Help me out please…I’m new both to digital photography and PE3. I went through my first batch of photos and got prints made only to find out the dimensions were not properly set for 4X6 photos. Some of the pictures were cut off in unfortunate ways. The best means I have found to set the correct ratio for prints is to first set the ‘image size’ as close as possible to the desired print size (for example wanting a 4 x 6 print, I set the width to 6 inches and height defaulted to 4.5 inches). I then went to ‘canvas size’ and set the proper ratio (i.e., 4 x 6 in this case). This appears to give me the desired result (haven’t tried getting prints yet), but seems incredibly laborious. Does anyone know a better (make that easier) way of doing this.
thanks
Bruce,
Since you are new to this first a couple of suggestions that you may already be aware of: 1. Always work on a copy and don’t save over your originals. Each save to jpg can cause degradation of the image.
2. Be sure that resample is not checked when you resize so you don’t lose or gain pixels.
Your solution is on the right track. Here is a fairly long thread that has a lot of information on the subject:
Robert F Carruth, "Elements printing problem" #1, 6 May 2005 3:24 pm </cgi-bin/webx?14/0>
I prefer to go back to the resized image and control the crop to the shorter dimension.
I don’t have much experience with "Process Multiple Files" but you could experiment with that and see what results you get.
Come back if there are any more questions.
Bob
Bruce, since you admit to being new, and also because you don’t give us any information about the size of your original images, maybe this "exercise" will help. First, though, be sure you’re paying attention to Bob’ Rule #1: Always work on a copy, and I’ll add preferably that’s been converted to one of the lossless formats, like TIFF or PSD. Once you learn your way around the software, there are faster ways of accomplishing your goal and you can figure out when and how to shortcut without losing any original image data.
Open an image file fresh from your camera. Go to Image>Resize>Image Size and look at the information that’s displayed. A new file usually opens in Elements at either 72ppi or 180ppi (and I’ve yet to figure out what controls that!) Make sure the box next to Resample does NOT have a checkmark in it. Now, gradually increase the resolution shown until you are as close to your ideal 4 X 6 size as possible. Make a note of the resolution, either mentally or on paper.
Now I’ll diverge with an example. When I took photos with my 3MP camera, I learned that 330ppi was the resolution at which I would get a 4 X 6 photo with the bare minimum amount of cropping. "They" say a reasonable target resolution for printing is 300ppi, but there’s quite a bit of leeway. I left mine alone and just printed at 330ppi unless I wanted to crop out a smaller segment.
So, once I knew the resolution, I could open a new image file, choose the Crop tool, and then select Fixed Size in the Option Bar. I set the physical dimensions at 4 X 6 (or more accurately, it was usually 6 X 4), and I set the resolution at 330ppi. When I clicked on the image file, I was given a selection that measured 6 X 4, and I could move the bounding box around until I had the selection around the portion of the image I wanted to keep. Then Crop. I created a perfect 6 X 4 image at a decent printing resolution.
The "rules" changed when I got a 7MP camera. When I determined that the resolution for a 6 X 4 from it would be 510ppi, that was way too high. So, I used virtually the same method of cropping, but (working on a copy, of course!) I set the resolution in the Crop Tool’s option bar to 300ppi. Then I got my perfect 6 X 4, at a target printing resolution, and, of course, my original could remain untouched if I wanted to go back and use it again for a larger print.
Playing with the resolution in the resizing screen is just to let you know what you are getting from your camera. Using the Crop tool and its settings for physical size and resolution will let you quickly and easily resize your images for printing without having to go through as many steps as you are now.
I haven’t played with processing multiple files much in PSE 3.0, but if I learn anything new and interesting there, I’ll post it.
