When I do edits in ipiccy or picmonkey it gives options of size or quality.
I always select the largest size and/or quality. Is that usually the best thing to do? Should I select the med. size, when printing the photos will the size I save them in make a difference in the way they look? What if I take a photo that was saved in a larger/smaller version and then get it printed in a larger size will that make a difference? Also, can I go back upload the same photo and save it in a different size - would that effect the quality of the print?
I'm doing some family (daughters & their family) portraits and I will save them on a jump drive for them to get printed. I want to make sure I'm saving them the best way.
Thanks in advance for answering probably a dumb question.
i always save to the highest quality... which means largest size file... this isn't necessary if you are just posting on the web... but i think you start to get degradation of the image if you end up wanting to print anything but a 4x6 or 5x7 if you choose to small a file size... i don't know how low you can reasonably go before this starts to happen, and i haven't bothered to experiment... i just use the highest quality and leave it at that...
I create two versions of photos that I'm going to post either to here or to Facebook. The first version - my high quality image - is ONLY posted to Smugmug, and is protected against illegal download. (There's an option on Smugmug to purchase either the photo or the rights to display / publish the photo.) That version is saved at 24 x 16, 240 PPI, and JPG quality 12. It's the highest quality you can get out of PSE 10, and the file is normally about 24 MB in size.
The version I post here and to Facebook is resized to 6 x 4 and is saved at JPG quality 8. It is also watermarked with my copyright. That file size is typically about 500K or less.
As to printing, you will not harm the quality if you print a smaller size than you saved. You WILL harm the quality if you print a larger size than you saved. (You effectively lose pixel density in that situation.)
Another consideration has to do with cropping. If, for instance, you saved a file at 24 x 16 (as I normally do) and they are going to print it at 8 x 10, something is going to have to be cropped out of the image. The ratios are different. If I know someone is going to print an image, I normally ask them what size they intend to have printed, and I then crop and save it in that size. It's the safest way to ensure they are getting the image you want them to get with the proper cropping.
I too always save at the highest quality available. (ipiccy saves at a higher res than picmonkey - you can always make things smaller but not bigger)
I was recently caught out trying to make a poster out of a print, the file needed to be 5mb or greater and although the original was, the edited version wasnt..
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The version I post here and to Facebook is resized to 6 x 4 and is saved at JPG quality 8. It is also watermarked with my copyright. That file size is typically about 500K or less.
As to printing, you will not harm the quality if you print a smaller size than you saved. You WILL harm the quality if you print a larger size than you saved. (You effectively lose pixel density in that situation.)
Another consideration has to do with cropping. If, for instance, you saved a file at 24 x 16 (as I normally do) and they are going to print it at 8 x 10, something is going to have to be cropped out of the image. The ratios are different. If I know someone is going to print an image, I normally ask them what size they intend to have printed, and I then crop and save it in that size. It's the safest way to ensure they are getting the image you want them to get with the proper cropping.
I was recently caught out trying to make a poster out of a print, the file needed to be 5mb or greater and although the original was, the edited version wasnt..