Help with 11X14 sizing issue pls

cmac

Hi,
I have an image that I shot with my 20D. A friend would like it in print at 11X14, but I am having trouble. When I use photoshop and go to image size and try to make it 11X14, it comes out bigger and then I have to crop it. The problem is then when it is cropped, the image does not look the same - meaning some of the people are getting cropped out a bit. Is there a way via photoshop or another software that I can get things to just scale correctly so if they want the photo in 11X14 or 5X7, etc it looks the same?

The current dimensions are as follows:

width - 3504px / height 2336px
width 10.011 inches / height 6.674 inches
resolution 350

Any help you could offer would be very much appreciated.
Thank you,
Carolyn

DirtRacin

I print 11x14's on my Epson 3800 and the file size I use is 3000 x 2350, I hope this helps

cmac

DirtRacin wrote:

I print 11x14's on my Epson 3800 and the file size I use is 3000 x 2350, I hope this helps

thanks for trying - but it won't let me put those dimensions in - I don't know why. When I go to image size and try to put those dimensions in, it goes back to the other original size . . . I don't know if I am articulating my problem correctly either.

I do appreciate your help. Thank you.

aktpics

cmac wrote:

Hi,
I have an image that I shot with my 20D. A friend would like it in print at 11X14, but I am having trouble. When I use photoshop and go to image size and try to make it 11X14, it comes out bigger and then I have to crop it. The problem is then when it is cropped, the image does not look the same - meaning some of the people are getting cropped out a bit. Is there a way via photoshop or another software that I can get things to just scale correctly so if they want the photo in 11X14 or 5X7, etc it looks the same?

The current dimensions are as follows:

width - 3504px / height 2336px
width 10.011 inches / height 6.674 inches
resolution 350

Any help you could offer would be very much appreciated.
Thank you,
Carolyn

Hi Carolyn, I think the issue you are having is because 5x7 doesn't have the same ratio as 11x14. In other words, 5x7 will upsize to 10x14 if you want to keep the same aspect ratio (no distortion). You can try using the crop tool in photoshop (press c). Type in your dimensions (11 x 14) and resolution (ppi) on the top menubar and drag the marquee around what looks the best.

Hope this helps.

Foochar

cmac wrote:

Hi,
I have an image that I shot with my 20D. A friend would like it in print at 11X14, but I am having trouble. When I use photoshop and go to image size and try to make it 11X14, it comes out bigger and then I have to crop it. The problem is then when it is cropped, the image does not look the same - meaning some of the people are getting cropped out a bit. Is there a way via photoshop or another software that I can get things to just scale correctly so if they want the photo in 11X14 or 5X7, etc it looks the same?

The current dimensions are as follows:

width - 3504px / height 2336px
width 10.011 inches / height 6.674 inches
resolution 350

Any help you could offer would be very much appreciated.
Thank you,
Carolyn

Different print sizes have different aspect ratios, it is one of the most annoying details we have to deal with as photographers in my opinion. The standard 35mm aspect ratio used by most DSLR cameras (including yours) is 1x1.5 so a 4x6 print (1x4=4, 1.5x4=6) does not require any cropping, most other sizes do.
There are four options that I can think of to deal with this.
1 - crop the picture to the ratio you need. As you have experienced this may be a problem if you filled the frame and are using anything with a non 1x1.5 aspect ratio (which includes 5x7, 8x10 and 11x14)
2 - print your picture with white borders on the short dimension, so for example on an 11x14 print the piece of paper would be 11x14, the photo would fill the long dimension, and on the short dimension it would be about 9 and 1/3 inches, and there would be about 1 inch of white space on either side.
3 - "free transform" the picture to the aspect ratio you need, which can result in things looking distorted.
4- print in a non-standard size that fits your aspect ratio for example 8x12 or 12x18, this can be a problem when you try to mat and frame the photo

aktpics

DirtRacin wrote:

I print 11x14's on my Epson 3800 and the file size I use is 3000 x 2350, I hope this helps

You got a 3800!? I am so jealous

cmac

Foochar wrote:

