help with print sizes

[bowmaster]

I just purchased a Rebel XTI and love it, but I am having trouble getting prints the way I want them. I took a picture of my two boys and wanted to get a 4x6 and 5x7 printed. After I took the shots I used DDP and cropped out what I didn't want in the pictures, I then uploaded them to sam's. When I picked them up they had been cropped even more and half of my boys head was missing on both the 4x6 and 5x7. When I use DDP, I open the trimming tool, my choices are aspect ratio and width x height. My question is what do I set the aspect ratio to for a 4x6, 5x7, or 8x10 print? After getting the aspect ratio correct what does the width x height need to be in order to print a 4x6, 5x7, or 8x10?
print size aspect ratio width x height
4x6 _____ ______
5x7 _____ ______
8x10 _____ ______
I,m sure that this is a pretty basic questions for most people, but it sure has me all confused.
thanks,

[readingr]

Do you mean Digital Photo Professional (DPP) from Canon?

Roger

[mjs1973]

I would think that you could use the print size that you wanted for your aspect ratio. That would keep things very simple.

A 4x6 would have an aspect ratio of 2:3. This is the same aspect ratio that your XTi captures the images in.

Use an aspect ratio of 5:7 for a 5x7 print. For an 8x10 your aspect ratio would be 4:5.

[bowmaster]

OK, let me see if I understand this correctly. When I open Canon's Digtal Photo Professional and open the trimming tool I need to set the aspect ratio to 3:2 if I want a 4x6, custom 7:5 if I want a 5x7, 5:4 if I want a 8x10 is this correct? Once I have the correct aspect ratio set can I then trim the image and it will be fine, meaning the photo lab will not trim any more of the image? Second question: after I have the correct aspect ratio set and I trim the image does it need to be a specific width and height for a 4x6, 5x7, or 8x10? thanks in advance for all the help..

[mjs1973]

That pretty much sums it up. I don't resize my images for printing. I leave them just the way the are, other than adjusting the crop. If you give the lab an image with an aspect ratio of 2:3, and ask for a 4x6 print, they shouldn't need to crop anything. As long as your image aspect ratio is the same as the print size you're requesting, you should be fine.

[bowmaster]

That pretty much sums it up. I don't resize my images for printing. I leave them just the way the are, other than adjusting the crop. If you give the lab an image with an aspect ratio of 2:3, and ask for a 4x6 print, they shouldn't need to crop anything. As long as your image aspect ratio is the same as the print size you're requesting, you should be fine.

Thanks for clearing that up for me. Being the noobe that I am, this site has really helped me out alot. Thanks again.

[Ronnoco]

I use Paint Shop Pro X or Photoshop and go into the image resize. Constrain aspect ratio with NO resampling and reduce the print size to as close as I can get to 6 inches by 4 inches or 5 inches by 7 inches. This ups the pixels per inch in the same window, which increases the print resolution.

Ronnoco