, 22.2 X 16.7 and 7.76 X 7.173.

When I set the fixed crop at 4X6 I am recieving an extremely small portion of the picture.

Any ideas?
BH
Beth_Haney
Oct 29, 2003
I recognize what’s happening Mike, and it has to do with resizing and resolution. Earlier this morning I posted a step by step for someone else who had started out having trouble printing multiple pictures. Somewhere along the line we realized he had more preliminary work to do before he could even get to that point, so I did a "tutorial" that took him from downloading his images from the camera to the computer to printing two 5 X 7s. If you go to the thread below and look at my post #12, I think you’ll pick up some clues on how to manage your digital images. The numbers I was working with in the other thread are different from the ones you’ll be working with, but the concepts apply equally. You’ll just want to increase your resolution numbers, because you’re working with a 5mp camera, and his wasn’t that large. Some of it is stuff you’re probably already doing, but if you can make your way through it, I know you’ll solve the problem of getting to the size you want. I, however, can’t help you with the borderless printing of 4 X 6 images because I don’t do any.

<http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx?7@@.2cce08a0/11>

You’ll really enjoy your S50. I’m jealous! I have the S30 but can’t do an upgrade yet. 🙂

Come back to this thread if you’ve got more questions. That’ll probably be easier than tagging on to the one above. Good luck!

Edit: I forgot to say that you will have to do a small amount of cropping. There isn’t a camera made (I don’t think) that captures an image with the same aspect ratio as our commonly used print sizes, and that’s what was causing your distortion – you were trying to get something to become 4 X 6 or 5 X7 that just wasn’t going to fit. You can usually minimize the amount of cropping, though, by manipulating the resolution of your image. Using my S30, I always have to take off roughly 1/2 an inch in height and just a teensy smidge in width (or maybe vice versa!) in order to get a perfect 4 X 6 at 330ppi.
BG
Byron_Gale
Oct 29, 2003
wrote
…. There is not a camera available that will enable you to print a full frame 4×6 photograph without doing some cropping…

Jim,

Both my cameras (Sony DSC-S70, DSC-F717) offer a 3:2 image ratio.

I don’t use it, because I prefer to have maximum available pixels… but thought it worth mentioning.

So SOME cameras allow printing full frame at 4×6 without cropping, if the user configures them appropriately.

Byron
JH
Jim_Hess
Oct 29, 2003
I stand corrected.
BH
Beth_Haney
Oct 29, 2003
Boy, I sure am glad I stuck that "(I don’t think)" in there! I do know my Canon S30 won’t produce an even 4X6, 5X7, or 8X10 without some cropping, though, and I assume this gentleman’s S50 is the same.
MM
Mac_McDougald
Oct 30, 2003
My Kodak 4800 does exact 4×6 also. Since it is 3:2 ratio, same as 35mm film. 2160×1440 pixels.

Mac

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