newbie question: what settings to use when exporting photos to photo lab

[cjmajkwu]

Hi,
newbie here, so please be easy on me.

I've been doing lots of reading on the forums and am still unsure. I have a Rebel Xsi and shoot in RAW. I import my photos in LR 3 and make my edits. I am wondering about how to crop correctly and then how to export to a print lab (ex: Adorama) with the sizing thing. My purpose is so that I can have photos to store in my family's photo albums. I am not a professional.

I guess I have 3 questions. Can someone please help:
1) When I am in the Develop mode, when I am cropping, do I just select 4x6 (for example) and that's it? Sometimes,though when I click on the 4x6 option, there are still areas I'd like to crop (ex: a person in the background). If I then use the arrows to crop further, is that still considered a 4x6? Or, have I done something weird to the aspect ratio (or whatever it's called). Will it print out weird? How do I best crop?

2) When I go to the export file for print purposes, (already choosing jpg, quality 1'', sRGB) do I click on "Resize to Fit" (under Image Sizing) even though I already cropped it in the Develop Module? Then, what do I select (at 3'' dpi): Width & Height? Dimension? Long Edge? Short Edge? Pixel? Please advise. Or, do I just leave this "Resize to Fit" unchecked? I apologize for my newbieness, but I must start somewhere.

3) When my photos have uploaded to, say, the Adorama site, do I just indicate the size I want on their website (ex: 4x6) and place my order? no further cropping necessary b/c it was done in Lightroom?

Please help. Appreciate anyone's gentle help.

Gratefully,
C

 

[Mark Sirota]

Welcome to Lightroom Forums.

(1) In the Crop tool in Develop, you're selecting the shape of the rectangle. If you select 4x6 and lock the aspect ratio, you can drag the edges or corners, and the shape of the rectangle will stay the same.

(2) Yes, you should resize. If you're planning to ask Adorama to print on 4" by 6" paper, then say so in this box. Their FAQ says they want 3'' pixels per inch, so put 3'' in the resolution box. This will result in files that are 12'' by 18'' pixels.

(3) Right.

 

[NJHeart2Heart]

C,
Great question. I've been using LR for a while, but this was something I never asked and have always been "stumped by"

Welcome to the forums. Great group of people here, who are very helpful!

 

[tzalman]

1. the image as it comes from your camera is already 2:3 so 'Original' and 2x3/4x6 are the same for you. The crop box will retain that ratio no matter how much you drag a corner in as long as the lock icon is closed. If you click on the lock to open it, you can move each side of the box freely to get any shape you want, but, of course, then it will probably no longer be in the 2:3 ratio that fits 4x6 paper.

2. You can leave Resize unchecked and send the image at whatever size it is after cropping and the print lab will resize it to whatever works best with their machine. This is the easy way. The possible drawback is that if you are ordering small prints like 4x6 in. you will probably be sending much bigger files than is strictly necessary. If your internet upload speed is slow or if you are sending a large number of files, the long time it will take might be a problem. In this case you can resize them by setting the context menu to inches and typing in Long Side = 6, Short Side = 4 or both, it doesn't matter which. Set Resolution to 3'' pixels per inch.

3. Yes.

 

[Mark Sirota]

[quote author=tzalman link=topic=1'276.msg69565#msg69565 date=1277995725]
2. You can leave Resize unchecked and send the image at whatever size it is after cropping and the print lab will resize it to whatever works best with their machine. This is the easy way. The possible drawback is that if you are ordering small prints like 4x6 in. you will probably be sending much bigger files than is strictly necessary. If your internet upload speed is slow or if you are sending a large number of files, the long time it will take might be a problem.[/quote]

There are two other downsides to sending full-resolution files:
(1) You don't get the benefit of Lightroom's excellent resizing algorithm, which is an adaptive bicubic operating in linear space (before gamma correction). In other words, only LR has access to the raw data, and can probably do a better job of downsizing than the lab can if you hand them a full-size JPEG.

