Cropping for print

I have looked all over for this information but can't seem to find it - sooo if you are cropping a photo to send to a lab for print, I have heard that you need to make it a little smaller than the required output size because the labs allow a certain leeway for printer 'error'. In other words, a 4 X 6 inch print should be sized 3.89 X 5.68 (I made these numbers up!). My question is (are) then is there a formula for deciding how much smaller to make the print size? Is there a chart? Is each lab noticibly different?
Thanks for advice,
j.

First time I ever used their service. So Noobie lessons for me. lol.
The more I use their machine the better I'll understand all the options. And thanks thats good to know.
For now I am using the fuji machine at Walmart. (Oh I can see the shuttering faces)
I figure it the best for me at the moment until I need a pro service.
Do you know if it can handle a picture package. I thought I saw that option for a single image on the machine. I am assuming that you just pick the 8 x 10 size and it should handle a jpg of that size.
Though the file size would be huge. I just got the Canon 40D about a month ago. So lessons there as well.
BTW does anybody know why the Kodak machine can not read a compactFlash card. But the Fuji Machine can?
Sorry for getting a little off topic.

Similar Messages

How to Non Destructively crop for printing

I have photos that I'm not interesting in cropping, but when I print a 4x6, there a little extra space (about 1/2" on either side) that I have to cut off after printing.
I've been looking for a "per instance" crop option in the print prompt, but I can't seem to find it. Instead, I would have to crop the actual pic to 4x6, which I don't want to do.
This is a pretty obvious feature, so I assume it's here and I just can't find it....

Nathan:
Just crop the image in iPhoto to print to the size you want and when the printing is completed use the Photos->Revert to original to delete the modified file and bring the untouched original file back as the default image.

Automated Cropping for Print Preparation?

I am interested in "best practices" advice for creating cropped versions of placed images in InDesign after I've designed a document, in preparation to send the document to a printer. My current workflow is as follows:
I gather images, some of which may be very high resolution
I place images into the document begin to move, resize, and/or crop images to achieve the design. This often implies a lot of careful adjustment as I start to see the elements of the design coming together. I keep the image resolution high to permit this sort of adjustment. For instance I might zoom in on one image by increasing its size, and leave a majority of it outside the crop window.
When the design is finalized, I find myself with a collection of very high resolution files in the packaged link folder. It's good that they're high resolution, but when I check my links palette, I find that most of my "effective dpi" values are considerably higher than 300 dpi. I have way too much image data and physical image area than I'm actually using.
What would be ideal is a function that essentially does this:
Take all my high resolution source files, and
crop each one to the dimensions I'm actually using in my InDesign file, based on where I've drawn the crop window
reduce all images to 300 dpi in the cases that my effective dpi is higher than 300. For example, I might have a 300 dpi image at 8x10" which I reduced to 4x5" and cropped in half, so now I have a 2x5" image at 600dpi. That's great, but in that case, I shouldn't be sending a 300dpi 8x10" image to the printer - I should be sending them a 300dpi 2x5" image with the exact crop that I specified when I was designing in InDesign - otherwise I'm just wasting space.
I could of course go into each of my high res source images, open them in photoshop, set the dimensions of the canvas to the dimensions of my crop window in InDesign, and try to eyeball the crop, but in many cases I've been very meticulous about placing, resizing, and cropping those images in context of the design document (rather than isolated in a photoshop window) so it seems like a poor choice to try to do all this work again in a separate program.
Is there any method/feature that would help here?

That's great, but in that case, I shouldn't be sending a 300dpi 8x10" image to the printer - I should be sending them a 300dpi 2x5" image with the exact crop that I specified when I was designing in InDesign - otherwise I'm just wasting space.
300ppi is a random convention, sampling an image down from 600ppi certainly won't make the output better. But if you want to adhere to some specific pixel resolution requirement, export a print ready PDF (PDF/X) and set the resolution at export.

Cropped photos did not stayed cropped for printing shop??

