Help required lightroom resize image for print

[steven owen]

I am struggling trying to save my images for lab print at a particular size.
Here is a step by step to the system I use.
I shoot with a !DS MK 3 (lucky me) and all my wokflow is done in lightroom 2.2

I save all images to an external hard drive to one folder called photos then to subfolder raw images and the name of shoot, ( I have already made up a backup to disc and filed away) from here I import to lightroom, then i sort out the keepers from the others which i simply delete from the folder, then I make a samart collection, and go to the develope module I crop to size (get rid of unwanted background etc, then post proccess the image in ful.

Once I have done this I go back to the develope module from here i go to export ( not Print as my printer can not handle the size and only prints a4)
I ave alreay done my standard presets that get tagged to the image.

I then save at 3''ppi (pixels per inch) then you tick the resize to fit and enter the size you want in my case I want 39cm wide by 29cm long.
Remember i have taken the image at 21mega pixels so this size is not a problem.

Here is the problem it does not save it as this size, it saved it as 461x 3'7. I export back to the same folder in my external drive but under subfolder lightroom export jpg then subfolder with the name ad date of the shoot.

I have CS3 but seldom go near it as lightroom is such a wonderfull tool and up till now did all i need.

If someone can help I would appreciate a step by step guide so as to make it easy to understand.

Thanks for taking the time to read this fairly long post.

Regards Steve

 

[dj_paige]

I think you should be cropping to 39cm wide by 29cm long, rather than resizing upon export. Then, the ppi upon export becomes irrelevant, as Lightroom will send all the pixels you have, even if (gasp!) that is more than 3''ppi.

 

[Brad Snyder]

I'm with Paige here. Resize is the wrong approach if you're trying to maximize the pixel output.

That said, something is screwy, because what you're doing should, more or less work, I think. What happens if you don't mix units (cm vs. in) in the resize panel dialog?39cmx29cm is very roughly 11x16. At 3'' dpi, that's, roughly 48''x33'' pixels, which is in the 16Mpx range, which is about right, assuming some cropping and hacking from the 2:3 to 4:3 aspect you're doing.

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Do your lab want 3''ppi images, at the correct length and width? Mine always do.

In that case, crop to the right RATIO in LR, as Brad and Paige have suggested, and then just pick the 'longest edge' length and 3''ppi when exporting, which will downsample to the right size.

 

[steven owen]

will give that a try and let you know how i get on