Picture package prints incorrect sized prints

[Michael Rosen]

I tried to print a package using the template that includes 2 4x5 (why not 4x6?) and 8 2.5x3 (I may be off on the latter dimensions). When I went to cut the sheet I noticed that one of the photos was actually measuring 3.5x5. Why is it shrinking my photos? I thought Elements would be a better alternative than Microsoft's built-in print utility.

Thanks,
Mike

[RobertHJones]

Michael,

Why not 4x6? Because 4x5 is a standard print size. However, you may make
your own custom layout with 4x6s if you so desire.

Your 3.5x5 image happened because Elements won't guess and crop the image
for you. It will adjust the image to the maximum size that will fit
entirely within the template rectangle. That will leave white space if the
proportions of the image don't match the proportions of the image template.
If you want an exact match, you'll need to crop the image to the template
proportions before printing.

Bob

[Pete D]

Michael,

This should give you 3 4 X 6's on a page.

I 8.5 11
(3)4x6
0.2 0 4 6
4.4 0 4 6
0.5 6.5 6 4



Copy this in to Windows Notepad and name it (three four by sixes) then
either save to layouts folder or save to somewhere else and drag into layout
folder. (C:/Program files/Adobe/Photoshop Elements/Presets/Layouts)



When using this don't forget to set the page size as 8 1/2 X 11 right after
opening the picture package or you will not see it on the default 8X10 list.



Pete

[Pete D]

Mike,

I believe the 3 4x6's is something added to the package. It has been so
long I could be wrong but I think it was not part of the package.

Pete

[Michael Rosen]

Thanks Pete, that worked great. How do you program those layouts?

[Pete D]

Mike,

Guess I should clarify a bit further. The presets in the 8x10 are for use
with 8 1/2 X 11 paper. This allows for a small margin that a lot of inkjet
printers require. But the "picture packages" that are there could just as
well have been made under 8X10 1/2 page size package and either could be
printed on 8 1/2 X 11 paper. Make sense? Hope I am explaining this
correctly. Post again if not clear.

Pete

[Pete D]

Mike,

They are very simple .txt files that you can just "write" in "notepad" and
then save. You can double click the existing ones and they should open in
Notepad and you can see what they look like. To find them open My computer
and then double click on C: / then program files / Adobe / Photoshop
Elements / Presets / Layouts. Double click any of them and you will
understand them a bit better I think.

There is a pretty good explanation of how to create new sizes in the help
section too.

Pete

[Pete D]

Mike,

Yeah! You are doing good. Glad you found those instructions in the help
section.

When you have an 8X10 and want to print 4X6's you should first resize the
picture so that it is correct proportion to produce 4X6. (you can probably
see the 8X10 will make a 4X5 OR an 4.8X6)

So first resize and make the 10 inch dimension 6. (The other dimension will
be 4.8 automatically). Now click on the crop tool and make the dimensions
for cropping 6 and 4 (set these just above the picture on the left). Click
and drag on the picture with the crop tool and the shaded area will be
cropped if you "accept" with the check mark above the picture. You can move
the "selected area around using the arrow keys to get just the area selected
that you want. Now after selecting "accept" you will be able to print the
4X6's.

You can also crop using the rectangular selection tool. Others will post
and say that is their preference... to use that tool. Try it both ways and
decide which you like best.

Pete

[Pete D]

Mike,

>>> I was under the impression that if I kept my image at the largest

resolution I would get better quality prints at lower print sizes. I didn't
think I would have to still crop the images in order to get them to print
correctly.<<<

If a picture is "oversized" (proportionately) on one dimension for the size
selected in the print package it is going to get cropped.

Try this; take a picture that is 10X15 (resize one to this if you don't have
one) and with a sharp brush paint (one click at about 50 brush size) a dot
on all four sides right at the edge of the picture about in the centers.
Use a contrasting bright color (red) so you can see it easily. Save it.
Now open picture package and insert the picture in a 2 5X7's format. You
will see that the bottom of the picture has been cropped and your red dot
has a flat bottom.