Ok, I spent a lot of time cropping and getting my photos ready for the printer. Saved the photos and copied them to a cd. Took cd to the photo printer and the photos printed as the originals. Put the cd in my other MAC to see what was up and the photos on the CD are the cropped version. Printer doesn't know how or why nor do I. Any suggestions?

Thomas,
How did you copy those photos? If you burn a CD from within iPhoto, using the Share > Burn command, then the CD contains a mini iPhoto Library. This library has all files needed to recreate your library: originals, edits, thumbnails, database files. It's great for restoring an iPhoto library, but it confuses printers and anyone not using iPhoto.
The way to create a CD for a printer or non-iPhoto use is to select the photos and do File > Export > File Export to a folder on your Desktop. iPhoto will export the full-sized, edited (if there is one) version of each selected photo. Burn that folder to the CD. It has only the photo files, and nothing else to confuse the printer.
Regards.

I am trying to crop a portrait photo into 6x4 portrait ready for printing. Iphoto only crops it landscape and therefore cuts out most of the photo. Is there any way of resolving this?

I am trying to crop a portrait photo into 6x4 portrait ready for printing. I am using Iphoto on a Macbook Pro. Everytime I try and crop the photo, it crops in Landscape which cuts out most of the photo. Is there any way of resolving this? I am new to Macs as I am currently switching from MS. It is very easy to do this in MS photo editor so I can't believe it can't be easily done in Iphoto!

These are the two steps that Larry describes:
#1
#2

I have justed upgraded CS2 to CS5. How do I set artboard crop or trim marks for printing?

I have justed upgraded CS2 to CS5. How do I set artboard crop or trim marks for printing? It was under the "OBJECTS" menu in CS2, but I can't find it in CS5.

it actually works the same way but better you don't see it that way but with perhaps more experience you might catch on and say "oh now I see that' all I have to do.
Multiple artboards, which you did not have in CS 2 , changes the equation.
When you open a new document you can set up a gangup in the new document dialog then say for a business card then do one business card in the first one.
Then copy the art and text of that first one and in one command paste that art in all of the artboards with one command, you can then make another artboard that encompasses all the artboards and you now have a gang up say six up you can now print all a once as a gang up or print a range of the artboards or specific artboards.
As a matter of fact now that you can paste on all artboards with one command AI CS 5 actually has a step and repeat feature that works verticaly and horizontally at the same time. And an improved version is easily had.
Also since you probably know how many you need of this first artboard then you can simply make one rectangle for for the first artboard and give it a crop area effect and when you do your copy include the rectangle and then paste on all artboards and there you are
look at the video, see how cool. less complicated not more complicated. And as other users explore this function I bet they come up with even better ideas.
http://mysite.verizon.net/wzphoto/Artboards.mov
I am going to make one adjustment here instead of doing a command c to copy the first artboard it would be better to do a command x to cut the first one since the command paste on all artboard does exactly that. So if you do a command c and a command option shift v then you have two rectangles and art and crop marks pasted on top of each other. Probably won't do any harm but might be confusing in the layers panel.

Help with cropping & sorting images prior to export for print

I have large project (wedding) within which I've sorted images into several folders (pre-wedding, church, family portraits, etc.) within which there are smart albums based on my ratings. I also have a generic "5 Star" album at the top level which contains the final images that have been adjusted and which the client has been provided with in order to choose from.
I now have a list of print requirements from the client (image name, size, and quantity).
I'm curious to know what the quickest way to sort and tag the images selected for print, particularly in view of there being a number of different size requests for the images which are to be printed.
Also - I'd value opinions (based on experience) on whether I should bother cropping to size for images that are 5x7 and 8x10 (the default ratio is 2x3 at the moment).
The bottom line is that I'm trying to minimise the amount of time I spend on print tagging and cropping prior to export, and post export sorting prior to sending off to the lab.
Thanks,
Paul

