Image sizeing for prints.

I was recently asked to provide some images for my camera clubs first exhibition.

It was to be all at the same print size of 10 x 8 inches to provide a common front. Problem for me as i only ever put my images on the web, in forums and the occasional blog, and all are usually at 800 pixels on the longest side, and usually below 200KB.

However these settings are not best for prints at 10 x 8. i shoot in Raw, then convert to Tiff to work on before finally saving as a Jpeg for the web.

What pixel size, DPI, and MB/KB would people recommend to achieve larger prints ?

My usual working is from the Tiff, crop- shadows and highlights size down, -Unsharp mask- size down to final size- then smart sharpen before saving as a Jpeg.

As i dont save the Raw Or Tiffs, i need to try and adapt my ways so i can provide prints for the future, any advice would be gratefully received.

If it were me, I would set the crop to the size I wanted, and then, working with a tiff format, simply crop for effect and leave the density alone.

By cropping you will be reducing the size of the file, (Mbs), so there will be some loss of definition, where sharpening will be needed.

If it were for quality prints, I would not convert to Jpeg as the loss in definition would be too great, but work purely in tiff.

Hope this helps.

Same as Fogey!

xx

Thanks Fogey and Zoundz, not printing photos meant ive lost loads of images because of web based activities, whole new world to explore.

The RAW file size native to my D800 is just over 39Meg. The native conversion to Jpeg is a 20"x30" print. I use OnOne Software's Perfect Resize software to crop or change this native size to anything else. It's practically lossless. I store my cropped images for the net at 20"x30" on SmugMug, a direct proportion to what the camera sensor sees. I really have few limits on print size with a 36.3 MegaPixel sensor.

Cheers Bob thanks for your input, this may seem a daft question, but once ive cropped for composition, can i then resize the whole image to 10 x 8 inches ?

If the proportions exist for an 8x10. http://www.ononesoftware.com/product...ct-resize/?ind

Cheers for the link Bob, i been reading some answers to similar questions on another site, seem to be a complicated issue. I use CS4, but have had a dabble and had some strange results.

Need to learn more about this subject matter.

Why not download the trial version from the link I included? I started using Genuine Fractals over 10 years ago before it became Perfect Resize. It can also be used as a stand alone piece of software without Photoshop.

Ok Mossy, a Tut for you.

Call up your raw image.

Select the crop tool and set the parameters as shown.




You must type the number and 'In' in the little boxes.

Then crop.




You can move the crop anywhere you like, simply by dragging.

If you want to zoom in, do so before the crop, and then crop.




The crop will still be the same size you have set, albeit with a bigger image.

Once zoomed in, if you want to alter the crop area, simply use the handles on the crop and drag to resize.




The proportions of the crop will remain the same.