So it is really best to select what gets cropped yourself before inserting
in to the picture package and allowing the program to decide.

>>> I've used the crop tool frequently and always struggled with losing

content. Then I spoke with a friend for advice and he told me I should only
crop for content and not for size. But maybe resizing to close to the
correct dimensions (i.e. 8x10 or 4x6) and then cropping off the fractional
dimensions will work. I was afraid I would lose part of the picture
otherwise.<<<

If you need a portion of the picture cropped to make it proportionately
correct to fit a fixed sized frame, like the 5X7 in picture package, there
is no way to easily achieve it without loosing part of the original picture.

That being said; you can resize the canvas to correct proportunate size and
then "clone" or otherwise enlarge the side that is "short". (copy and
paste; add something else like a thick bottom border).

>

>>> So, are you saying that once I've got the image resized to the proper

dimensions that picture package should retain the correct size? So, if I
were to have an original at 8x10 and attempt to print 4x5 prints it would
work?<<<

Yes!

>>> p.s. If I were to just upload these to a photo service in the original

odd dimensions would they end up just distorting the picture anyway in their
attempt to fit it to a 4x6, 5x7, etc.?<<<

I do not have first hand knowledge but yes, the image would Have to be
cropped if not in proportion to finished print size. If you give it to
them out of proportion they will decide what gets cropped :( I would have
to believe that no image gets distorted to achieve correct proportions but
if they do it manually....who knows.

OK, Now that you have that down and If you have not followed the threads on
pixels and print sizes do a forum search on that because that will be the
next area of questions that you will develop... I think anyway. And either
you did not mention or I forgot; You are saving these files as either PSD of
Tiff and at least 250 ppi right?

Pete

[Nancy S]

Michael,

My suggestion would be to create a folder on your hard drive in which to put the images right off your scanner. Consider these your originals, as if they were your film negatives and never edit these files. These are your untouched, pristine scanned images and you will be glad some day that you have unaltered files. When you want to work on one of those images, just make a copy of one (duplicate) and open it in PSE to edit.

You can print an image out at any size you wish, remember (assuming that you have enough pixels for a quality printout). You are not limited to using the Package or standard sizes. The 'standard' sizes just make it easier to find a ready-made frame to fit. If your images are for an album with full sheet pages, standardization goes out the window. Sending your files out to be printed will involve standard sizes, but if you print yourself...any size. I believe what your friend/advisor was trying to convey was to crop out material which detracts from your subject. Figure what is the important part of the image in terms of composition. Remember the Rule of Thirds. (visually appealing to place the subject at an intersection created by imaging your pic as a grid of 3 x 3)

Nancy

[Michael Rosen]

Pete,

>>And either you did not mention or I forgot; You are saving these files

as either PSD of Tiff and at least 250 ppi right?<<<




Actually, no, I'm saving as JPG at 300 ppi. What's the difference? Is JPG only good for uploading and sharing in email?

Thanks,
Mike

[Pete D]

> Actually, no, I'm saving as JPG at 300 ppi. What's the difference? Is JPG
only good for uploading and sharing in email?



Mike,

You will find that most users are now saving first as PSD or Tiff and then
if they want to e mail or save to floppy disk save also as a jpg copy.

The jpg is a "lossy" format and the compression that takes place when saving
does alter pixels. Extensive photo editing also has a degrading effect on
the quality of a jpg photo. How much is a long debatable subject.

So unless disk space is a real big issue, always use PSD or Tiff. And even
if space is an issue consider a new hard drive or CD burner.

Pete

[Norina]

Pete, I've been experimenting with picture packages.... I tried your
layout. It didn't give me a 4x6 print (it shrunk a bit)

This morning I did some more reading... In the manual it says that the first
line should only be the actual printable area of your page. Your file might
work with printers that will print to the edge of the page, but some don't.
(mine doesn't)

I like the way your file looks in the print preview (with the white space
around the pictures) but in order to get 2, 4 inch wide pictures on a page
and allow for the non printable area of the page (8") they have to touch
each other. I left the 3rd picture at the edge to facilitate cutting...

