Resizing images so clients cannot print larger than an 8x10

[5Hands]

Help!  I offer my clients smaller sized images so they can print on their own up to an 8x10 but I would print anything larger than an 8x10.  I usually size it 1300 on the long edge with ppi of 300.  That is how it is set in LR.  But my clients is telling me she can't even print a birth announcment she's gett an error.  I don't understand why.  Can anyone help?

[dj_paige]

What is the error?

In general, there is no way to prevent a client from printing at any size, although the quality will be reduced as the print size gets larger.

[Conrad C]

1300 pixels on the long edge, divided by 300 ppi, results in a length of 4.33 inches. If the birth announcement is longer than that, and she’s sending it to a printing service that automatically flags images less than 300 ppi at the size of the piece, that will trigger an error.

If you want clients to be able to print at 300 ppi up to 8 x 10 inches, then the long edge needs to be 3000 pixels (300 ppi times 10 inches). That would avoid this error.

But like dj_paige said, when customers use a service (or their own printer) that allows printing below 300 ppi, they’ll still be able to print those as large as they want, as long as they don’t mind the reduction in resolution. At 3000 pixels long, an 11 x 14 inch print is still 230 ppi, which is not that bad, especially when viewed from a distance.

So maybe you want to increase the long edge pixel dimension sbove 1300 pixels so that it’s easier to use the photos at 300 ppi at commonly used sizes less than 10 inches long, while still staying under 3000 pixels long.

It definitely a dilemma for photographers. If the photographer limits the pixel dimensions and the customer makes larger prints anyway, the low resolution could make the photographer’s work look bad. But if the photographer doesn’t limit the pixel dimensions, there’s not much reason to buy large prints from the photographer. It’s tough.