2 Replies Latest reply: Oct 17, 2011 1:15 PM by photodrawken RSS

    Help Understanding Photo size

    Luvfilm Community Member

      I am new to Photoshop Elements and would appreciate it if I could get some help or be pointed in the direction where to get help.

       

      The questions that I have are have to do with Photo size. 

      1.  When someone sends me a picture as an attachment to an email, the photo is so large sometimes that I feel I need a monitors that is many times bigger that I have to be able to see it.  I don't think it is something on my end, but theirs.  What could they have done so that the picture would be a normal size when I received it?  Normal size meaning 4 by 6, 5 by 7, 8 by 10.

       

      2.  I am learning how to make ebook covers and dvd covers.  When I bring an image into photoshop elements, the images I have taken are bigger than the dvd cover or ebook.  In one case the picture worked, but there was part of the picture that went beyond the size of the frame.  When you print, is that part just ignored so it is not an issue?

       

      3.  In one case the picture was to big to work.  What would be the best way to make the picture smaller?  Do I do that before bringing it into the project, or do can I do it in the project?

       

      4.  Do I use photoshop to resize the picture, or should I use something else?

       

      5.  If I am going to buy a picture from a photo site, and I don't know exactly how I will crop it in the final use, [and as I have seen, the bigger the picture the more they cost] should I buy the picture in the biggest form I think I might use and then crop it as needed?  So as to avoid buying to small and then realizing I needed the next size.

       

      I appreciate any help you can give me. 

       

      Thank you

        • 1. Re: Help Understanding Photo size
          99jon Community Member

           

          Generally the larger the better as you can resize in the PSE Editor using Image à Image Size à Resize

           

          It’s easy to reduce size but increasing size requires re-sampling and some loss of quality.

           

          There are lots of video tutorials on line covering this subject. Try You Tube:

           

           

           

           

           

           

          http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=image+resize+photoshop+elements&FORM=BVFD

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          • 2. Re: Help Understanding Photo size
            photodrawken Community Member

            #1:  To see the entire picture in PSE, use View...Fit on Screen (or hit the Ctrl+0 keys).  You can tell your correspondent to re-size the picture to 8x10 (or whatever) before they email it to you.

             

            #2:  Basically, the unused part of the photo is ignored.

             

            #3:  When you bring a picture in to the project, it has a bounding box with corner boxes around it.  Just drag one of the corners to re-size the picture.

             

            #4:  Use PSE.

             

            #5:  You're correct -- buy the biggest picture size you think you'll need and re-size it down.

             

            See the help files for the PSE menu item File...Place which talks about the advantages of bringing in pictures as "Smart Objects",  give us another question if you want more of an explanation about that.

             

            Ken