Julio, this is a problem we’ve all experienced, because neither the 4:3 ratio of most digital cameras nor the 3:2 ratio of 35 mm matches many of the standard print sizes. Actually the 4:3 is closer to the 11×14 ratio than is the 3:2 (4/3=1.33, 14/11=1.27, 3/2=1.5).
Your best bet is to go to the Rectangular Marquee tool, choose Style: Fixed Aspect Ratio and set the 11 and 14 as your width and height (or height and width, depending on picture orientation. Then drag the tool over your image and create a selection, choosing what you want to keep and what you want to discard. When you’re happy with your selection, do and Image>Crop and your remaining picture will be exactly in the ratio of 11:14.
With respect to printing, once you’ve done the crop, you need to go into Image>Resize>Image Size and adjust your Document size to 11 inches by 14 inches. If you do that with Resampling unchecked, you’ll probably find out that the resultant resolution is too small for a decent 11×14 (you need somewhere in the vicinity of 180-200 ppi as a minimum). While it will cost you some sharpness, you can then check the Resample box, set the Resolution for your minimum, and click OK. The resampled image will be 11 inches by 14 inches at, say, 200 ppi and is ready to print.
Hope that helps!
Chuck
Julio,
It’s obvious that you’re given this some thought.
1. A 3:2 ratio would give you the opportunity to print a 10" x 15" pic. Is that better than 11" x 16" ?
2. No , not really . Your best choice is to crop the image to the best 11" x 14" you can frame in Elements , without resampling. As you have found, your choices in the camera about pixel dimensions ( e.g. 1600×1200, 2590 x 1920 ) , do not often correspond with standard photo sizes ( e.g. 4 x 6 , 5 x 7 , 8 x10, 11 x 14 ) . That’s the point where we make the subjective judgements about just what we want the photo to include.
🙂
Brent
Thanks Brent and Chuck.
Does it make sense then that when I am taking the original shot to fix the image in the frame to account for the loss of image when printing.
If so, are there any tricks or guidelines to think of and use when I am framing the image in the camera?
Again Thank You
Julio
Julio,
It may make sense, but it also may make sense to simply print the entire image as large as you can on 11 x 14 paper, and trim with scissors or papercutter to get even borders on your print. If you’re using standard frames, that may be a problem, but if you usemat boaard to mount your own prints, its not a problem at all.
🙂
Brent