Cropping Images for lab processing

How do you guys crop and prepare your images for lab printing?
I'm using Photoshop7 and find if I enter the required print size in the size box it will literally reduce my image to say 7x5, If I send those files to a lab will I get a decent print?

Also what sort of file size do you save at, I always seem to end up with files two or three times the size of the original, thats saving as jpeg at maximum quality, Tiffs are just ridiculous and often ten times the original

I need to get my sons wedding pics sorted and pro printed

Depends where you get them printed...

ProAM Imaging:
* Convert to colour space - use ProAM Imaging's ICM file
* Image Resize to 402 x print size, and change DPI setting to 402.
* Apply sharpening (especially if up-sized)
* Save as a JPG at 98%

Photobox:
* Convert to sRGB colour space
* Image resize to around 300 x print size. If I want 6x4, then I resize to about 1800 pixels max width.
* Save as JPG at 90 - 95%

ProAM are not a problem as you post a CD. But they want high quality JPG.
With Photobox I tend to send a relatively small JPG (under 1Mb) as I use them when I have a whole batch of 6x4s to print.

HTH
Matt

Thanks Matt, have registered with photobox and have managed to create a tool preset for cropping.

So much easier in the Darkroom! I can go in and size it up under the enlarger and print 4x8"x6" prints or 8x6"x4" prints on one sheet of 16x12" paper and develop them all at once in my Nova unit. Do my weddings that way; just test colour balance once for daylight 'Sunny' daylight 'Overcast' and pics by 'flash indoors' make a note of any change to filtration and away I go !

Unfortunately I never got around to colour printing, I've done B&W and developed slide film but thats about it Now instead of messy chemicals we just get ink all over our fingers

What do you mean with resize to 402x printsize?
If I want to order a print of 30x45cm I have to resize the image to 12060x18090cm?

/Remco

One other thing to watch if sending photos to Photobox for enlargements is to ensure that the aspect ratio of the photo is exactly the same ratio as that of the paper on which it is to be printed, otherwise you may have some of your picture trimmed or you may have white space along the edges, which is not what you want if you have asked for 'edge to edge' printing. The other alternative is to add white space in a photo editing program, to make up the required paper ratio.

Also to 'golfdiesel' I think that 'Mattmatic' is quoting measurements in inches for print sizes.

I meant 402xINCH size in PIXELS
So, a 10 inch length should be exactly 4020 pixels.
This is only for Pro AM Imaging who send the file directly to the print device without any intermediate messing around (ie no resizing, no colour changes, no colour space conversion) - that's why you have to do all the work up front
Matt

In Photoshop I use the crop tool to resize, I've have recorded a number of actions with various crop factors, pixels, profiles etc. depending on where the image is intended for, print, web, competition etc.

When I'm happy with the saved psd I duplicate the image, create a blank layer and expand the canvas centrally to a decent size then using the appropriate crop action, the beauty doing it this way is you can manipulate the crop window on screen before commiting the crop, the duplication, create layer and canvas resizing are part of the action.

I'm willing to bet that there is some limitations that I've missed, but as yet I have not found any.

Silkypix is good for resizing jpgs too.