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L
live in the now
Participant
August 5, 2012
Question

How print exact dimensions of image?

  • August 5, 2012
  • 1 reply
  • 20339 views

I have resized the image in Photoshop CS5 using Perfect Resize.  The image dimensions are 20.00 inches x 13.33 inches.

In the Lightroom print module, I chose these settings:

  • cell size to 20.00 in x 13.33 in. 
  • All the margins are set to 0.00. 
  • "Zoom to Fill" is not checked.
  • Page Setup:  17 x 22 paper.  Manual - rear-borderless (retain size)

The size printed is 20.5 in x 13.75 in

What should I be doing to get the print size to match the cell size of 20.00 x 13.33?

Information:

Lightroom version 4.1

Mac OS:  10.6.8

Printer:  Epson 3880

File:  Tiff

Thanks!

This topic has been closed for replies.

1 reply

J
Jogi73
Participant
August 5, 2012

If I set up my Epson Stylus Photo R800 for borderless printing, it will scale the page a little larger than the real dimensions. EPSON says this is a feature to avoid thin white borders around the image because you will always have tolerances in the paper conveying system and in the position of the paper within the printer.

So what you have to do is: Switch off the borderless printing. Then you won't have any scaling of the print. Unfortunatelly you will have the (in my case) 3 mm white borders all around because it's the maximum standard printing area. But as far as I can see you want to print smaller than you paper size anyway. So you shouldn't have trouble with this. So just switch off the borderless printing.

L
live in the nowAuthor
Participant
August 5, 2012

Jogi73, thanks for the suggestion.

In the Print Module, I chose Page Setup and the US C 17 x 22in  (Manual - Rear)

This was the selection that turned off borderless printing.

The size printed was 20.5 in x 13.75 in - still does not match the cell size of 20.00 in x 13.33 in

Any other suggestions?

TheDigitalDog
TheDigitalDog
Inspiring
August 8, 2012

Jogi73 - that's a good question about resizing in Photoshop first.  I should have written a more generalized list for enabling the print size to match the actual image dimensions.  I've incorporated your steps above - where can I switch off the contour (German "kontur") as you suggested?

Here is another draft:

  1. Is the image in the right proportion to print?  Does the aspect ratio of the image width and height match the desired cell size in the Lightroom Layout Panel?  If you are printing for standard mat and frame sizes, this may be a concern. Cameras capture images in a variety of aspect ratios that don’t necessarily match common print sizes.  For example, in a full frame camera the number of pixels may vary from model to model, but the ratio of the long side to the short side will always be 1.5:1 or 3:2.  Digital compacts often have a ratio of 1.33 or 4:3. 
    • If the answer is no:
      • Blank spaces fill the areas where the aspect ratio of the photos and the image cells don’t match.  You can also set an option so that photos completely fill the space within an image.  When this option is selected, portions of the photos (especially vertical images) might be cropped to fill the aspect ratio of the image cells. (source: Lightroom 4 documentation accessed with Print Module)
      • In the Develop Module, you can crop the image to a specified aspect ratio.  This will enable you to manually choose what is cropped.
    • If the answer is yes:  proceed to Step 2
  2. Do we have enough pixels to get an acceptable print quality in a particular size?  For example, if I am taking a photo from an iphone and making a print size of 17 in x 22 in, then I go to Photoshop, and use the plug-in On-One Software’s Perfect Resize (formerly Genuine Fractals) to crop to a specified aspect ratio and resize.   Photoshop can do upsampling as well.  I am not sure if Lightroom can do this upsampling.
  3. Now for printing in the Lightroom Print Module.  To print the exact dimensions of an image, here are the key selections:
    • Image Settings:
      • Check  “Zoom to Fill”
      • Check “Rotate to Fit”
    • Layout:
      • Margins set to minimum size
      • Cell size is the desired print size according to the aspect ratio of the image.
    • Page Setup:
      • Make sure that “borderless printing” is disabled in the printer.  When you print borderless the printer driver enlarges the photo slightly to ensure edge to edge coverage.
      • For the Epson 3880, choose the paper size and manual – rear.

live in the now wrote:

  1. Do we have enough pixels to get an acceptable print quality in a particular size?  For example, if I am taking a photo from an iphone and making a print size of 17 in x 22 in, then I go to Photoshop, and use the plug-in On-One Software’s Perfect Resize (formerly Genuine Fractals) to crop to a specified aspect ratio and resize.   Photoshop can do upsampling as well.  I am not sure if Lightroom can do this upsampling.

It can and it can do this as well or better IMHO than Photoshop and GF (Prefect Resize) at least with proper capture sharpening in Develop and output to a print.

Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management/pluralsight"
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