This is the file that I came up with: (copy the next 5 lines, paste them
into notepad,
save as (fourBy Sixes.text) paste into (C:/Program files/Adobe/Photoshop
Elements/Presets/Layouts)

I 8 10
(3) 4x6
0 0 6 4
0 4 4 6
4 4 4 6

When you open the picture package select 8x10 and the 3 4x6's will be added
to the package.

Rina

[Prov]

I ran into this same problem. The solution is to crop to the size of the biggest picture that will be in your picture package. IE: if you are printing a 5x7 and a bunch of wallets, you must crop to a 5x7, and then select the picture package you want to print and it will then print out just fine!

[Michael Rosen]

You will find that most users are now saving first as PSD or Tiff and
then if they want to e mail or save to floppy disk save also as a jpg
copy.





So, would you then recommend that I scan directly into Elements vs. using my scanner's one-touch button? Doing the latter opens up the scanner s/w and saves to a jpg by default.

Thanks,
Mike

[Michael Rosen]

File>Import>Twain




Well, I don't have "Twain" listed, but I recall that's just a type of technology? Among others, my scanner is listed (hp psc 2200 series), along with another version of it beginning with "WIA." I get better control (I can see the selection size, etc.) with the former, which opens HP's scanner software.

Most of my pictures are taken with a digital camera (PowerShot S400) so I'm not always scanning my pictures. Those are saved on the Compact Flash as jpg by default, but I take them at the highest resolution and quality.

Thanks,
Mike

[Beth Haney]

Mike, I went through this thread rather quickly, but I believe it came out somewhere along the line that you're maintaining your images in JPEG format. Is that correct?

JPEG is, indeed, recommended for e-mailing and web purposes, and it also makes a compact format for storage when people have limits on disk space. However, JPEG is also a lossy format. That means that each time you open, edit, and save changes to an image in JPEG, some of the original image data is lost. If you make moderate changes, you won't really notice the degradation, but should you ever work on one image repeatedly, it wouldn't take long before the quality would begin to suffer.

I think it would be safe to say that all of us forum regulars have forced ourselves into the habit of converting every JPEG file into either PSD or TIFF format immediately after an image hits our hard drive. We do usually keep the original JPEGs (just in case we screw something up royally and want to go back to square one!), but we use one of the non-lossy formats for our work. "Work" could be editing, or it could just be resizing. TIFFs and PSDs also allow you to save layers that might have been used in editing the photo, and JPEG doesn't have that capability.

If all you ever do is take digital pictures, crop them slightly and print them out, you'll do fine in JPEG. Same with scans. However, if you ever decide to "move on" and begin to do much editing, keep the downside of the JPEG format in mind. We can't force people to "do it our way", but we always feel an obligation to make sure they're aware of the pitfalls! :)

[Nancy S]

Michael,

Same thing really, with my Epsons I have the Twain listing with your HP you have your scanner listed...whatever...the point being to access your scanner from within PSE and your scanned image will be delivered to your workarea upon closure of your scanning s/w.

I also would recommend that you follow the same advice for your images from your digital camera. You will probably want to revisit them at a later date and it would be a shame if they were unrecoverably altered or degraded due to saving in a lossy format.

[Joyce McCowin]

This is my first time to use this program and can't figure out how to customize picture package layouts. The picture I've been working with prints with no white between the middle pictures and acts like on picture if I try to move individual pictures. At some point I would like to print photos of various sizes on the same sheet of phot paper. In the directions I printed, it "You can customize existing layouts or create new layouts using a test-editing aplication." I don't understand how to do that. The numbers in a row are totally "Greek" to me. I guess I just need HELP!

[Jodi Frye]

Ya I never use the picture package...alot of us don't. Beth's method is the way to go ! Lots of room to play !