Digital Photography
How to Print Pictures
I. Some Preliminary Information
A. When you take a photo with a digital camera, or scan a photo, you create an image that has a specific number of pixels on each side. The actual number of pixels can be found in the Image Size dialog box.
B. Open sunrise.jpg which can be found in the Student Files folder on the CD drive
C. Click the Image menu, place the mouse pointed on Resize and click Image Size. The Image Size Dialog Box appears.
D. The current photo’s Pixel Dimension is 2400 pixels wide by 1800 pixels high. These are the image’s pixel dimensions.
1. Each pixel contains the image data (information about the image) for one tiny square (or pixel) of a matrix that has 4,320,000 pixels (24000 x 1800). This mass of information is what your camera or scanner captures when it creates an image with the pixel dimensions 2400 by 1800.
2. When you do anything to change the number of pixels you affect the image in some way. When you crop the image you slice pixels off of one or both dimensions but you don’t change the picture quality.
3. Changing the pixel dimensions of an image is called resampling. Resampling can result in a reduction in image quality.
a. If you do something to decrease the number of pixels, some pixels get thrown away. This is called downsampling.
b. If you do something to increase the number of pixels, some pixels are added. When you “resample up” new pixels are added based on the color values of existing pixels. The image will lose some detail and sharpness.
E. A look back at the Image Size Dialog Box shows that the current photo’s Document Size is 10 x 7.5 inches. This is the size the printer will print the picture, if it can.
1. It also shows that the resolution is 240 pixels per inch (PPI). To print a high quality image on an inkjet printer, a resolution of 300 will give excellent results. Anything in the range of 240-360 is OK.
II. Setting Print Options using Print Preview
A. Open the File menu and click on Print Preview (or click the Print Preview icon on the shortcuts bar). The Print Preview dialog box appears.
B. The preview window shows that the right edge of the picture is missing. We need to change the orientation
C. Click the Page Setup button.
D. In the Page Setup dialog box, set the orientation to Landscape and click OK
E. The Page Setup dialog box closes and you are again looking at the Print Preview dialog box. The preview of the Sunrise image is now shown in landscape mode and the missing part of the picture is not in the preview.
F. Click the Print button. It won’t print yet, there are more things to check
G. Be sure the printer displayed in the Printer Name box is the one you want to use. If now, click on the drop-down arrow at the right edge of the box and choose the correct printer
H. Click the Properties button to the right of the Printer Name box.
I. Click the Paper/Quality tab and click the drop-down arrow at the right edge of the Media box. If you need to change the type of paper, this is the place. Make sure the paper type you selected is in the printer’s paper tray.
J. In the Quality Settings section, click the desired quality (it sometimes changes automatically when you select a different paper type).
K. Verify that Color is selected and click OK. The Print window reappears.
L. Check to ensure that the Print Range setting and Number of copies is correct and click OK if you want to print the picture or Cancel if you don’t.
M. Close the sunrise.jpg image file.
III. More considerations for printing
A. The previous exercise told you everything you need to know about the printing side of this business. You learned how to change or set the print orientation, the printer, the paper, the quality, the number of copies and the color.
B. Now we’ll look at the image side to see what kind of changes might work best to print a quality image. The Sunrise picture happened to be just about the “right” everything: resolution, size, quality and a beautiful addition to one’s photo collection. Now let’s look at pictures that require some assistance in getting them ready for printing.
C. There are several things about the image to consider before it is ready to print. Since the cost of ink and special paper can be high, you want to get the best print the first time. The settings you will want to check are
1. Image size
2. Document size
3. Resolution
IV. Preparing an image for printing
A. Open storm.jpg which you will find in the Student Files folder on the CD drive
B. Click on the View menu and click Fit on Screen to display the image in a workable size
C. Click on the Image menu, place the pointer on Resize and click Image Size. The image size dialog box appears. The Storm picture has the following characteristics:
1. Pixel Dimensions: 1275 x 1650 pixels
2. Document Size: 8.5 x 11 inches
3. Resolution: 150 pixels/inch (PPI)
4. The check box next to Constrain Proportions should contain a check mark and that next to Resample Image should not be checked.
D. Now think about the result you would like to get.
1. Would you like to print this picture by itself on a full sheet of photo paper? Or would you like two or more smaller pictures that you could fit on one sheet of paper?
