Help! Prints from cropped images

[Liz]

A friend asked me to take a family photo for them. She isn't fussy or a perfectionist or I wouldn't have said yes. However, I have a different kind of problem. I usually get good results from Walmart for the initial 4x6 prints. I show these to the family and they decide which prints they want enlarged. Then one of us would take them to another lab to get better quality 8x10 or whatever.

With that background here is the problem:
I edited the images just a bit in PSElements, including minor cropping. Most of the prints included the 2-3 tallest in the back row (they have 8 kids) had the top of their heads partially cut off. Not much - but enough to ruin the pic. They did not look like this on the computer, in the camera LCD or in Walmart's screen where you are supposed to see them exactly as they will print - you can even edit them on the screen.

The tech asked me if I cropped them and I said "yes, slightly." He said because they are 4x6 prints, a cropped image will do this. He suggested getting 5x7 - well you know what happened. It looked the same, cropped heads & all, only bigger.

My question - if I take them somewhere else, will this happen? Or is this a normal phenomenom when cropping a pic?

Now, I deleted the originals, so I only have the edited images to get prints with; however, the edited ones have some (altho not much) space at the top.

Thanks for any help - the family really wants these pics.

Liz

[dsl712]

Liz,

If the original print or negative didn't crop the head neither should the enlargement, unless you cropped way too tight in the original.

Sounds like they are center cropping. Just taking an 8X10 template and laying it right in the middle of the picture, thus cropping out the top and bottom. Take it to a pro lab and they will have a cropping tool. You can use the tool to lay it over the original photo and using the 8X10 proportions move the tool to where you want to crop.

Dennis

[another view]

One question, is this a horizontal or vertical shot?

I use a local place that has a Fuji Frontier (which I believe is what Wal-Mart also uses) and haven't had any problems with this. I Photoshop my files and bring them in sized as 8x10, etc though.

Possible idea - it's a vertical shot and a crop that's not in the 4:5 ratio. If you had a vertical shot that was cropped to, say 8x11, and tried to print it as an 8x10 it would crop 1/2" off each end. Best way to do it is to size the file yourself to what it will be printed at.

In Photoshop (this is true of PS7 and should be true of Elements but I'm not positive), open an image and click on the "crop" tool. At the top of the screen (right below File, Edit, View, etc) there should be boxes for Height, Width and Resolution. Put in "10 in" for height and "8 in" for width and "240" for resolution (or reverse the height and width if a horizontal shot).

Now drag the crop tool from one corner of the image to as far as you can go diagonally. Everything in the box will be an 8x10 once selected. You can move it, rotate it, etc. When you have what you want, click on the crop tool again (on the left) and say "OK".

With this, you will get exactly what's on the screen. Let me know if this doesn't answer your question. I wondered about this recently when I tried to get a square 8x8 print - I wasn't sure how to solve that problem (figuring that they would crop the sides to make it 8x10) so I took it to a pro lab. You may want to shoot just a little wider in the future, it will make your life easier in a case like this!

[adina]

I'm with everyone else. Good luck reprinting.

adina

[Liz]

Thank you for your comments, however, this is digital and I got the prints from a CF card.

Liz

Liz,

If the original print or negative didn't crop the head neither should the enlargement, unless you cropped way too tight in the original.

Sounds like they are center cropping. Just taking an 8X10 template and laying it right in the middle of the picture, thus cropping out the top and bottom. Take it to a pro lab and they will have a cropping tool. You can use the tool to lay it over the original photo and using the 8X10 proportions move the tool to where you want to crop.

Dennis

[Liz]

Adina,
I'm printing this out and am definitely going to try this and will let you know. I appreciate you're spending the time and making the effort to help here.

Liz

One question, is this a horizontal or vertical shot?

I use a local place that has a Fuji Frontier (which I believe is what Wal-Mart also uses) and haven't had any problems with this. I Photoshop my files and bring them in sized as 8x10, etc though.

Possible idea - it's a vertical shot and a crop that's not in the 4:5 ratio. If you had a vertical shot that was cropped to, say 8x11, and tried to print it as an 8x10 it would crop 1/2" off each end. Best way to do it is to size the file yourself to what it will be printed at.

In Photoshop (this is true of PS7 and should be true of Elements but I'm not positive), open an image and click on the "crop" tool. At the top of the screen (right below File, Edit, View, etc) there should be boxes for Height, Width and Resolution. Put in "10 in" for height and "8 in" for width and "240" for resolution (or reverse the height and width if a horizontal shot).

Now drag the crop tool from one corner of the image to as far as you can go diagonally. Everything in the box will be an 8x10 once selected. You can move it, rotate it, etc. When you have what you want, click on the crop tool again (on the left) and say "OK".

With this, you will get exactly what's on the screen. Let me know if this doesn't answer your question. I wondered about this recently when I tried to get a square 8x8 print - I wasn't sure how to solve that problem (figuring that they would crop the sides to make it 8x10) so I took it to a pro lab. You may want to shoot just a little wider in the future, it will make your life easier in a case like this!

[darkman]

Hi Liz,

The lab I use gives the option. When I download images to them the interface asks if you want to crop or fit. They even have a preview. If I say fit the final prints have white on two of the sides. If I don't say to fit, it center crops. I can't recall if they allow you to move the image manually, I kind of doubt it.

However, what I usually do is resize the image for print and I know what they expect (300dpi). The canon dslrs give a 2/3 ratio. So if I want to print an 8x10 for example, I'll select the crop tool, put in an 8 x 10 ratio, then crop. The tool gives the option to put in your intended dpi too. Put whatever the lab tells you they want in here. For most labs it's 300dpi (though one I deal with wants 317?). Then drag the tool to frame how you want and crop. With PS I'll crop as I said, but then go image->resize-> in this box put the dpi you need and the size. If I'm interpolating up I'll chose bicubic smoother, if I'm going smaller I'll chose bicubic sharper. This way there is no question what you will get.

In the future, make it as idiot proof as you can!

Mike

[Liz]

I usually just edit the photo on PSElements to my liking - which many times includes cropping, and "save" it. Then I take the CF card to Walmart & order it via their machine. I don't do any further editing - they process it and I just assume it fits. It looks the same when the image comes up on their machine as it does on my monitor. And up until now, they've pretty much done a decent job.

Thanks for this information - I'll change my processing before going to Walmart - then blaming them for the goofs. ;)

Liz

Hi Liz,

The lab I use gives the option. When I download images to them the interface asks if you want to crop or fit. They even have a preview. If I say fit the final prints have white on two of the sides. If I don't say to fit, it center crops. I can't recall if they allow you to move the image manually, I kind of doubt it.

However, what I usually do is resize the image for print and I know what they expect (300dpi). The canon dslrs give a 2/3 ratio. So if I want to print an 8x10 for example, I'll select the crop tool, put in an 8 x 10 ratio, then crop. The tool gives the option to put in your intended dpi too. Put whatever the lab tells you they want in here. For most labs it's 300dpi (though one I deal with wants 317?). Then drag the tool to frame how you want and crop. With PS I'll crop as I said, but then go image->resize-> in this box put the dpi you need and the size. If I'm interpolating up I'll chose bicubic smoother, if I'm going smaller I'll chose bicubic sharper. This way there is no question what you will get.

In the future, make it as idiot proof as you can!

Mike