sending hi res (300 dpi) jpegs from Lightroom 4

[WallStShari]

I am taking a course on making Christmas decorations.  Have been asked to send my images @ 3" x 3", 300 dpi, medium jpeg.  We have spent 2 days back and forth with this and I have not been able to complete the Export panel correctly.  Can anyone help.  Thanks.

[areohbee]

at 300 dots per inch, 3 inches would be 900 dots, so you need to export your images with a maximum width of 900 pixels - ditto for height (aspect ratio is defined by crop, and can't be changed by exporting) - a pixel is a dot.

Rob

[WallStShari]

Thank you.  I am completely confused.  I set jpeg, srgb, quality 90, image size long edge 1000 resolution 300.  She said it only came to her at 240 pixels square.  I am not even sure what this means.  I had cropped my image to 3 x 3 first.  Should I not have done this? 

[areohbee]

WallStShari wrote:

I had cropped my image to 3 x 3 first.

Unless you want square pictures, crop to whatever dimensions are most pleasing, e.g. 4000x3000 (i.e. as big as possible preserving the portion of image you want), cropped dimension bears no relationship to print resolution (which is what the dpi value is referring to, or should be).

If you truly want square pictures, then crop to 4000x4000 or 3000x3000 or 2000x2000 etc. in other words: crop determines aspect ratio (overall retangular shape: square, wide, tall, ...).

Now that you've got them cropped correctly (or maybe they didn't need to be cropped at all - do you really want exactly square pictures?), you need to export them how she wants them, which, assuming she's using the correct terminology (or should I say terminology consistent with Lightroom's export dialog box), then export them at 900 pixels per side, max, and set (print) resolution to 300 pixels per inch.

That should do it.

If that doesn't do it, then you need to get more specific instructions from her.

Example settings:

Note: (print) Resolution merely sets a metadata item in the file, it (otherwise) has no effect whatsoever on exported image.

WallStShari wrote:

She said it only came to her at 240 pixels square.

An image exported with the above settings will come to her at 900 pixels on a side (square if cropped square, or rectangular with 900 pixels on long edge, if not cropped square). Just make sure you've not cropped it down to fewer pixels than 900 on a side, or you'll be losing quality, since it'll have to be enlarged to meet requirements. Greater than 900 pixels per side is OK, since Lr can shrink files without such quality loss.

Regarding Jpeg quality: 90 is very high, 80 is high, 60-70 is medium, 50 or below is (relatively) "low" - roughly and subject to opinion.

Rob

[WallStShari]

It still did not work so I have tried sending it as a psd.  I have made a folder for her on my desktop and that is where I am saving them to and sending them from.  Is there a way I can see the size before I send it to her.  I might have to give up.  I have a Lightroom 4 book by Martin Evening and followed what he said but I am doing something wrong.  Thanks for your help Rob.  I will give it a break and go at it later.

[Geoff the kiwi]

Shari, a wise move to take a step back. There is too much confusing information here, people waffle rather than answer questions at times.

In the Export menu, these are the settings that would give you what you want.

If you are not getting what you want can you post a scrren shot just like this along with the cropped dimensions of the file.

[WallStShari]

Thank you Geoff.  I can post a screen shoot although it is what you have helped me with.  Where do I find the cropped dimensions of the file.  When I sent to her in PSD format she said that works she said this is larger and will work at 480 pixels.  I don't know what this means.  I love editing my photos and using Lightroom but this part I just do not seem to grasp.  Thank you for any help.

[Geoff the kiwi]

Shari, I can't understand what is meant without knowing/seeing the whole conversation with her.

I recommend you look at this: http://tv.adobe.com/watch/the-complete-picture-with-julieanne-kost/exporting-images-from-lightroom-4...

AdobeTV has a good range of easy to follow tutorials on Lightroom - all free!!

[WallStShari]

Thanks Geoff - I had watched that earlier.  She just keeps saying they are coming too low res.  I don't know what I am doing wrong.  I have sent photos with the LR export form before with no problem.  Just one of those tech things that drive one crazy.

[Geoff the kiwi]

Well if they are 900x900 pixels or 3"x#' @ 300ppi that is what they want. Maybe they don't know what they want or need.

PPI is not a physical thing just a tag in the metadata, the number of pixels is the "physical size. Then is is how closely they are spaced that determines resolution. I have this issue with publishers often in that really do not understand what they want, need or are actually after and how to ask for it. Changing the ppi/dpi does nothing to the number of pixels, it just changes the space between them and hence how large they display on a screen or print. If a file is 1500x1200 pixels it wil display/print as:

50ppi - 30"x 24"

100ppi - 15" x 12"

300ppi - 5" x 4 "

and they all have the same number of pixels.

Try asking them what pixel dimensions they would like??

[areohbee]

The settings Geoff posted will result in the same thing as the settings I posted initially - 3 inches at 300 pixels per inch is just another way of saying 900 pixels.

Have you considered just sending her full rez files, i.e. don't resize, and see what she says. She may be able to work with them that way, so problem solved, or even if she says "they're now too big", at least you'll have a range: target is between 900 pixels and cropped number of pixels (unresized export dimension).

Maybe even send her a multitude of sizes, e.g. 900 (oops, no, already done: too small), 1200, 1500, 1800, and so forth... and ask her which is closest, and whether the closest is still too small or too large. That way, you might learn what she really wants.

Note: at 300 (print) resolution, 1200 pixels is same as choosing 4 inches (1500 would be 5 inches, etc.), whether you prefer using units of inches or pixels - doesn't matter: output is the same. Geoff - perhaps introducing a new unit for specifying the same settings may not have been such a great idea after all.

To quote Jack Nicholson: "What we have here, is a failure to communicate...". My sense is that you keep doing what she says (from an Lr point of view) instead of what she means (as yet undefined).

Rob

[D Fosse]

Getting really basic here for a second:

A lot of people get confused by ppi. But stop and think about it: pixels per inch. Visualize the image pixels, as tiny squares, on a piece of paper, and it starts to make sense.

It's just a simple equation: resolution = pixels / size. With two of those given, any two, you can calculate the third. And like any equation, you can flip it over and upside down: pixels = size x resolution; or size = pixels / resolution.

So you see resolution is not an inherent property of the file. The image pixels in the file do not have a size. Size needs to be decided when the file is sent to print, not before. How big do my pixels need to print to meet the desired size on paper; or how many of them do I need if the size is given?

[elie-d]

By the way, resolution really refers to the number of pixels in an image, nothing else and it is a misnomer in LR to call ppi (dpi) resolution,  and 900x900 pixels is not a high resolution. It is, actually, quite low resolution, only 90,000 pixels when nowadays even consumer level cameras produce images with 18 million pixels. But if the the recipient is claiming your image does not have the required number of pixels, you can check the jpg before sending it off by (if you have Windows) right-clicking on the file, selecting Properties at the bottom of the context menu that opens, selecting the Details tab and scrolling down to Dimensions. If the file really is 900x900, the problem is by her, not you.