Different print sizes have different aspect ratios, it is one of the most annoying details we have to deal with as photographers in my opinion. The standard 35mm aspect ratio used by most DSLR cameras (including yours) is 1x1.5 so a 4x6 print (1x4=4, 1.5x4=6) does not require any cropping, most other sizes do.
There are four options that I can think of to deal with this.
1 - crop the picture to the ratio you need. As you have experienced this may be a problem if you filled the frame and are using anything with a non 1x1.5 aspect ratio (which includes 5x7, 8x10 and 11x14)
2 - print your picture with white borders on the short dimension, so for example on an 11x14 print the piece of paper would be 11x14, the photo would fill the long dimension, and on the short dimension it would be about 9 and 1/3 inches, and there would be about 1 inch of white space on either side.
3 - "free transform" the picture to the aspect ratio you need, which can result in things looking distorted.
4- print in a non-standard size that fits your aspect ratio for example 8x12 or 12x18, this can be a problem when you try to mat and frame the photo

Travis -
Thank you for confirming what I feared - I made a mistake when I shot the photo and should not have filled up the frame so much . . . ugh! So, is there a tutorial anywhere or the free transform - option 3 you describe above? I am just trying to determine if it would look too funny. I was hoping there was a "magic" software package out there that would do this for me. Oh well, live and learn I guess.

Thanks,
Carolyn

jfriend

cmac wrote:

Travis -
Thank you for confirming what I feared - I made a mistake when I shot the photo and should not have filled up the frame so much . . . ugh! So, is there a tutorial anywhere or the free transform - option 3 you describe above? I am just trying to determine if it would look too funny. I was hoping there was a "magic" software package out there that would do this for me. Oh well, live and learn I guess.

Thanks,
Carolyn

Here are some options:

• Since you are printing it yourself, you can offer this person a custom size that fits with your image. For example, you can offer them a 9.33 x 14 or a 10x15 which both require no cropping at the dimensions you have. This can go in a normal sized frame with a custom cut matt or your friend can get a custom sized frame.
• You can add a frame in Photoshop and use the kind of frame that has room for a title on one side to help your photo fit into the 11x14 size.
• You can add in some extra background content onto one dimension of your photo by cloning or stretching some part of the background to fill the extra space or copy content from another photo. How easy this is depends a lot on your image. Show us a copy of the image and we could offer advice on how to do this or whether it was feasible or not.
• You could see what it looks like if you squeeze the long dimension of your image down to fit (e.g. transform the image). You are are trying to get a 10x15 sqeezed down to a 10x14 so we're talking about a squeeze of 1/15th (e.g. about 6.5%). Sometimes you can get away with this or sometimes you can get half way there with the transform and then crop a little to get the other half of the way there.

cmac

jfriend wrote:

Here are some options:

• Since you are printing it yourself, you can offer this person a custom size that fits with your image. For example, you can offer them a 9.33 x 14 or a 10x15 which both require no cropping at the dimensions you have. This can go in a normal sized frame with a custom cut matt or your friend can get a custom sized frame.
• You can add a frame in Photoshop and use the kind of frame that has room for a title on one side to help your photo fit into the 11x14 size.
• You can add in some extra background content onto one dimension of your photo by cloning or stretching some part of the background to fill the extra space or copy content from another photo. How easy this is depends a lot on your image. Show us a copy of the image and we could offer advice on how to do this or whether it was feasible or not.
• You could see what it looks like if you squeeze the long dimension of your image down to fit (e.g. transform the image). You are are trying to get a 10x15 sqeezed down to a 10x14 so we're talking about a squeeze of 1/15th (e.g. about 6.5%). Sometimes you can get away with this or sometimes you can get half way there with the transform and then crop a little to get the other half of the way there.

I am not actually printing it myself - sorry if there was confusion around that issue. I am attaching a jpg here of the image - then perhaps I can decide which option is best based on all of your advice. I do very much appreicate this help while I am learning. Thank you.

