help please - unwanted cropping after photo lab enlargement

[jandh]

Hi , i need some advice please , being a newbie to digital photography , i done the photos for a friends wedding last week , i took my memory card in to tescos to get some in largements of 8by6 and 8 by10 , but when i picked them up today i had lost some of the pictures in the enlargement , is there anyway to stop this happening , thankyou very much .

[Shadowman]

Hi , i need some advice please , being a newbie to digital photography , i done the photos for a friends wedding last week , i took my memory card in to tescos to get some in largements of 8by6 and 8 by10 , but when i picked them up today i had lost some of the pictures in the enlargement , is there anyway to stop this happening , thankyou very much .

How many photographs did you shoot and what was the storage capacity of the memory card, what type of card, camera model etc.? Did you format the card prior to shooting the photographs?

[Colin Southern]

Hi Jandh,

Easiest thing I can suggest is just talk to the Tescos staff. They should have an option for handling non-standard aspect ratios.

[Geoff F]

If I understand your question correctly (which doesn't always happen) I think you shot the photos at a different ratio to the printing size.

For example, you shot at a size ratio of 3 x 2 and wanted prints at a different ratio, say 5 x 4. The actual measurement units (mm or inches) doesn't matter.

If so, then you have to lose part of your images when they are cropped to the new size ratio. The only alternative is to distort the photos which won't look good. Alternatively, get them printed at the same ratio as your camera.

The options are either to get prints which are the same size ratio as your camera, say 12 x 8 ins for example. (A4 or A5 sizes are virtually the same ratio). Or be careful about exactly how the photos are cropped so that you don't lose any important parts of the photos.

This is a common problem when you get photos 'produced' by third parties instead of editing and printing your own. Some printers just assume that all cameras use the same ratio.

As Colin said, discuss the issue with the printers; and if necessary, look for alternative printers. If your images are still on the card, you may still be able to get them printed to another size. But if they have been deleted, I am afraid that you can't do anything about them.

[Colin Southern]

If so, then you have to lose part of your images when they are cropped to the new size ratio. The only alternative is to distort the photos which won't look good. Alternatively, get them printed at the same ratio as your camera.

Hi Geoff,

It should be possible to just fit the longest dimension to the page, and leave a white strip along top and bottom (or side), which can then be trimmed off.

[kimber]

Hi All -

I work in a digital photo lab for Costco in LA and we have this problem all the time - the aspect ratio of most digital sensors is 4:3 while the ratio for a standard print - 4x6 - is 3:2 - so if you're shooting the full sensor you'll loose about 1/4 to 1/2 inch on the top and bottom of the image - there are a couple ways around this - shoot a bit wider so that the loss is taken into account when printing or change the aspect ratio of the images you store - it's usually an option in the resolution or file size menu. Set the aspect ratio to 3:2 and what the LCD and your viewfinder shows is what you'll get - the camera will give you some other options - but it's a fairly easy process.

You can also do some post-production using almost any imaging software - even gimp - and crop the images to the print size you want to print and then note the file size in the file name - like 4xwedding1.jpg or 5x wedding1.jpg or 8xwedding1.jpg - makes printing much easier and faster - not sure what the technology in tescos is - but I'd assume that a keosk interface is used so you can see the image as it will print - ask the staff if there is any kind of crop warning or ability to crop in their work station software.

Let me know if you have any trouble and I'll be happy to walk you through it.

kimber