(2) You don't get the benefit of Lightroom's excellent export sharpening. Proper final sharpening needs to be done at the final output resolution, and if you don't tell Lightroom what that is, then it can't do proper final sharpening for you. And again, LR can do a better job of sharpening than any automated lab.

 

[Mark Fitzgerald]

I'm a big believer in fully preparing a file before delivering it to a lab, i.e. sizing and sharpening the file for the exact print size needed. This does take a bit of extra effort, expecially when preparing final files for different sized prints from the same original file.

Many online labs are using ROES (Remote Order Entry System) to enable users to upload full-sized JPG files and then size and crop them through the labs ROES system. This may seem easier, but as Mark Sirota points out, it requires that all final sizing and sharpening adjustments must be performed by the lab.

Having spent much of my life in photolabs, I can tell you that some labs are better than others at reliably performing these tasks. Even the labs that are good at it aren't always consistent on a day-to-day. If you want the most control possible, size your images and apply output sharpening before sending them off to the lab.

 

[cjmajkwu]

Thank you all so very much.

Follow-up question for you:

Ok, so I understand that it might be preferable to click "resize to fit" option in the Export file area in order to take advantage of LR's resizing algorithm and its excellent export sharpening. If that is the case, then which option shall I select:

1) width and height
2) dimension
3) long edge
4) short edge
5) pixel

choices #1-4 seem to be very similar. I'm not understanding the differences.

Hope someone can help. I'd like to print out my vacation photos soon, but more so, i'd like to learn and understand how this works.

Many thanks,
C

 

[Mark Sirota]

If you're planning to print them all on 4x6 paper, then choose "Dimensions", select Inches as the units, and enter 4 in one box and 6 in the other.

 

[cjmajkwu]

Mark, thanks.

1)Most the photos I want will be 4x6. In the Dimensions area under "Resize to Fit", does the first blank (to type in a number) refer to width? Second blank refers to height? Ex: does it matter if I type in 4x6 or 6x4? Same thing?

2) If I want to print a few 5x7, then I do the same thing as in: crop in the Develop module by selecting the 5x7 and locking in the aspect ratio. Adjust crop as necessary by using the "handles." Do other edits. Then, at the Export File area, click on Resize to Fit and instead of typing in 4x6 under dimensions, I just type in 5x7 (or 7x5). Am I understanding this correctly?

Getting there. Thank you so much

 

[Mark Sirota]

Yes, you've got it. For "Dimensions", the order doesn't matter -- that's the difference between "Dimensions" and "Width and Height".

Dimensions will ignore the orientation (landscape vs. portrait), while Width and Height won't. For prints, Dimensions makes more sense. For output scenarios where you can't rotate the output (like a projected slideshow) you'd want Width and Height.

 

[RikkFlohr]

One more note. You mentioned you are using JPEG quality of 1''. The labs I deal with recommend a level less than that. WHCC for example recommends a LR quality setting of 84. If you aren't concerned about bandwidth or file upload time, you can leave it at 1''.

 

[cjmajkwu]

Can someone explain why a resized image is smaller than a non-resized image? How is it that a resized image that was 9 MB (edited and cropped in the Develop Module but "Resize to Fit" is left unchecked) turns into a 1.7 MB image (also edited, cropped in the Develop Module but "Resize to fit" is left checked).

Just wondering as I'd like to understand how this works.

Thanks,
C

 

[b_gossweiler]

C,

You could have an image with a 6x4 ratio out of your camera, for example with 4992x3328 pixels. Exported with not resizing, this would make 16'613'376 bytes of uncompressed image data. If you resize it to 6x4 inches (not just a 6x4 ratio) with a resolution of 3''dpi, this makes up an image of 18''x12'' pixels, giving an uncompressed image of only 2'16''''' bytes.

Beat

 

[Mark Sirota]

Short answer -- fewer pixels, so the file is smaller.