2. Is the resolution correct? Recall that a photo with a resolution in the range of 240-360 PPI would make a good print. The setting of 240 worked well with the Sunrise picture. The Storm picture, on the other hand, has a resolution that is pretty low by those standards.
3. Resolution is a specific number of pixels per inch. A resolution of 300 pixels per inch (the desired resolution) puts twice as many pixels in the same inch that 150 pixels per inch (the current resolution) does. Thus you would expect that if you increase the resolution to 300 and leave the pixel dimensions the same, the picture would end up about half the size. Let’s try it.
a. Click the Resolution box and type 300
b. The Document Size has automatically changed to 4.25 x 5.5 and the resolution is now 300. You have a smaller picture, you lost no image data by resampling and the print quality will be excellent
c. Click OK to close the Image Size dialog box and apply the changes,
V. Create a picture package
A. You will prepare to print two Storm pictures on a single printed page using the Picture Package layout feature of Photoshop Elements.
B. Click the File menu, place the mouse pointer on Print Layout (way at the bottom of the menu) and click Picture Package. The Picture Package dialog box opens
C. In the Source section, click the drop-down menu at the right edge of the Use box and click Frontmost Document. This is the correct setting for printing a single image on a Picture Package sheet.
D. In the Document section, click the drop-down arrow at the right edge of the Layout box to see all the different sizes and combinations of sizes available. Try a few different layouts to see how they look.
E. In the Document section, click the drop-down arrow at the right edge of the Layout box and click the (2)5x7 Layout option. Type 300 (pixels/inch) for Resolution and click to put a check mark in the Flatten All Layers check box
F. When you have finished, click the OK button. Then sit back and watch the images dance on your screen as Photoshop organizes the images to your specifications. When finished, you have a new document in PSD format Picture Package
G. Open the File menu, click on Save As, and save this image in the My Results folder on the c:\ drive with the name Storm Picture Package
H. If you want to print the document, click the File menu and click Print Preview. Follow the steps detailed in the earlier section to set up the printing options and print the picture package.
I. Close all open image files
VI. Create a Collage
A. We’ll open four pictures that will print on a single sheet of photo paper using the Picture Package print layout. Since they will share a page, you need to make them smaller. The 4(4x5) Layout will work fine. You can retain more quality if you use Photoshop Elements to prepare each picture individually than if you depend on the automatic processes to do it. Thus, we will prepare each of the pictures and then create the Picture Package
B. Prepare the first picture
1. Open Baby Dove.jpg which you will find in the Student Files folder on the CD drive
2. Open the View menu and click Fit on Screen to display the image in a workable size.
3. Open the Image menu, place the mouse pointer on Resize and click Image Size. The Image Size dialog box opens and displays:
Pixel Dimensions: 1152 x 864 pixels
Document Size: 16 x 12 inches
Resolution: 72 pixels per inch (PPI)
4. The resolution in monitor-friendly at 72 PPI but not printer-friendly. Recall that it needs to be at least 200 PPI, preferably over 240 PPI to produce a quality printed image. In this case, the document size is large, approximately 16 x 12 inches and the pixel dimensions are adequate. You will trade the values of these properties to gain a higher printer resolution.
5. Since this picture will share a printed page with three others, it needs to fit in an area no larger than 4x5 (or 5x4)
6. Make sure the Resample check box is unchecked and click OK to complete the changes.
7. We will use the Crop tool to change the size the resolution of this image. By specifying one dimension and cropping to remove some of the foliage on the left, we can obtain a predefined size. Since the resampling capability is disable, we cannot change the proportions
a. Click the Crop tool in the Toolbox (the third one down on the right). The Crop tool options bar appears.
b. Click the Clear button on the Crop tool options bar. The Width, Height and Resolution text boxes are now blank.
c. You would normally need to figure out by trial and error what width might work best for this image to make it fit in a 5x4 space, but here’s a clue: Type 4.7 in the Width box and leave the Height and Resolution blank.
d.
