I just bought a 7.1MP digital camera and I want to ensure I get the best resolution for my pics. I figure shooting with a high pixel count will let me develop the pictures in variety of sizes depending on my needs (8.5" x 11" for portraits and 5" x 7" for gifts). But if I try to develop something in a smaller print size than what the resolution intended, will my picture be croped or will the lab shrink everything down proportionally? Exactly, You're doing well by shooting at the highest resolution possible.
Now, it is true that the lab will crop the image for you if you print at a different, smaller size, but if it were me, I wouldn't let the lab decide how to crop your photos.
For one, they can get it wrong. I've had photos returned with chopped heads.
Secondly, sometimes the crop is a matter of taste. Do you crop the left or right part out of the photo? Perhaps if its casual shots meant to send to family, it doesn't matter, but if its an image thats important to you, it may be better for you to do the cropping.
Use your favorite image editing tool, and crop your photo to your specific needs. For instance, Photoshop's crop tool is simple - select the tool, in the size fields, yuo can for instance type (for a 5x7 landscape photo) "5in" for with, "7in" for height, for resolution you can put 300 (assuming you're shooting at full resolution at 7.1 m, this number does well), and then drag the mouse over the area of the photo you wish to keep.
Voila! They will shrink it. If it is slightly different aspect ratio, you may lose a few milimeters off the top and bottom or sides though.
When shooting digital, if you have space on the card, it never hurts to shoot at full resolution. |
