another dpi question

[Robert S.]

Hello all & Happy Holidays
A simple question (I hope). The lab i'am going to send my digital file too for printing uses an epson printer, which they recomend printing at 36' dpi. I have my print ratio's and scaling figured out my question is do i simply set the dpi to 36' in the export menu. 13"(36')&8.67"(36') is near to my ppi for my camera, im just not sure were to set the dpi to match their printers

 

[Bosse]

Short answer - yes

As long as you have it cropped to that ratio there should be no problems. If you are uncertain export your photo and open it in Photoshop (or similar) and check (Image > Image size). If it is not correct go back to LR and try to figure out what went wrong and try again. Everything you do in LR can be undone.

//Bosse

 

[Denis de Gannes]

In the print module there is a "print to file" in the latest version of LR 2. So you can set this up so that LR can resize your file to the print size and 36' ppi setting.

 

[Brad Snyder]

What size prints are you shooting for?
Would you rather Lr do the down-sampling for smaller size prints, or do you trust the lab's software?
Will the lab actually print what you send them, or do they automatically process the pixels in some manner?
In general, yes. Set the desired print size in inches and the output density in dpi. (I don't have any photo experience in metric units)

Ideally, for this particular 36' dpi print lab, you would crop your prints, say 4x6s for granny, and use Lr to export exactly (4x36') x (6x36') prints. This will allow you to take advantage of Lr's internal downsampling, noise reduction and sharpening routines. This would require the lab to print exactly what you send them, generally found only in pro level labs. Failing that, just export the full pixel resolution image in the correct aspect ratio, and let the lab twiddle the pixels.

There's a wide degree of variation in the actual processing different labs apply, and it's frequently difficult to ascertain exactly what they do, particularly at the consumer level. Fortunately, given the state of the art, most competent labs produce acceptable results, in all but the most demanding applications.

Like most questions of this nature, it usually boils down to, try it and see. There's always some experimentation and trial runs 'til you can develop a process you trust.

 

[Robert S.]

the lab is a pro lab and they have a printing service where they print exactly the file you send. I think i'm on the right track using the export menu. I was printing full frame but I think I may crop the print just slightly as Brad suggested to take advantage of the downsampling routines.