Setting image size

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Philip Mc

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6
Name
Philip McAuley
Edit My Images
Yes
Hello. I was wondering if anyone could help me regarding setting image size.
I have been out of photography for quite some time but my passion has reignited recently. I purchased a Nikon D750 and I am using lightroom and photoshop for editing. However I am having a problem setting image size. I have checked the internet and have read several articles but I just don’t understand.
For example, I recently did a portrait shoot and I would like to know how I set the image size so that no matter what size the person chooses to print the photos at, there will be no or minimal cropping.
Is there a setting I can apply to all photos? What size should I set the photos at? I would really appreciate any advice. Thank you, Philip
 
Last edited:
Probably. What do you need help with? What software are you using?
 
@Philip Mc

Hi Philip and welcome to TP :)

As Lewis @Craikeybaby says..................you need to give an explanation of what you are trying to do with the image and in what software and whether that is on a Mac or PC (as though it could be the same software on either system the buttons and 'commands' will be different)???

Oh, and an insight in regard to what the final image size is needed for if not covered in your explanation?

HTH perhaps?
 
Thanks for the welcome!
I apologise, I thought I had updated the original post with more information.
I have been out of photography for quite some time but my passion has reignited recently. I purchased a Nikon D750 and I am using lightroom and photoshop for editing. However I am having a problem setting image size. I have checked the internet and have read several articles but I just don’t understand.
For example, I recently did a portrait shoot and I would like to know how I set the image size so that no matter what size the person chooses to print the photos at, there will be no or minimal cropping.
Is there a setting I can apply to all photos? What size should I set the photos at? I would really appreciate any advice. Thank you
 
Philip Mc said:
I set the image size so that no matter what size the person chooses to print the photos at, there will be no or minimal cropping
Click to expand...

Are you confusing aspect ratio and size?
A 3:2 ratio sensor will print on (for example) 6"x4" or 9"x6" with no cropping required. Even 30" x 20"!! However if you try and print the image on an 8"x10" (4:3 ratio), or A4, or 6"x6" (1:1 ratio) or display it on a widescreen TV (16:9) then there will be all sorts of cropping required. As mentioned above, you can't do a perfect ratio for all possibilities.

If you actually mean "best resolution for all sizes", then again, this means different things to different people. Any image that's around 3300x2400 pixels should be fine to print at any size. However you (and your recipients) need to understand that at very large sizes, the resolution will be less, but that's ok, because your viewing distance is likely to be further away. If your client wants an A2 image at 300ppi, then your resolution needs to be huge (4800 x 6900 pixels) so you will likely need to use software to upscale it. Again - your client could demand all sorts of wierd things and you're potentially going to have to make adjustments because of it.

No one size fits all I'm afraid.
 
Harlequin565 said:
Are you confusing aspect ratio and size?
A 3:2 ratio sensor will print on (for example) 6"x4" or 9"x6" with no cropping required. Even 30" x 20"!! However if you try and print the image on an 8"x10" (4:3 ratio), or A4, or 6"x6" (1:1 ratio) or display it on a widescreen TV (16:9) then there will be all sorts of cropping required. As mentioned above, you can't do a perfect ratio for all possibilities.

If you actually mean "best resolution for all sizes", then again, this means different things to different people. Any image that's around 3300x2400 pixels should be fine to print at any size. However you (and your recipients) need to understand that at very large sizes, the resolution will be less, but that's ok, because your viewing distance is likely to be further away. If your client wants an A2 image at 300ppi, then your resolution needs to be huge (4800 x 6900 pixels) so you will likely need to use software to upscale it. Again - your client could demand all sorts of wierd things and you're potentially going to have to make adjustments because of it.

No one size fits all I'm afraid.
Click to expand...
:plus1: :agree:
 
As above, you can't control what others do if you're giving them your image files to print. Or have you phrased it awkwardly & I've misunderstood?
 
Plus there are the constraints of whether print on a given paper size is to fill the paper or have a border allowed ...

