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sawjaw

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Having moved from a point and shoot into a DSLR i was able to work in RAW. Purchased LR as part of my RAW workflow which of course works well.

I started working with LR when it was 1.' but gave up on it using my Canon tools instead. Okay for a while but print result not the greatest. Lost interest in the whole thing and have been using my wife point and shoot of late. However I have been getting the urge to go at it again but would like to overcome my issue as I know I am doing something very wrong when process to print. The problem is as follows

The file I am working with is generally large than 8" x 1'" (my favorite size photo frame) and I always want the whole picture in my frame. LR when printing tends to squish all the pixels up distorting the picture to fit my demands.

Am I doing something very wrong or is my expectation to high? Are there any threads or help on my issue as I can only really find color issue threads on this forum and the www.

Thanks in advance
 
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Stuart, welcome aboard. Hopefully we can sort out an Aucklander!!
First is your version of LR 1.2? I recommend upgrading to 1.4.1, this can be done from the help menu - check for updates. You may also wish to upgrade to version 2.' but this costs.
Now are you printing direct from LR or exporting and printing from another application?
 
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Stuart,

First of all, welcome to the forum! There's lots of good folks and info here so stick around, you might be amazed at what you'll learn.

I think you're missing out on a basic concept. Your DSLR produces images in a 2:3 ratio since the sensors are built to conform to 35mm film where the frame size is 24mmH x 36mmW. So your camera gives you a file with a relative ratio of 1:1.5 height to width.

An 8x1' print has a height/width ratio if 1:1.25(8"h, 1'"/8"w). So there's no way you can fit a full 1:1.5 frame into a 1:1.25 print without "squashing pixels" or losing some of your image. To get a full-frame image on a print, you'll need 8x12 paper.

So try cropping your images in the Develop module to an 8x1' format and you'll fill your paper but you'll have to lose some image in the crop.

It's something we 35mm photographers have been living with since the dawn of time, our predecessors shot 4x5 film and the paper sizes still haven't caught up, even after 6' years or so. Sometimes it just sucks to be on the "bleeding edge"..... ;)

HTH,
 
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Thanks Bill. old hand at 35mm but new to digital processing anyway just thought that digital was clever enough to not "squish" pixels. I will give the 8 x 12 paper a go
 
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Thanks Geoff. As I said lost interest about 1 year ago. I have read mixed reviews on LR2.' so may give it a miss. But will upgrade to 1.4.1. To answer your question I am printing direct from LR.
 
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sawjaw;22''6 said:
Thanks Bill. old hand at 35mm but new to digital processing anyway just thought that digital was clever enough to not "squish" pixels. I will give the 8 x 12 paper a go
Click to expand...


Well, when you try to cram 1'lb. of stuff into a 7 lb. bag, something's gotta go .... ;) Software can only do so much, then Mother Nature and her law firm/physics department takes over. Just remember that old Durst enlarger and the easel with the 8x1' paper in it..... "The more things change the more they stay the same".
 
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If you know you're going to print 8 x 1', just shoot with an intention of cropping "print style" rather than shooting "slide style" composing with the entire frame.

Lucky
 
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Again thanks to all suggestions. I have followed Bills advice cropped in LR to 8 x 1' in develop Module Hey Presto.

Thats the easy bit Now for the Challenge - to take some decent photography to hang on the Wall.:cheesy:
 
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