Cropping for print

LRussoPhoto

I have some photos I took of a sunrise that I want to have printed. What I did was in LR3 I have cropped the photos so it looks like a panoramic shot, real wide side to side but skinny top to bottom. How would I go about getting them printed?

LRussoPhoto

Here are a few of what I mean.

Sam

First I would recommend looking at your original images and see if a crop of 2 to 1 or 3 to 1 will work for you.

If so there are online companies like frame destination that carry mats and frames in these ratios.

As for printing, just order based on the longest side. Lets say you have an 10" X 5' image. Create an 8" X 10" canvas and copy your image to this canvas. Then just order an 8X10 from the printer and trim off the excess white when you receive the print.

You can also put two or three images on a larger canvas and get two to three images from one print.

Sam

LRussoPhoto

Ok, how do I know how big my image is? You said, say you have a 10x5 image, how do I know if it will be 10x5? I use lr, when you say create an 8x10 canvas how do I do that?
Thanks

Hinson

Quad: In Lightroom, you can check the size in the metadata module. Scroll down on the lower right for the meta-data section and look at the dimensions. For instance my images (straight from camera) are 4368x2912. Since you will want to submit 300 dpi images for printing, divide each diminsion by 300 and you will get the image size in inches. In my example, the size would be 14.56" x 9.7"

You can crop your image in LR in the Develop module by clicking on the crop overlay tool on the right.

To create an 8x10 canvas assumes you are using some sort of imaging program such as Photoshop, Elements, Paint, etc.

What I would recommend, if you still have the uncropped originals, is to find out what size panos your lab offers and then crop to that size.

LRussoPhoto

I do have the original's, but would it just be easier to say get a 12x18 print made, then have someone make a matte just revealing the dimension I choose? So the part of the photo you see will be say 6x16 or something like that?

Sam

QuadRacer041 wrote: »

I do have the original's, but would it just be easier to say get a 12x18 print made, then have someone make a matte just revealing the dimension I choose? So the part of the photo you see will be say 6x16 or something like that?

Can you do it? Yes of course. Is it easier, or cheaper? Not in my opinion. Matting / framing costs more than printing. Add custom to the project and the cost goes up even more.

Sam

LRussoPhoto

ok, so crop recropped one photo at a 3x1 aspect ratio by going back to the original, using the crop feature and choosing custom. It brought up a window asking me the ratio, i typed in 3.00 x 1.00. I then exported the raw file to a jpg. When I look at the metedata for the image after the exported crop, the size is 4288x1429. so that means the photo is 14.29" on the horizontal side and 4.76" on the vertical side. Now how do I go about getting it to a size for print? If I wanted to just upload that to my smugmug site, how do I choose a print size?

Hinson

Unfortunately, you are trying to do something that LR is not designed for. If you don't have Photoshop or Elements (and with your talent you definitely should) then open 'Paint' and create a new canvas that is the size that smugmug can print. They don't offer anything that is really close to the dimensions you want but you might be able to crop to an 8x16 and get a nice print. Once you create the new canvas, paste your image into it and then move it around to get the best crop.

LRussoPhoto

Hinson wrote: »

Unfortunately, you are trying to do something that LR is not designed for. If you don't have Photoshop or Elements (and with your talent you definitely should) then open 'Paint' and create a new canvas that is the size that smugmug can print. They don't offer anything that is really close to the dimensions you want but you might be able to crop to an 8x16 and get a nice print. Once you create the new canvas, paste your image into it and then move it around to get the best crop.

Thank you for the compliment, it means alot. I do have Photoshop cs but really don't know how to use it. I'll have to try to figure it out in either paint or photoshop.

Sam

Ok, here is one way you can do it. Go to Bayphoto's web site and use their Bay ROSE order system. Follow the directions. Upload your image and size it at 5X15. Place your order.

If you have a SmugMug account you can simply upload your image to your website and order a 5X15 print.

If your in PS go to image, image size, make sure the resample image box is unchecked. Change the document size to 15" width and 5" height. This will result in an image with 285 ppi. ignore that number just print it. Save image and your ready to send it off to any printer who can print a 5X15 size.

Sam

Gary752

Sam wrote: »

First I would recommend looking at your original images and see if a crop of 2 to 1 or 3 to 1 will work for you.

If so there are online companies like frame destination that carry mats and frames in these ratios.

As for printing, just order based on the longest side. Lets say you have an 10" X 5' image. Create an 8" X 10" canvas and copy your image to this canvas. Then just order an 8X10 from the printer and trim off the excess white when you receive the print.

You can also put two or three images on a larger canvas and get two to three images from one print.

Sam

Sam is correct with this description. I did a pano crop of an image that ended up something like 4 or 5" x 15" (don't remember exact dimensions) and had it printed at Wally World. It ended up having white on the top and bottom, so I just cut the white off.

GaryB

LRussoPhoto

ok, just saw there is a no crop option when you choose to put a photo in your cart, never saw that before. Problem solved. But also came across this thread:
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?p=263989#post263989
which tells me I can fit 2 photos on one print and get more bang for my buck. Just have to figure out how to do it, lol. Thanks for the help boys!

Hinson

Quad; if you have Photoshop, then you are home free. Just open PS, click File/new and create a 30" wide by 5" high canvas. (make sure you click 'inches' in the drop down) Now, open two of your images and drag or copy paste them into the new canvas side by side. Smugmug offers the 5x30 size pano. Sam mentioned two images on one print earlier.