To answer your questions:
I am assuming that you want a new version of the crop size especially if you have an image/s that are required in multiple sizes like 8x10 and 5x7 the image would end up in each crop size album so you would have two versions one for each aspect ratio and doing the new version in the context of the album would make in the album pic so that the proper one will be at the top of the stack in each respective album.
Orientation does not matter with the stamp it will work fine - if you have an issue let me know.
with respect to the stamp - the stamp will position the crop relative to the one you lifted - if your lifted crop is in the middle then so will the stamped ones.
As for adjustment of the crop - just click on the crop tool, the click on the browser image and arrow through the images with the crop tool open - you can drag the crop around for each one with a minimum of keystrokes.
Try it and hit me back with issues. I do this all the time and it is about 3000x quicker than my old workflow 5 years ago. For that matter the power of albums, stacks, and stack picks for this kind of thing is fabulous, there are a million ways to use it to speed things up. Bonus is that you are not copying anything so it is virtually free from a resource perspective.
Last but not least I would think twice before using a smart album to do this, youi really do not want the content changing in this type of album, it will not save you any time, I would use static albums in the manner that I suggested.
RB
Ps. If you are interested in the ins and outs of Aperture organization features check out my PDF on the subject there is a bunch of stuff like this.

Cropping ans sending out for prints

I've been using Aperture for a while. I've cropped many pictures. I've tried to read aas much as I can baout how the crop in Aperure works, but I've not seen to much.
I cropped a picture. RAW file from D50. Picture of a person on Portrait mode on the camera. I cropped some extraneous side stuff. i didn't use constrain. I sent the photo out via Aperture for a 16x20 print. I got the print and it looks great but, the photo doesn't cover the full paper. There are two whit borders down each side. Why dould it print to the full paper. Is this due to cropping? Any way to tell?
If I use the constrain feature, say to 8x10 , the largest available, would this make a difference in my print?
Should constrain always be used? Pic a size. What if I select a constrain crop of 4x6, and order and 8x10?
Last does anyone know a site to maybe explain the cropping feature of Aperture?
Thanks

the short answer is yes. if you're going to send out for prints, you should always crop to the final dimensions of your print with the constrain option checked.
the term here is "aspect ratio", which refers to the ratio of the width to the height (or the height to the width, depending on the photo's orientation). you don't really have to worry about the fancy math, just type in the final dimensions of your print in the crop tool and constrain the tool to those dimensions. the great thing about Aperture is that you can order a 4x6, 5x7, and 8x10 of the same photo and get them cropped exactly like you want even though they have different aspect ratios. you just create a different version for each crop size and order the appropriate print sizes for each version.
good luck,
scott
PowerMac G5 2.5GHz Mac OS X (10.4.8) MacBook Pro 2.0GHz

Where did all the setting for printing go in PSE8-Mac?!