Draw a Crop selection frame starting at the tip of the twig above
and to the left of the Dove and then drag diagonally to the bottom right of the
image. Click on the Commit icon 
on the options
bar to crop the image.
e. Open the Image menu, place the pointer on Resize and click Image Size. The Image Size dialog box appears with (approximately) the following information:
Pixel Dimensions: 969 x 761 pixels
Document Size: 5 x 3.927 inches
Resolution: 193.8 pixels per inch (PPI)
f. This is about the best we can get from this image. The pixels removed on the left were unneeded, the size indicates that the image will fit in the 5x4 space, the resolution went up enough to make us satisfied, and we didn’t have to resample. The image is ready to print
8. Click OK to close the Image Size dialog box and apply the changes.
9. Open the File menu and chose Save As. Save the modified image as My Baby Dove.jpg in the My Results folder on the C:\ drive
10. Click the Zoom tool in the toolbox (the magnifying class at the bottom of the right-hand column), then on the Zoom tool options bar click the Print Size button. A print size approximately of the Baby Dove picture displays. Drag the image to the lower right corner of the screen to wait for the other three images.
C. Prepare the second picture
1. Open rose.jpg which you’ll find in the Student Files folder on the CD drive
2. Open the View menu and click Fit on Screen to display the image in a workable size
3. Open the Image menu, place the mouse pointer on Resize and click Image Size. The Image Size dialog box opens and displays:
Pixel Dimensions: 900 x 900 pixels
Document Size: 3 x 3 inches
Resolution: 300 Pixels per inch (PPI)
4. This image is smaller than you want so you will make it larger. Because the resolution is high, you can trade some resolution for a little more size. You will not have to resample
5. Make sure the Constrain Proportions box is checked and the Resample box is unchecked
6. Type the number 4 in the Width box. The Height changes to 4 inches and the Resolution drops to 225 pixels per inch. This is a good tradeoff.
7. Click OK to apply the changes.
8. Open the File menu and chose Save As. Save the modified image as My Rose.jpg in the My Results folder on the C:\ drive
9. Click the Zoom tool in the toolbox. On the Zoom tool options bar click the Print Size button. Drag the Rose image down to the lower right with the Baby Dove. They should be about the same size.
D. Prepare the third image
1. Open butterflies.jpg which you’ll find in the Student Files folder on the CD drive
2. Open the View menu and click Fit on Screen to display the image in a workable size
3. Open the Image menu, place the mouse pointer on Resize and click Image Size. The Image Size dialog box opens and displays:
Pixel Dimensions: 1275 x 1041 pixels
Document Size: 8.5 x 6.94 inches
Resolution: 150 pixels per inch (PPI)
4. This image is slightly larger than we need and the resolution is lower than we’d like. We will crop the image to bring it closer to our print specifications
5. Make sure the Resample box is unchecked, then click OK to close the Image Size dialog box.
6. Click on the Crop tool in the toolbox (third from the top on the right and click the Clear button on the Crop tool options bar.
7. Draw a Crop selection frame to remove the white border and some of the top and side edges, somewhat like this:
8. When
you are satisfied with the results, click the Commit
icon in the options bar to crop the image.
9. Click the Image menu, place the pointer on Resize and click Image Size. The Image Size dialog box opens showing the new dimensions (yours will be slightly different)
Pixel Dimensions: 1109 x 815 pixels
Document Size: 7.393 x 5.433 inches
Resolution: 150 pixels per inch (PPI)
10. This time make sure the Resample Image check box is unchecked. We want to change the width and look for an increase in resolution.
11. Change the Width to 5 inches. The Height and Resolution changes look acceptable, so click OK to close the Image Size dialog box and apply the changes.
12. Open the File menu and chose Save As. Save the modified image as My Butterflies.jpg in the My Results folder on the C:\ drive
13. Click the Zoom tool in the toolbox. On the Zoom tool options bar click the Print Size button. Drag the Butterflies image down to the lower right with the Baby Dove and Rose images. They should be about the same size.
E. Add the last picture
1. Open cactus.jpg which you’ll find in the Student Files folder on the CD drive
2. Open the View menu and click Fit on Screen to display the image in a workable size
3. Open the Image menu, place the mouse pointer on Resize and click Image Size. The Image Size dialog box opens and displays:
Pixel Dimensions: 1728 x 1536 pixels
Document Size: 4.219 x 3.75 inches
Resolution: 409.6 pixels per inch (PPI)