Carolyn

ps - this is my first time posting and attaching, so I hope I did it correctly. Thanks for your patience.

jfriend

cmac wrote:

I am not actually printing it myself - sorry if there was confusion around that issue. I am attaching a jpg here of the image - then perhaps I can decide which option is best based on all of your advice. I do very much appreicate this help while I am learning. Thank you.

Carolyn

ps - this is my first time posting and attaching, so I hope I did it correctly. Thanks for your patience.

Here's one possibility where I selected the top band of sky and stretched it to fill enough area to make an 11x14 ratio image. This would print at 11x14 without any cropping:



I personally would recommend printing 8x12 or some size that doesn't require cropping or adding sky.

jfriend

And here's one where I balanced three different transforms. First I expanded the canvas to be the right ratio. Then, I stretched the shirts down about 1/3 of the extra I need. Then I expanded the whole image vertically about 1/3 of what's needed. Then, I stretched the sky the remaining third. Since I don't know these people, I can't tell if they still look realistic or not. My guess is that they look a little older/taller than they actually are. Anyway, this is an approach that gives you something a little more balanced. This actually isn't that hard to do so I can either do it for you on the original or, if you want to do it yourself, I'll write up the steps and you can give a try. Or, you can just decide to convince your friend to go with a 8x12 instead of an 11x14.

cmac

jfriend wrote:

And here's one where I balanced three different transforms. First I expanded the canvas to be the right ratio. Then, I stretched the shirts down about 1/3 of the extra I need. Then I expanded the whole image vertically about 1/3 of what's needed. Then, I stretched the sky the remaining third. Since I don't know these people, I can't tell if they still look realistic or not. My guess is that they look a little older/taller than they actually are. Anyway, this is an approach that gives you something a little more balanced. This actually isn't that hard to do so I can either do it for you on the original or, if you want to do it yourself, I'll write up the steps and you can give a try. Or, you can just decide to convince your friend to go with a 8x12 instead of an 11x14.

Thank you so much - this looks great - I think that my friend would actually really like it. Is it a lot of trouble to do it? I should probably learn how - if you don't mind writing up the steps, I should give it a try - but, I don't want to take advantage of your good will. Let me know what is easiest for you and I will go with that. Unfortunately, I cannot convince her to skip the 11X14 - there are two images she wants and she wants them both in 11 X 14 - the other worked fine . . .

Have you ever heard of genuine fractals? Is that something that would help with an issue like this?

Thank you so much for your help. I am very grateful.

Carolyn

jfriend

cmac wrote:

Thank you so much - this looks great - I think that my friend would actually really like it. Is it a lot of trouble to do it? I should probably learn how - if you don't mind writing up the steps, I should give it a try - but, I don't want to take advantage of your good will. Let me know what is easiest for you and I will go with that. Unfortunately, I cannot convince her to skip the 11X14 - there are two images she wants and she wants them both in 11 X 14 - the other worked fine . . .

Have you ever heard of genuine fractals? Is that something that would help with an issue like this?

Thank you so much for your help. I am very grateful.

Carolyn

I'll do both. I can write up the steps and do them on your original image. You can then try it out yourself or use the one I do How do you want to get me the original image? Can you post a link to it?

cmac

jfriend wrote:

I'll do both. I can write up the steps and do them on your original image. You can then try it out yourself or use the one I do How do you want to get me the original image? Can you post a link to it?

You are very kind -thank you. How would I post a link? Not sure how to do that. I could somehow email you the file - but it is probably too big? I am happy to post a link to it, just don't know where/how to do it. Right now it is saved on my hard drive.

Thanks,
Carolyn

jfriend

cmac wrote:

You are very kind -thank you. How would I post a link? Not sure how to do that. I could somehow email you the file - but it is probably too big? I am happy to post a link to it, just don't know where/how to do it. Right now it is saved on my hard drive.

Thanks,
Carolyn

I thought you might have a Smugmug account. If you do, you can just upload it to a gallery there, enable access to originals and share the link to the gallery.

If you don't have a Smugmug account or any other online hosting where you could upload the original image file and share it on the internet, then we'll have to find some other way. My email provider can handle large attachments. You can try that. Go here and send me a message and we can start chatting in email about how to exchange the file.