OK, I'm probably missing some obvious settings somewhere, please tell me after you read my rantings...
I'm using the 'Full Edit' mode, assuming that is important. But the new Print Dialog looks like it has been dumbed down for some one, not sure who, however has it has me completely confused. There are now only three 'steps' for printing. One and two are self explanatory. However...
Step three concerns paper size, image size and several other details. Just for testing, I created a new 4 x 6 inch, 300dpi page and drew some lines. Command-P. Proper printer is selected, select "Letter" as the paper size. 4 x 6 inch appears selected as the "Print size" (I thought that was because of the original page size, but it appears to simply be the default). That is a detail that could easily be over looked by a new user. If the original image is larger than 4 x 6, it will, obviously be either cropped or reduced to fit those dimensions! It seems to me that the "Select Print Size" should automatically assume to be the image size. OTOH, I can see that some people may want to do all their printing on one size of paper. In that case, why not have a preference for the default and let the user change it when they change paper sizes (if they want)?
Now, if the user happens to notice that a new 8 x 10 inch image is going to be printed in a 4 x 6 area, she will now decide to check the other settings available in the pop up menu. OK, there IS an 8 x 10 inch choice. But look, what's this "Custom" choice? Let's investigate...Now this is strange! The defaults there seem to be 1.383 inches for height AND width! Who came up with that weird number?!
Oh, there is a "Scale to Fit Media" check box. Checking that now makes the height and width somewhat closer to reality, they now indicate the pape dimensions. That IS logical, but not extremely helpful, IMHO. By the way, the second time one selects the "Custom" choice, the correct, original image size appeared in the Print size boxes. Although I cannot seem to get those to reappear. Oh well...
My point is, how do these confusing configurations help? Beyond me, anyway.
BTW, the dpi settings all seem to be 'computed' at one less than the number set by the user for an image. For example, a new image page created at 300 dpi shows 299 in the Custom dialog, 150 shows 149, etc. Close, but why not exact? Furthermore, why can't the user select any dpi they choose? Isn't that what the computer if for; calculate what happens to the pixels when they print at a different setting than the image? Sure, the user should be warned that terrible images my result, but if that's what the user wants, let it be done! Who's running this show, anyway? Oh yeah, I remember, now...excuse me for asking, I'm only a paying customer, what do I know?!
Lastly, if one has more than one image open, every single one can easily be printed, accidentally. Why? Because they will all appear in the Print Dialog. Don't you see them? Over there on the left. Yeah, I see them, but why doesn't the image I have in front, the one I'm working on, be the one I probably want to print? Many of the others may simply be images I'm borrowing parts from. Why do the developers think I always want to print every image that might be open? I don't have any idea, either. Sure, there are a couple of ways to prevent this multiple image printing; select the one you don't want to print and use the "minus" button or simply close all those images before going to the Print dialog. Guess what. Using the 'minus' button only works for this printing, the next time you ask to print they will all be there, again. And, what if you aren't really finished using some of those extra images that you closed? Now you get to re-open them all again. Completely unnecessary steps because of poor user considerations/research, in my humble opinion. Again, this is exactly the thing that preferences are made for. Or, put them in the "Edit Guided" mode! Or, better yet, just give me back the old Print dialog! Nice!
Now, I am extremely glad to see that PSE can now remember to keep that stupid Panel bin out of the way! Finally! Three more inches of screen to work with!!! Hooray!! Unfortunately, it still can't remember what the last setting for the jpeg quality was...still defaults to ZERO! Sure, that's the setting I always want to use, it's so much fun letting people try to guess what is in the image...one would think after 8 iterations this could be fixed. One down, umpteen to go. Oh well, what do you want for $80?

Thanks for your listening/reading and I'll take your advice about dropping a note to the developers, but I won't be holding by breath! I doubt that they consider this a real problem. It's really just my ranting!
Your solution is probably the 'fix' they might suggest, anyway. However, I'd rather have the screen space than a list of thumbnails of images I already have open. command-plus and/or minus is a pretty quick way of making it easy to see anything that might be visible. Of course, I'm sure there are other uses for the Project Bin that many find useful. Even though I have a 24" iMac, I rather like using the screen space the way I want, not an arbitrary way that got developed. I just don't see why developers can't program an app to allow every conceivable method of use by every living and future user! LOL!!!
I guess today was the first time I've printed anything since installing 8. I was, quite confused when presented with the new Print interface. Actually, I thought that must be part of the 'Guided' set up which I assume leads one by the hand as much as possible. "Thank you Adobe, but I'm trying to avoid unnecessary contact with strangers right now." LOL! At least I know I didn't miss some setting somewhere.
Thanks! Have a great weekend! And don't get scared too much tonight!

Need Help Please - PSD InDesign (for print)?

