The Print Module exporting via print to file

[peterm60238019]

When i use print to file to save, the file size is around 3.7mb if i use export (still in print module) it is 10mb. Can anyone tell me why . I have no printer set up top left it says:  printer Microsoft to PDF could this be the problem. I have tried it numerous times exactly same size except for a small border. I have tried contacting lightroom without success

[Just Shoot Me]

In the Print module check the JPG Quality setting and the Custom File Dimensions options. Also make sure Draft Mode printing isn't checked

[Geoff the kiwi]

What are your settings here:

I'm not clear where you are Exporting from in the Print Module, can you post a screen shot of that setting too??

[Just Shoot Me]

Geoff if you Right Click on the image you can select Export from the Popup menu.

[Geoff the kiwi]

Sure, but that is the same anywhere and will not show a Printer option as is mentioned.... that is why I am asking....

Many options in Lightroom for sure!!

[peterm60238019]

Thanks for responding, I'm using jpg at 100 maximum and dpi at 300. The thing i dont get is i have tried resizing to a4 and used the print to file to save then compared it to file-export top left menu bar and they come out as 3.8mb and 10.6 respectively, if i go file -export it doesnt save the border etc.(all of this is in the print module)

All i want to do is get the best possible image quality with a border added and a name text box so that its ready for print.

[Jao vdL]

Some simple math explains this. A4 is 8.3x11.7 inches. So that is about 8.7 megapixels if there is no border. A little less if you have a border. At quality 100, you generally get about a halving of the file size from the megapixel count, so 3.8MB is exactly as expected. If you export in the export module and don't resize, you get the full resolution. I guess you have about a 24 MP camera which indeed would give you about 10MB for a jpeg export at 100 quality.

Surprisingly, you will get the best quality with the smaller file from the print panel in this case, as long as you make sure to apply the print sharpening at medium level at least. This is because the print service is very unlikely to sharpen for you at the output size but will only rescale and so if you send the full resolution, your print will look softer. Also, there is no need to go over quality 80 or so for these files. There is no way you will see the difference in the jpeg, but even if you could, the final print can not show those artifacts. For very best quality prints, resize to the final print size and sharpen for the paper type. For even better quality, use the print service's icc profile for the specific paper and printer but only if you calibrate your own display very well otherwise send them sRGB.

[peterm60238019]

I have resized both to a4 before going into print module, maybe thats what its doing resizing the export back to original size.

Thanks for your help in this.

Peter Miller

[Jao vdL]

When you crop to A4 in Lightroom's develop, it does NOT resize. It just crops with a rectangle that has the same aspect ratio. That's all. When you now export, it still exports at full resolution if you do not explicitly do a resize in the export panel. My guess is that if you do that there to the correct size, you'll get a file of about 4MB too. I just tried this myself all quality 100.

export: A4 ratio crop, no resize on export: 11.8 MB

export: A4 ratio crop, resize to 11.7 in on long edge, sharpening standard for Matte paper: 5.7 MB

print module A4 paper, 0.25" margins all around, zoom to fit 300 ppi: 4.9 MB

print module A4 paper, 0 margins 300 ppi, 5.4 MB

So this all makes sense. The small difference in size between export and print when I zoom to the page is likely because in export, it includes much more metadata in the file. This is a fairly complex image with lots of fine detail, so the jpeg will be a bit larger than yours I guess.

[bhousto90 · Accepted solution]

It looks like 'Print to File' always has the export option "Resize to fit" using Width&Height.

The Width and Height are constrained to either the Page size x selected PPI File Resolution.

or

to the "Custom File Dimensions" again with the selected File resolution.

('Custom File Dimensions' overrides any printer settings for page size)

So if you printed to file with on a 4x6 print page @300 PPI the File pixel dimensions would be 1200x1800, resulting in a much smaller JPG that was not resized from the export dialog.

[Jao vdL]

bhousto90 wrote:

It looks like 'Print to File' always has the export option "Resize to fit" using Width&Height.

This is correct. Print to file from the print module ALWAYS resizes your image so the ppi and size settings actually always have an effect there. In the export panel they only have an effect if you resize and the ppi setting there only has an effect if you resize to a size in inches or cm.