Normally if outputting a file to print, it is sized per exact print dimensions commonly (but not always) @ 300ppiwith the paper size taken into account.
 
Harlequin565 said:
Are you confusing aspect ratio and size?
A 3:2 ratio sensor will print on (for example) 6"x4" or 9"x6" with no cropping required. Even 30" x 20"!! However if you try and print the image on an 8"x10" (4:3 ratio), or A4, or 6"x6" (1:1 ratio) or display it on a widescreen TV (16:9) then there will be all sorts of cropping required. As mentioned above, you can't do a perfect ratio for all possibilities.

If you actually mean "best resolution for all sizes", then again, this means different things to different people. Any image that's around 3300x2400 pixels should be fine to print at any size. However you (and your recipients) need to understand that at very large sizes, the resolution will be less, but that's ok, because your viewing distance is likely to be further away. If your client wants an A2 image at 300ppi, then your resolution needs to be huge (4800 x 6900 pixels) so you will likely need to use software to upscale it. Again - your client could demand all sorts of wierd things and you're potentially going to have to make adjustments because of it.

No one size fits all I'm afraid.
Click to expand...

Many thanks for all the replies.
Yes perhaps I am confusing aspect ratio and size. I guess I just want to find out if there is anything I can do so the client can print a picture whatever size they want and there’ll be no major cropping.
Maybe I should be concentrating on best resolutions for all sizes as you said. I’ll have a look and try and find out about that. Again, thank you
 
All you can do is suply to their requirements. If you give them an oblong picture and they want a square one, something's going to have to be cropped.

As for resolution...
Your camera has a 3:2 sensor size of 6000x4000 pixels. Based on that...

If you hand them your image out of camera, and assuming your viewer has 20/20 vision...
At a standard reading distance (for example 12") the eye can only resolve about 300 ppi. This equates to about a 20"x13" print which is pretty much A3+ size.
At a standard monitor distance (for example 30") the eye can resolve about 115ppi. This equates to a print that's around 52" x 34" which is bigger than A0, i.e. very big.
At a TV viewing distance (for example 6 feet) the eye can resolve no better than 50ppi. This is a ridiculous 120" x 80" (10 feet by 6 feet). To see something that big properly, you'd have to stand further away...
Looking at a cinema screen distance (about 40 feet) the eye can't do any better than 7ppi. This results in an image that is 70ft x 47ft. All with NO upscaling.

Manufacturers (both camera and software) want you to think you need "300ppi" on all image sizes, because then you buy their stuff, but in reality, most modern cameras are more than capable of any size print.

As always, there will be exceptions to this, (camera club judges with their noses up against A2 prints) but they are exceptions rather than the rule.
 
If it helps, my approach is to process the image as captured (ie full sensor size) and save the resultant tiff file, then crop/adjust to best suit any printed image requirements, which in my case are few and far between, or screen requirement eg I'll typically resize a shot for my website (when it eventually gets around to resurfacing) to 4x3 inches to give me around a 1MP image, which is quick to load but still is decent quality for viewing
 
As above, I process in Lightroom/Photoshop and only resize on export for the intended use.
 
Philip Mc said:
Hello everyone. Just want to say thank you for all these suggestions. I’m very glad I joined this forum
Click to expand...

Do you know their size/aspect ratio before the shoot? If so then set your camera to max size available at that ratio. That way all the 'important' things will fill the frame so little or no further cropping would be needed.
 
Dangerous said:
Do you know their size/aspect ratio before the shoot? If so then set your camera to max size available at that ratio. That way all the 'important' things will fill the frame so little or no further cropping would be needed.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for this advice, I’ve really learned a lot since I’ve joined this forum
 
Harlequin565 said:
All you can do is suply to their requirements. If you give them an oblong picture and they want a square one, something's going to have to be cropped.

As for resolution...
Your camera has a 3:2 sensor size of 6000x4000 pixels. Based on that...
Click to expand...
This is an absolutely excellent response. Everything you need to know, nothing you don't need to know, and nothing that's not true.
 
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