Hello Everyone,
I'm a graphic designer for a company that has decided to run some print ads in a magazine. At the time, I only had Photoshop to create their advertisement with. Now they have purchased CS4, which will make my life easier in the future, however, for now I have the problem of creating my advertisement made with Photoshop and creating a print ready PDF.
Here is my problem:
- I created a PSD at 8.5" x 11" at 300ppi
- I did not take in to account for the 0.125" bleeds and 1/8" trim
- It needs to be SWOP compliant (I figured out I can export a PDF that adheres to SWOP)
- Fonts should be Type 1 Postscript, no TTF (I'm using Helvetica and Arial, when I export the PDF, it says the embedded fonts are TTF)
- I'm totally lost with regards for designing work for print!
Here the specs they gave me, AFTER I created the design in Photoshop
====
Full page, full bleed 8.0" 10-3/4" (**I created my PSD as a 8.5" x 11" - without regard to bleeds**)
Include 1/8 bleed over all to ensure full page bleed
and keep live copy 1/4 from trim and crop marks.
CMYK, 4-color process printing only.
Do not add bleed to partial page ads.
All requirements are based on Specifications for Web Offset
Publications (SWOP). Any deviation from these specifications may
result in less-desirable printed results.
We support PDF files generated by Adobe Acrobat using
the X-1A Job Option Settings for Distiller. In order for
prepress to generate printable PDF s, it is important that
the native file is prepared accordingly.
Preparing native files for printable PDF s:
All images/scans must be in CMYK mode,
300 dpi resolution
Use Postscript (Type 1) fonts only. No True
Type, Windows/PC or custom fonts accepted
Embed all fonts
Do not nest EPS files in other EPS files
Four-color solids should not exceed SWOP
density of 280%
Provide two digital color proofs at 100% size, created
from the supplied digital file, on a contract-quality,
digital halftone proofing system in accordance with
SWOP web coated standards (AGFAPressmatch,
Kodak Approval, DuPont Waterproof, etc.). Laser or
inkjet proofs are not considered accurate in color and
are supplied for content confirmation only.
If supplied, the publisher is not responsible for color variances
between the digital file and final color reproduction.
NOTE: If proofs are not supplied, make-goods due to
reproduction quality will not be honored.
====
I've never done print work before, as I'm mainly a graphic designer for the web.
Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated! Unfortunately for me, they bought the advertisement space with the magazine for the running of the next issue before speaking with me. So I'm under extreme pressure to get this underway. I'll be most grateful for any help or guidance, Thanks guys!
- D

You can Place a PSD in Indesign, but unless the bleed is a single color,
it's going to be easier to add bleed in Photoshop. Bleed is whatever
gets cut off when they trim the paper. Trim is close, but not exact, so
whatever picture or color goes to the edge of the paper must extend
beyond the edge to avoid trim including some white when the trim is not
quite perfect. If it's a picture that goes to the edge, you need to
figure out a way to extend the picture beyond the edge. If it's white
that goes to the edge, then you don't need bleed. If it's a non-tone
color field (a single color) then you could Place the PSD in Indesign
and add bleed color behind it and extending beyond the edge of the page.
The magazine should not concern themselves with TT or T1 fonts, either
one should work. That said, Helvetica and Arial are very close. If your
Helvetica is Type 1, just use Helvetica for the whole thing. If you
embed it in the PDF, it should show there as a Type 1 subset.
Kenneth Benson
Pegasus Type, Inc.
www.pegtype.com

Embedding fonts and images for printing (press quality PDF)

I have a question about a document I have produced in InDesign that needs to go to the printers. They have told me to make sure it is a print ready document with all of the fonts and images embedded. When I convert an indd document for printing 'locally', I normally just use the Adobe PDF presets and select press quality. I thought ID works its magic and does everything required to make it print ready. Is there anything else I need to do regarding fonts and images to make the PDF ready for print?
Thanks
Mark

Thank you.
As to bleeds, the printers came back and said my pdf is okay but that yes, I need to set an extra bleed edge of minimum 3mm. Do I set this when converting to the print quality pdf or do I set this whilst working in the actual INDD document itself?
Is the bleed then on every page regardless of the content?
What are the steps for setting bleed and crop marks. Does that mean when I place an image for example on a page the image needs to hang slightly off the edges by 3mm or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Saving the same image with different croppings for printing various sizes

