Downsizing Image Recommended: To Resample or Not Before Sharpening????

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Posted By
xtx99
Nov 1, 2005
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519
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I’m a newbie with a workflow question. I shoot in RAW with a D70 and am using Photoshop CS2 to create TIFFs for printing on a HiTouch Photoshuttle Printer (a dye-sub 6"x4" printer purporting to be 310 dpi)

In September 2005s Popular Photography, writer Debbie Grossman in her article "Resize Matters" states:

"If you’re resizing for print, this is the box to visit. You can use the Image Size box to determine just how big you can print your image without upsizing. For print, a resolution of at least 200 ppi is good for super large prints, and 300 ppi is ideal for 8x10s and smaller. Uncheck Resample Image so you’re not adding pixels, and type in the height or width of your desired print. The resolution will shift accordingly. Don’t worry if the resolution expands beyond 300ppi if you’re shrinking your shot; the printer will ignore date it can’t process. The biggest bonus of leaving Resample off? You never touch the original pixels, and you’ll always have the information you need if you want to crop or print big."

Before sharpening, my workflow has been to resize the image to 310ppi and then use CS2’s Unsharp Mask in Luminosity Mode. My first question,….is my printers purported 310dpi the same as resizing for a setting of 310ppi? If ppi is really different than dpi perhaps she is right….I wouldn’t want to be resampling twice (once when I resize and again when I’m printing). I’m sure there is a concrete objective answer on whether I should or should not downsize prior to sharpening. Thanks in advance for your replies to this post.

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N
nomail
Nov 1, 2005
wrote:

I’m a newbie with a workflow question. I shoot in RAW with a D70 and am using Photoshop CS2 to create TIFFs for printing on a HiTouch Photoshuttle Printer (a dye-sub 6"x4" printer purporting to be 310 dpi)
In September 2005s Popular Photography, writer Debbie Grossman in her article "Resize Matters" states:

"If you’re resizing for print, this is the box to visit. You can use the Image Size box to determine just how big you can print your image without upsizing. For print, a resolution of at least 200 ppi is good for super large prints, and 300 ppi is ideal for 8x10s and smaller. Uncheck Resample Image so you’re not adding pixels, and type in the height or width of your desired print. The resolution will shift accordingly. Don’t worry if the resolution expands beyond 300ppi if you’re shrinking your shot; the printer will ignore date it can’t process. The biggest bonus of leaving Resample off? You never touch the original pixels, and you’ll always have the information you need if you want to crop or print big."
Before sharpening, my workflow has been to resize the image to 310ppi and then use CS2’s Unsharp Mask in Luminosity Mode. My first question,….is my printers purported 310dpi the same as resizing for a setting of 310ppi? If ppi is really different than dpi perhaps she is right….I wouldn’t want to be resampling twice (once when I resize and again when I’m printing). I’m sure there is a concrete objective answer on whether I should or should not downsize prior to sharpening. Thanks in advance for your replies to this post.

If you do what Debbie Grossman says, namely keeping ‘resample image’ unchecked, you are not resizing at all. You just change the resolution to 310 ppi.


Johan W. Elzenga johan<<at>>johanfoto.nl Editor / Photographer http://www.johanfoto.nl/
D
DD
Nov 1, 2005
On Tue, 1 Nov 2005 22:41:24 +0100, (Johan W.
Elzenga) wrote:

If you do what Debbie Grossman says, namely keeping ‘resample image’ unchecked, you are not resizing at all. You just change the resolution to 310 ppi.

which of the two do you prefer, Johan?
And if it is simply changing of the resolution, how can you specify a target size?

If you done the sharpening on a smaller size
(let’s say you double the size of the photo) are you suppose to do the sharpening again?

Dave
N
nomail
Nov 2, 2005
DD wrote:

On Tue, 1 Nov 2005 22:41:24 +0100, (Johan W.
Elzenga) wrote:

If you do what Debbie Grossman says, namely keeping ‘resample image’ unchecked, you are not resizing at all. You just change the resolution to 310 ppi.

which of the two do you prefer, Johan?

There is nothing to ‘prefer’, they serve different functions.

And if it is simply changing of the resolution, how can you specify a target size?

You can’t do both at the same time without resampling. It’s either/or. If you just want to change the resolution and you’re not interested in the resulting size in inch, or you want to change the size in inch and you don’t care about the resolution, you uncheck ‘resample image’. You can do this as many times as you like, because nothing else changes if you do this.

However, if you want to print at a specific size AND a specific resolution, you’ll have to resize the image so you MUST check ‘resample image’. Now you do change pixels, so only do this if you understand what you are doing (and save a copy if you don’t want to loose the original).

If you done the sharpening on a smaller size
(let’s say you double the size of the photo) are you suppose to do the sharpening again?

Yes you should, but increasing the size of a photo by resampling doesn’t do much anyway. You add more pixels, but not more detail. Resampling is mainly useful to make pictures SMALLER.


Johan W. Elzenga johan<<at>>johanfoto.nl Editor / Photographer http://www.johanfoto.nl/
D
DD
Nov 2, 2005
On Wed, 2 Nov 2005 13:02:43 +0100, (Johan W.
Elzenga) wrote:

DD wrote:

On Tue, 1 Nov 2005 22:41:24 +0100, (Johan W.
Elzenga) wrote:

If you do what Debbie Grossman says, namely keeping ‘resample image’ unchecked, you are not resizing at all. You just change the resolution to 310 ppi.

which of the two do you prefer, Johan?

There is nothing to ‘prefer’, they serve different functions.
And if it is simply changing of the resolution, how can you specify a target size?

You can’t do both at the same time without resampling. It’s either/or. If you just want to change the resolution and you’re not interested in the resulting size in inch, or you want to change the size in inch and you don’t care about the resolution, you uncheck ‘resample image’. You can do this as many times as you like, because nothing else changes if you do this.

However, if you want to print at a specific size AND a specific resolution, you’ll have to resize the image so you MUST check ‘resample image’. Now you do change pixels, so only do this if you understand what you are doing (and save a copy if you don’t want to loose the original).

Thanks for pointing this out.
The reason for asking, is because I *always* resample.

If you done the sharpening on a smaller size
(let’s say you double the size of the photo) are you suppose to do the sharpening again?
Yes you should, but increasing the size of a photo by resampling doesn’t do much anyway. You add more pixels, but not more detail.

Just worried about over-sharpening, but I asume
if there is when zooming, no artifacts, there is no worries about over sharpening.

Increasing the size of a photo ìs with the intend of adding more pixels, for when a larger photo is wanted.
I picked up an A1 from the people doing my framing, this afternoon, and they asked for the same photo, but on canvas, while I had this one done one satin. I’ll see them tomorrow again, and most probably there will be different sizes involved.

Resampling is
mainly useful to make pictures SMALLER.

Should enlarging then always get done without resampling? After making a copy of the original?

Dave

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