I was preparing some pictures for printing, that my brother took. I wanted to print 6x4" and 7x5" pictures. I ended up with a .PSD document (after making some amendments to the picture), with the following dimensions
Pixel Dimension
W= 4592
H = 3056
Document Size
W = 63.778 in
H = 42.444 in
Resolution = 72
tick at Scale Styles
tick at Constrain Proportions
tick at resample image
If I remove the "tick" at “resample image”, and make the resolution 300, the width and height are still W=15.307” and H=10.187”, which is far too large.
However, if I accept the above and select the crop tool and enter (6 in x 4 in) with a 300 px resolution in the Options Bar, the image obviously becomes much smaller, but the following is displayed in “Image/Image size”
Pixel Dimension
W = 1800
H = 1200
Document Size
W = 6”
H = 4”
Resolution = 300 (which is what I wanted)
Scale Styles
tick at Constrain Proportions
resample image
and a very reduced Pixel Dimension
Unfortunately, the "tick" from “Scale Styles” has also been removed and the Pixel Dimension is the same as if I’d left the “resample Image” unticked and just cropped the image with the Crop Tool, entering (6in x 4in & resolution 300) in the Options bar. I read in my book that to leave the “resample image” ticked was not the best decision, as this reduces the quality of the image. However, I seem to arrive at the same Pixel Dimension whichever step I take and also lose the “Scale Styles” option. The 1800 x 1200 seems a very low Pixel Dimension.
In view of the above, how do I prepare a picture for an on-line printing Lab for either 6”x4” or 7”x5” with a resolution of 300 which will enable me to receive a good quality print? I'm having this problem with all my pictures. I just ended up submitting the pictures as they appeared on file. Most of them were fine, but some people in the pictures ended up with their heads chopped off.
I've read and re-read the book and also looked at Tutorials, but can't say I'm any the wiser. Does anyone out there know the answer?
Pam
