? about cropping

I have some pictures that I will be printing. They are shot in RAW. When I do a crop, I crop it to 8x10 (or whatever size I want) I'm guessing if I want them to print properly I should do 8x10 or whatever size I plan to print them in??

Before sending a file for printing, I crop it to the dimensions that I want and also make sure that it has 300 pixels per inch of print. So if I want an 8x10, I send a file that is 2400x3000.

thanks, thats what i was doing to, i just wanted to make sure it was the norm

That's a lot of math for a newbie like myself. Wouldn't a simple 'make to fit' command suffice?

Ed Pray wrote: That's a lot of math for a newbie like myself. Wouldn't a simple 'make to fit' command suffice?

In Photoshop, you can use the crop tool to crop and set the proper resolution. When you select the crop tool, the info bar has spaces for the horizontal and vertical size, as well as the resolution. If you enter values for these fields, the crop tool will be constrained to the proper ratio and the file will be resized when you OK it.
There is also a list of presets, with all the common paper sizes at 300 PPI.

Oh ok, good to know, for when I do get Photoshop.

Ed Pray wrote: That's a lot of math for a newbie like myself. Wouldn't a simple 'make to fit' command suffice?

Picasa.has a crop feature that allows you to select the format and size. Super easy and free. www. Picasa.com

Baydream wrote:

Ed Pray wrote: That's a lot of math for a newbie like myself. Wouldn't a simple 'make to fit' command suffice?

Picasa.has a crop feature that allows you to select the format and size. Super easy and free. www. Picasa.com

How much is Picasa? I don't have photoshop and I do not forsee buying it any time soon.

You can usually set the aspect ratio for the crop tool.

When it comes to resizing I'd consult the documentation that came with your printer or the lab that's doing the printing for you. It's often not necessary to resample the photo as that is taken care of by the printing software. Every time you resample there is the potential to introduce or exaggerate artifacts.

Another thing is that while 300ppi is commonly thought of as the typical printing resolution that is not always the case. Some ink jet printers use a slightly higher ppi, and many RA-4 printers (make regular C-prints) use a slightly lower ppi.

All of the labs I use for prints (I get C-prints) recommend that I crop to the aspect ratio I want, but leave the resolution alone, and allow them to do the resampling.

Ed Pray wrote:

Baydream wrote:

Ed Pray wrote: That's a lot of math for a newbie like myself. Wouldn't a simple 'make to fit' command suffice?

Picasa.has a crop feature that allows you to select the format and size. Super easy and free. www. Picasa.com

How much is Picasa? I don't have photoshop and I do not forsee buying it any time soon.

100% FREE from Google. Very easy to use and pretty powerful for basic edits. Wtch the video on the site and see the features. www.picasa.com

Baydream wrote:

Ed Pray wrote:

Baydream wrote:

Ed Pray wrote: That's a lot of math for a newbie like myself. Wouldn't a simple 'make to fit' command suffice?

Picasa.has a crop feature that allows you to select the format and size. Super easy and free. www. Picasa.com

How much is Picasa? I don't have photoshop and I do not forsee buying it any time soon.

100% FREE from Google. Very easy to use and pretty powerful for basic edits. Wtch the video on the site and see the features. www.picasa.com[/quote

] used Picasa for years and loved it, its a great piece of software, then I moved on to photoshop elements and whilst not being free it was relatively cheap, having now moved on to Photoshop cs5 and lightroom I am quite a few hundred pounds lighter now, but it was worth it.[/color]