Beyder28 Posted June 1, 2011 Share #1 Posted June 1, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) I am still green in this field and cant quite figure out the solution. I have an X1 and I use Aperture 3. I shoot at the full 12.2MP resolution of the X1 and would like to send my pics to a lab for printing in 12X18 size. Obviously when I try to crop to that size, I lose a huge amount of my image. What do I do in order not to lose any part of your image and still be able to print at the 12X18 or any other large size for that matter? Thanks for the help guys. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted June 1, 2011 Posted June 1, 2011 Hi Beyder28, Take a look here Aspect Ratios and Printing. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
hoppyman Posted June 1, 2011 Share #2 Posted June 1, 2011 Hi there. I think some confusion has crept in. The aspect ratio of the X1 is 3:2 (Leica classic) and an 18x12 print is exactly the same proportions. You need no cropping at all to use the full area to make a 12x18 print but the resolution will change of course. In theory an uncropped X1 file would be @240ppi at 12 inches by 18 inches (printed area). That is plenty. Bigger prints like that will certainly be instructive on your technique as well as how good the lens is ! If you provide some detail on how you are preparing your files for printing we may be able to assist. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beyder28 Posted June 2, 2011 Author Share #3 Posted June 2, 2011 Im a bit embarrased to say that I am not really doing anything to prepare my files for printing. That is my problem. Where do I start? What I do is I import my RAW files from the SD card into my iMac and then make the necessary adjustments in Aperture 3 (at which point they are automatically converted to TIFF. That is pretty much it. But just have been having a bit of a problem with the whole printing thing and preparing for printing (ie. getting the files reworked for a 5X7 prints, 8X10 prints, etc). I also know that I should look into some sort of software to calibrate my iMac screen. Have not done that yet and need to figure out what software would work best for my iMac. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoppyman Posted June 2, 2011 Share #4 Posted June 2, 2011 Sorry I am not literate in Mac or Aperture speak. I am sure that someone that uses a Mac and Aperture will step up to help you get started. You need to understand a few fundamentals first regarding image sizes and resolutions. Calibrating your screen so that you can see how a print will look is VERY helpful. I think that can be harder to do with some Mac stuff but someone will leap to Mac's defence on that no doubt:D Happy to help out with any Lightroom questions (you get a free copy with your X1) if you would like to try working with that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezc203 Posted June 2, 2011 Share #5 Posted June 2, 2011 Are you printing at home? Or will this be done at a photo lab? ... Seeing as you're unexperienced (no offense intended here, we all were at one point), it may behove you to have a lab tech walk you through it the first time. I'm fortunate in that I live in NYC and have a plethora of photo labs to choose from, but what I do is: 1. Edit my photo to a desired look (I use Lightroom, but Aperture is basically the same thing) 2. Export as TIFF (un-compressed) files. These are pretty big, but 4GB USB drives are cheap now so it's whatever NOTE: I use a MacBook Pro (the current version) and the standard screen. As far as I understand, the color calibration is fairly accurate: this is a conclusion from my personal experience printing and exporting movie that I have to color-correct. 3. Take it to the lab and (slightly) adjust the colors on their color calibrated/sync'd screen 4. Print! This is the process I usually go through for my prints. I am been very happy with the results. As for the X1's ability to make large prints? You'll be pleasantly surprised. I have a few hanging in my room and they are really great! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted June 2, 2011 Share #6 Posted June 2, 2011 Im a bit embarrased to say that I am not really doing anything to prepare my files for printing. That is my problem. Where do I start? What I do is I import my RAW files from the SD card into my iMac and then make the necessary adjustments in Aperture 3 (at which point they are automatically converted to TIFF. That is pretty much it. But just have been having a bit of a problem with the whole printing thing and preparing for printing (ie. getting the files reworked for a 5X7 prints, 8X10 prints, etc). I also know that I should look into some sort of software to calibrate my iMac screen. Have not done that yet and need to figure out what software would work best for my iMac. Originally you say you CROP to get 12x18 prints. No cropping needed for that size. 12/2=6 6x3=18 which is the native sensor size. To get that size print from a 3:2 sensor all you have to do is change the pixels per inch setting. I have no idea if that can be done in Aperture. In Photoshop it can. To print to other sizes, 5x7 8x10, you will need to either crop the image to that size, losing part of the image, and or change the pixels per inch setting, image size. Or you can change the image size, leaving the whole image and end up with larger white boarders in some areas of the print that is not a ratio of 3:2. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted June 2, 2011 Share #7 Posted June 2, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Profiling first the monitor and then the printer is the "best" way, of course, but I know of successful commercial photographers who use "Adobe Gamma" (I think that's the name of it, if Microsoft hasn't built a similar feature into Windows) or "ColorSynch" (which comes with the Mac). The goal is to get from the print what you see on the screen. Once you get it set up so you're comfortable that your print will like what you saw on screen, you're home free. Or, as Eddie said above, if you're not doing your own printing, getting close enough can be an excellent first start; working things out with the lab is then easy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted June 2, 2011 Share #8 Posted June 2, 2011 If without cropping there is no way to fit the image, than what I do is to 'float' the image onto the desired paper size with a full black border surrounding it. You might choose to leave the background white. My printer prefers 240ppi. It works very well their machine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beyder28 Posted June 2, 2011 Author Share #9 Posted June 2, 2011 Thank you guys for all the useful tips. I am not trying to print the pics myself, I am emailing to the lab. Since I want to keep the whole image intact while printing 8X10, how do I change the PPI of the pics to have them fit on the 8X10? Also, will this cause distortion? The whole point for me is to not have to crop the image to get it to fit the 8X10 size. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted June 2, 2011 Share #10 Posted June 2, 2011 Thank you guys for all the useful tips. I am not trying to print the pics myself, I am emailing to the lab. Since I want to keep the whole image intact while printing 8X10, how do I change the PPI of the pics to have them fit on the 8X10? Also, will this cause distortion? The whole point for me is to not have to crop the image to get it to fit the 8X10 size. It is not just the PPI you have to change. It is the images size, which in turn will change the PPI. In Photoshop you go to Image Size, specify one leg of the image (either the 8 or the 10) and the other will change automatically along with the PPI. Not sure if you can do that in Aperture without cropping. If Aperture has a image size dialog then make changes to make the image fit on a 8x10 page. But you will have bigger boarders on the longer side. 8x10 does not compute from 3:2 ratio. What you end up with is a 10xX. 10/3=3.3333 3.3333x2=6.6666. So you get a 10x6.6666 with white paper above and below the image. That is if you are printing landscape. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beyder28 Posted June 3, 2011 Author Share #11 Posted June 3, 2011 ok so I think I am getting the hang of this a bit. So with the X1 being a 3:2 ratio, I should be able to send a lab the full res file after I make my adjustments and nothing different will need to be done in order to get prints at 8X12 (if my math is correct)? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoppyman Posted June 3, 2011 Share #12 Posted June 3, 2011 Yes the aspect ratio for 12x18 is the same assuming you do not crop. For 8x10s you must crop or you would distort the content. But 8x10 is just a convention. There are other standard paper sizes as well. Some do 8x12 prints or for example. Since you are using a lab for your printing, have a chat with them on preferences. These are very common questions and they've done this a million times before. They should let you know exactly what they like you to do. For example sRGB colour space, what resolution (pixels per inch) and size (actual print dimensions you want) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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