I've searched for this to no avail. I tend to always have a few pictures in rotation that I end up cropping multiple times when I am printing. Pictures where today I need to print a 4x6 and tomorrow it's a 5x7 of the same picture, etc. I am trying to figure out a way to save the file with that cropping. Ideally there would be a way that if I also modified anything else in the image that would also show up in the other versions. I know there is Create Virtual Copy, and that could work if I could then figure out how to change the file name so it would show that it was cropped for 5x7 or whatever. Are there any other creative ways I am missing?

When you create a Virtual Copy it is given an individual Copy Name (as well as the original file name)....default would be Copy 1, Copy 2, etc. However, that Copy Name is editable in the Metadata Panel, simply click in the name field and you can give it a more descriptive name, e.g "VC Crop 5 x7". See here:
Before:
After:

Photos get cropped when printed

I have some images that I am sending to my local Walmart for printing.
Walmart uses Fuji equipment.
When I get the prints back I've noticed that some of the prints have been 'cropped'. A portion of the top or bottom is missing. This is most noticeable because I have added text to the bottom of these photos and it is easy to see where the text gets cut. I've checked my images in Photoshop. The image size says exactly 4 x 6. I then upload the jpg using an ActiveX tool that gets run from the Walmart photo site. I've even checked some of my photos with the 'Print Preview' function. The preview looks fine. Just like my image on my pc. Any suggestions? I've also used Kodak's services. They provide a 'Cut and Trim' option that can be turned on or off. Turning it off provides a print that is exactly what was sent. Even if there is extra white space around the image. But everyone tells me there is no such option with Fuji.
Thanks for any help!

Randy,
1. I have had the same experience with the machine at CVS. I cropped them precisely @ 4x6" landscape at home, but their equipment went further.
2. Most recently I tried out Winkflash. They will give you 50 free prints, just pay $0.99 for postage. I did not perceive additional cropping. Try them. www.winkflash.com
3. Walter Mossberg, the WSJ computer guru, wrote a glowing report about the Kodak service. I have not tried this service.
4. Printing at home is OK for a few prints, but it tedious to do a bunch of snapshots, and also expensive when one factors in ink and paper.
Ken

Creating collages for printing.

Hi I'm new to Photoshop. My daughter gave me Elements 8 ages ago and I have only just downloaded it (was afraid to do so in case it pulled all my thousands of photos from my Windows Photo Pictures in their unedited form (as Picasa did to me ages ago). I have finally taken the plunge and I am now trying to get my head around the programme. The main thing I liked about Picasa was that I could create collages and manipulate the photos into different arrangements and could then print these off. I want to make some place mats with collages of my wildflower photos. Can Elements 8 create collages for printing, and can the photos in the collages be rearranged?.

To answer your last questions... yes and yes!
PSE has tools for automatically creating collages. You can also manually create one by adding pictures to a blank template. In either case the pictures will appear on separate layers which you can then individually resize, rearrange, rotate, overlap, etc. You can crop them to whatever shape you like, add effects such as borders, frames, drop shadows, and add text inside or outside the pictures.
Here is an example I created.

Exporting for Print

Hello all...When prepping an image export for print, the following values are asked for by my print company. Not sure about these two:
1. What resolution do I export at? How do I know the maximum I have available on that image with enlarging?
2. LR does not allow me to select a bit depth when I export. They require 8bit how can we verify this?
TIA,
Amelia

1. If by resolution you mean pixels per inch, there is no maximum. Normally printers require 240 or 300 ppi. If you want a picture a certain size (say 4x6), you need to crop the image to that size and then export, and in the Export dialog you can set the pixels per inch to give you 4x6.
2. If you export as a .jpg, then it has to be 8-bit. All .jpg photos are 8-bit.

Cropping for print

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