can I resize/resample prints on order?

titaniumphoto

Hi, I have a PRO account and utilize BayPhoto as the lab of choice. I have taken a lot of pain to ensure certain prints offered for sale fit standard sizes, where possible. There are times with some images, that it is not possible.

I have read this: http://www.smugmug.com/help/print-quality

My issue isn't with quality but with size and cropping. All my images are big enough to print on the 3 sizes I offer (up to 20x30) - like probably everyone on this site.

Question: Can or does SmugMug offer slightly resized prints in traditional photo sizes like 4" x 6", 5" x 7", etc. And thus they would have a 4" × 5.3" ("True Digital") option that prints the photo with no cropping. It preserves every pixel of your photograph—it just won’t fit in a standard-size frame.

Reason I ask: It is almost impossible for me to pick the "top 3" products for my images because I don't know (via some magical script in SmugMug if one exists) - on which products to offer clients that DONT REQUIRE CROPPING on checkout. Plus, I don't want to offer products that really offer cropping on checkout - its just one more step for them to take before they click GO and buy.

Can: Smugmug offer slightly resized prints to fit-form traditional sizes to assist in my cropping required Delima?

Best
Todd @ titaniumphoto.com

Ann McRae

Hi

You can see the full Bay catalogue here: http://www.smugmug.com/prints/catalog/BP

EZPrints offers compact camera print sizes and has a 4x5.3 print to match.

http://www.smugmug.com/prints/catalog/P

All of your photos will have an aspect ratio to them, as do all print sizes. Your original photos will have an aspect ratio determined by your camera sensor. With most dSLRs this is 2:3 (or 1:1.5).

The 'common' print sizes (or at least the common frame sizes) all have different aspect ratios:

4x6 is 2:3
5x7 is 1:1.4
8x10 is 4:5 (1:1.25)

Photos are not resized when they are printed. That would distort them. Therefore they must be cropped to meet the 'common' print sizes. The crop tool in the shopping cart can be used by the customer, by clicking on adjust. This allows the customer to crop closer to the subject, or to rotate the crop from portrait to landscape or vice versa, but it does not change the aspect ratio of the print size chosen. The 'no crop' option will print the full image onto the size of paper chosen, but with white borders that customers tend to dislike, as they affect the ability to frame the print in a standard frame size. Make sure you use proof delay so you can check and fix cropping choices of your customers.

There are three ways for you to enable the customer to get the full image onto the print size that they have chosen.

1. At your shoot, shoot with plenty of room around the subject so that all crops are possible from your original. Don't precrop your photos before upload, and allow the customer to crop as needed in the cart.

2. Only price the print sizes that match the aspect ratio of your camera sensor. For a 2:3 sensor those are:

4x6, 8x12, 10x15, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36

Setting the price for the other print sizes to $0 prevents customers from ordering those, and being forced to crop.

3. If you have PSCS5, the resize tool is actually content aware, and can resize an image properly without distorting it. You would use proof delay, and resize after orders are placed. However, if the customer orders multiple sizes of a single photo this won't work.

titaniumphoto

Ann McRae wrote: »

Hi

You can see the full Bay catalogue here: http://www.smugmug.com/prints/catalog/BP

EZPrints offers compact camera print sizes and has a 4x5.3 print to match.

http://www.smugmug.com/prints/catalog/P

All of your photos will have an aspect ratio to them, as do all print sizes. Your original photos will have an aspect ratio determined by your camera sensor. With most dSLRs this is 2:3 (or 1:1.5).

The 'common' print sizes (or at least the common frame sizes) all have different aspect ratios:

4x6 is 2:3
5x7 is 1:1.4
8x10 is 4:5 (1:1.25)

Photos are not resized when they are printed. That would distort them. Therefore they must be cropped to meet the 'common' print sizes. The crop tool in the shopping cart can be used by the customer, by clicking on adjust. This allows the customer to crop closer to the subject, or to rotate the crop from portrait to landscape or vice versa, but it does not change the aspect ratio of the print size chosen. The 'no crop' option will print the full image onto the size of paper chosen, but with white borders that customers tend to dislike, as they affect the ability to frame the print in a standard frame size. Make sure you use proof delay so you can check and fix cropping choices of your customers.

There are three ways for you to enable the customer to get the full image onto the print size that they have chosen.

1. At your shoot, shoot with plenty of room around the subject so that all crops are possible from your original. Don't precrop your photos before upload, and allow the customer to crop as needed in the cart.

2. Only price the print sizes that match the aspect ratio of your camera sensor. For a 2:3 sensor those are:

4x6, 8x12, 10x15, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36

Setting the price for the other print sizes to $0 prevents customers from ordering those, and being forced to crop.

3. If you have PSCS5, the resize tool is actually content aware, and can resize an image properly without distorting it. You would use proof delay, and resize after orders are placed. However, if the customer orders multiple sizes of a single photo this won't work.

Thanks much - the final polish I needed was to standardize all these things and never did that in the workflow - go figure. Yes, its better for none of these to be cropped as to remove buyer confusion.