LRussoPhoto

Hinson, I would create a 30x5 canvas if I were only doing one print correct? If I wanted to put 2 prints on one canvas then I would create a 30x10 canvas correct? Just curious, why do you guys keep suggesting a 5x30? Could I create any size I want that smugmug offers? Example would be smugmug offers a 16"x20" print I could create a 16x20 canvas, drop my 2 pano photos in there at a size of 8x20 each and just cut down the middle of the print to get my 2 photos. Am I right?
How do I know what aspect ratio to crop the original photos too?

Hinson

Lou; no, the 5x30 will hold TWO prints. Below is an example. The white section is a 5x30 canvas and the red and green are your two 14.29" x 4.76" prints. Make sense? And the reason I mentioned the 5x30 size is because Smugmug offers a pano in that size. When you order a print from Smugmug, they do not care what is on the paper. You could have two 5x7s, four 4x5s or one 8x10 on an 8x10 print and so forth.

LRussoPhoto

Makes sense and it worked.....Thank you!
Your getting the 4.76x14.29 from the image size divided by the 300dpi correct? What I did in photo shop now is make a 10x15 canvas and instead of going side by side i went top and bottom so now i can get a 12x18 print, am i correct in my thinking? I have a connection with some who does matting and can get a matte done to suit my needs.

LRussoPhoto

This is what I came up with.

Hinson

Yes, that works and the 12x18 is actually a bit cheaper than the 5x30

LRussoPhoto

Thank you for all your help!

Sam

Your over thinking this! You can order a 5"X15" print from Bay Photo. This will give you a clean cut print. Unless you have a good rotary trimmer good luck with cutting the print in half clean and straight.

Also by my calculations 2 5X15 prints will cost less than one 12X18 print.

PS: Don't print it at the odd 4.xxx by 14.xxx. Resize to 5"X15".

Sam

LRussoPhoto

Sam wrote: »

PS: Don't print it at the odd 4.xxx by 14.xxx. Resize to 5"X15".

Sam

How do I do that????????

Sam

QuadRacer041 wrote: »

How do I do that????????

OK I tyried to post with pictures of the image size window but couldn't do it?? To large I think.

But as I posted before: If your in PS go to image, image size, make sure the resample image box is unchecked. Change the document size to 15" width and 5" height. This will result in an image with 285 ppi. ignore that number just print it. Save image and your ready to send it off to any printer who can print a 5X15 size.

Try it. If you still have trouble then come back.

Sam

LRussoPhoto

Wow, its amazing what you can learn, lol. That was easy. And when I click on the image/image size it tells me the actual size of the image in inches, very cool!
Thanks again.

Sam

QuadRacer041 wrote: »

Wow, its amazing what you can learn, lol. That was easy. And when I click on the image/image size it tells me the actual size of the image in inches, very cool!
Thanks again.

At last.............I sleep again. :D:D

Sam

LRussoPhoto

I'm back with a another question.I now have a mac and have the ps elements app. I can't seem to figure out how to do this process in elements. I open a new canvas and make the size 10"hx15"w and it defaults the resolution to 72. Then I open my 2 photos, now it has all 3 items in the project bin. I choose a photo then try to click edit copy but copy is dimmed, i can't choose it. If i try to drag and drop the photo into the new canvas the photo is way too big and only a portion of it is visible in the canvas. I tried opening a new canvas and basing the size on the pixels and when i go to put a photo into the canvas it puts it in the center and i can't figure out how to move it to the top portion so i can add the second photo to the lower portion. What am i missing?
And why when i choose a 10x15 canvas does a 5x15 photo not fit into it?

Sam

There goes my sleep................

OK, I don't know the tools and buttons in elements but the problem your having with the miss match of image sizes is probably because the ppi of your new 10X15 canvas is different than the ppi of your images. While this can be dealt with lets go the easy route. If your images are say 285 ppi, then create a canvas at 10 X15 at 285 ppi. Then all should work out. To move the image you should have a move tool short cut(v).

Also if your printing this and the prints are positioned without any space between them it will make it more difficult to cut the print in half.

Much better to print them individually at the 5X15 size.

Sam

LRussoPhoto

Damm, can't believe i couldn't figure that out. Now do I need to flatten that new canvas, if so how?
Thanks for your help Sam.

Hinson

Not necessarily. You can probably go to file/print and print it as is. Once you flatten it, you will not be able to edit it any further.

arodney

QuadRacer041 wrote: »

Ok, how do I know how big my image is? You said, say you have a 10x5 image, how do I know if it will be 10x5? I use lr, when you say create an 8x10 canvas how do I do that?
Thanks

Turn on Dimensions, turn off Print Resolution check box. Dimensions will show you the size for the current template and its output resolution (which depending on the output device should be in a range of 180-480ppi).

The page Setup is where you fix a ‘size’ to the template. Obviously a page that is 8x10 will produce a different cell size (and using the above settings, resolution) than a page that is 12x18, etc.

Sam

QuadRacer041 wrote: »

Damm, can't believe i couldn't figure that out. Now do I need to flatten that new canvas, if so how?
Thanks for your help Sam.

Layers..flatten.done

Sam