Choosing Settings/Factors to Consider When Ordering Prints

[LensofNature]

My apologies if this has been covered before.  Some aspects have, but not all. 

For many years, my photos were shared digitally with friends, family and online groups.  Then, a couple of years ago, I was looking through some old photo albums of mine, and I missed having hard copies of the photos.  So I had a few printed at a retail camera store and was disappointed at how underexposed they turned out.  The smaller size and cropping that was necessary because of differences in print size and digital size further reduced the appeal of the photograph.  So I switched from 4x6 to 5x7, then couldn't find photo albums for that dimension, although was finally able to find some online.

I understand, somewhat, that I have to change the settings in my photo editing software (I currently use ON1 Photo RAW).  What is confusing, is that when I order prints, such as from Black's (a popular camera company in Canada which closed its brick and mortar stores and sells all their products/services online, there is a section you can check off for them to make adjustments needed; however, I'm not sure to what extent. 

So, the questions I have are:

1. If I submit my photos for printing based on the default settings in the photo editing software that is tailored to the computer, will they be able to make the necessary adjustments on their end?

2. If not, what settings should I use to most closely match a 5x7 print?  There appears to be two factors - the ratio and pixel size, is that right?  What are the equivalent dimensions (e.g. 1000 x 5000) and ratio?

3. Should extra sharpening be added?

4.  Should I increase brightness/exposure?

5. How will changing these settings for print change how these photos will look on screen?

6.  Can anyone recommend any tutorial on this?

 

Thanks very much.

 

 

[digitaldog]

Start here:

http://digitaldog.net/files/01What is color management, and why do we need it.pdf

http://digitaldog.net/files/21SoftProofing and WYSIWYG.pdf

[digitaldog]

In terms of #2, supply from 180 to 300 pixels per inch of desired output. 7 inches would require minimum of 1260 pixels and no more than 2100 pixels for output to 7 inches. 

As to sharpening:

https://creativepro.com/out-of-gamut-thoughts-a-sharpening-workflow/

[AlanKlein]

1 hour ago, digitaldog said:

In terms of #2, supply from 180 to 300 pixels per inch of desired output. 7 inches would require minimum of 1260 pixels and no more than 2100 pixels for output to 7 inches. 

As to sharpening:

https://creativepro.com/out-of-gamut-thoughts-a-sharpening-workflow/

300ppi seems about right.  🙂

[digitaldog]

41 minutes ago, AlanKlein said:

300ppi seems about right.  🙂

"All generalizations are false, including this one." -Mark Twain
And no, it is not right here as well:
https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=136760.msg1194660#msg1194660

But this is a good start for the OP:

http://www.gballard.net/psd/sharpening.html

https://www.digitalphotopro.com/technique/photography-workflow/the-right-resolution/

Edited October 31, 2023 by digitaldog

[Ken Katz]

I am far, far less knowledgeable than digitaldog in these matters, but these may help:

1) Can't really answer, but it would seem to me that trying a few small prints and allowing the printing outfit to make adjustments would not cost that much.  See if you like the results.

2) Since you are using a RAW based photo processing software (I am assuming you are not using a Smartphone as you main camera), it is unclear to me why standard 4x6" prints would not be acceptable.  Almost all interchangeable lens digital cameras (all DSLRs and mirrorless cameras except for four-thirds and medium format cameras) the native images are in the 1 x 1.5 ratio, which is identical to 4x6" prints without cropping.  When I prepare images for prints using Lightroom (export files), I have the software create files which are 1200 x 1800 pixels if I am printing an uncropped 4x6" print (300 ppi files).   If I was exporting files for 5x7" prints, I would create 1500 x 2100 pixel files.  FYI, images from Smartphones are not native 1x1.5, so a 4x6" print from them will need to be cropped.

3) When I export files for printing, I have Lightroom set sharpening for printing either glossy or mat prints, which is an option in the software.  The files are sharpened previously to what I think is appropriate and this is additional sharpening done by Lightroom in file Export function.  If I am uploading the files for viewing on screen, I choose that option for additional sharpening. You will need to check to see how ON1 does this.

For printers that do not use color profiles imbedded in the jpeg files (like CVS), when I export files, I change with color profile to SRGB.  Printers that cater to professionals tend to use the imbedded color profiles, so that would not be necessary. 

4) Here you can experiment as I described in "1" above, or buy a device to profile your computer screen.  I used the profiles and setting provided here instead:  https://tftcentral.co.uk/articles/icc-profiles-and-monitor-calibration-settings-database

digitaldog may rightfully scoff at using these profiles instead of doing it myself with a profiling device, but for me it seems to work fine.  Most important are the recommended settings for brightness and contrast.  By using those settings I have reasonably matched the brightness I see on screen to the brightness on my prints. 

6) There is a whole lot of available tutorials and books for the Adobe products, so there is likely help available for ON1.

 

 

[digitaldog]

8 hours ago, digitaldog said:

https://www.digitalphotopro.com/technique/photography-workflow/the-right-resolution/

The Digital Pro Photo site is no more. You can find Jeff Schewe's "The Right Resolution" here:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/2uw6co0yb81l4uhhuxi8z/The-Right-Print-Resolution.pdf?rlkey=w9ncq43ltjffcn9karpq0c41x&dl=0

[paddler4]

While not disagreeing with anything Dog wrote, I think this can be much simpler for a newbie to printing.

1. Printers have a native resolution. It's 360 ppi for Epsons and 300 dpi for Canons. I have no idea for HPs. After reading Schewe, I did a comparison of 300 and 600 (using my Canon printer) at various sizes. It was very hard to tell the difference, and in some cases impossible. If you use 300 or 360, you'll be fine.

2. Printing software will increase or decrease the resolution as needed if you print larger or smaller than the native resolution. How well it does this depends on hte software. I print from Lightroom, and it generally does a superb job.

3. Yes, resizing can change the amount of output sharpening needed. Lightroom does this automatically, as does at least one other printing software package. Photoshop requires that you do it manually.

4. Re brightness and getting things to look like the screen: this is a big question. First, it will never look exactly the same: the screen is emissive, while prints are reflective. However, getting it close requires calibrating the monitor, adjusting the brightness of the monitor, and controlling the brightness of the room. Even doing that carefully, I have found that I need to brighten prints slightly.