PRINTING HELP

Guys

For the last decade I have exported all my photos from Lightroom into folders as JPGs - set to the highest standard and around 500 DPI (although I have played with this int between 300 and 800)

Im going to printing photos to a fairly large size for an exhibition next year. Thanfully I havent started the project yet so i can start off the right way

What settings should I be favouring for printing?

- should I export a tif or can i keep with JPg?
- should I sharpen for "screen" "mat"
- should I crop using the padlock open or closed?
- what DPI is best for a fairly large print - A1 size for eg

Also...

Really embarassing newb question....

Do you print from a negative to get the best size / quality in analogue or do you still export from LR?


All comments welcome!

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Learn how to live and you'll know how to die; learn how to die, and you'll know how to live.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/awprentice/

I presume you are going to be using a commercial printer ?

If so their website will tell you what file format they require, most want JPEG but will accept TIFF. Unless you have a reason for doing so stick to JPEG.

You should select sharpen for one of the paper options. Prints require more sharpening than screen viewing.

I do use LR but not the Export tools so cannot help with the padlock

I think you mean ppi (not dpi). Again your printer will specify what ppi they require

Pixels per inch (eg 300ppi) together with pixel dimensions (eg. 7200x4800) and physical size (eg. 24" x 16") are three sides to the same triangle.

So if the printer requires 300ppi and you want a 24x16 inch print, your pixel dimensions must be 7400x4800.

Is your screen calibrated ?

It would be worth ordering some test smaller prints first to check. most of us have our screens too bright and find that our prints are darker than what we were expecting.

ps i can recommend DS Colour Labs

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Peter



My Flickr page

Cheers Peter

Is 500 PPI a safe option then for a fairly decent size?

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Learn how to live and you'll know how to die; learn how to die, and you'll know how to live.

Check out ones photographs on Flickr!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/awprentice/

You don't need to print at 500ppi. The printing company will no doubt specify the required resolution and I would go with whatever they say, but it's very unlikely to be more than 300ppi.

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Best regards, John

Not a safe option at all if the lab wants 300 ppi.

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Peter



My Flickr page

I remember looking at this a while back. The PPI was adjustable to any value you wanted in Photoshop, so bottom line it was best to just export the largest resolution (original) and best quality file (discuss with printers which file types they support) that you can. They'll do the rest.

Many printers will, but you will get better results by preparing your file yourself rather than allowing a printing company to downsize/upsize your image.

DS Colour Labs who I recommend in this thread require 300 ppi. Knowing that, and the size that you want to print at, gives you the resolution you need in pixels.

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Peter



My Flickr page

thanks guys Ill resort back to JPG's at 300 PPI

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Learn how to live and you'll know how to die; learn how to die, and you'll know how to live.

Check out ones photographs on Flickr!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/awprentice/

That is only part of the equation. For a print you need to multiply the physical size by the ppi to give you the pixel dimensions (resolution) you need.

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Peter



My Flickr page

Ok thanks

Can you give me the recommendations for the following sizes?

I've spoke to AG Photo and they only need 300DPI so thats that sorted

What would be the specific inches / dimensions for the following sizes that I am considering ...

20 x 16
18 x 12
30 x 20

Most thankful for all your help!

---

Learn how to live and you'll know how to die; learn how to die, and you'll know how to live.

Check out ones photographs on Flickr!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/awprentice/

20” x 16” at 300 ppi means your image file should be 6000 x 4800 pixels

Just multiply the ppi by the print dimensions

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Peter



My Flickr page

Thanks peter

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Learn how to live and you'll know how to die; learn how to die, and you'll know how to live.

Check out ones photographs on Flickr!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/awprentice/

CAn someone also explain the cropping tool in LR too?

When the lock is open and closed - what do the two functions serve?

Also if choose say 8 x 10 during editing how does that play out during the LR export when I opt for a different size

Cheers in advance

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Learn how to live and you'll know how to die; learn how to die, and you'll know how to live.

Check out ones photographs on Flickr!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/awprentice/

Had a quick play in LR

The padlock when locked constrains the aspect ratio. So you can grab the corners of the crop frame and move them but the aspect ratio is unchanged.

When unlocked you can use a custom ratio.

If you want a 10x8 inch image select that in the crop tool and frame your picture. Then click export and in the image sizing dialogue box select "resize to fit"; change the width and height to 10 x 8 inches and select 300 ppi. You will get a correctly re sampled image of 3000x2400 pixels.

If you want a different aspect ratio from 10x8 then dont use the 10x8 crop tool. Use the crop aspect ratio that you intend to print at.

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Peter



My Flickr page

peter thank you very much for taking the time to do that for me

MAN HUGS ALL ROUND

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Learn how to live and you'll know how to die; learn how to die, and you'll know how to live.

Check out ones photographs on Flickr!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/awprentice/