Christina Keddie

That screenshot sure would help.  

Then I'm pretty confident it's iPhoto or Photos...  Can you screenshot the window that pops up when you plug in a card?

Google.   Install as many fonts as you'd like onto your Mac, and they'll show up in PS once installed.

What kind of ancient operating system are you running to have avoided iPhoto/Photos being the default application for your photo files??

Are you sure it's not Photos or iPhoto that's the default program?  (If it is, Brian laid out in great detail exactly how to stop Photos from automatically opening here.)

7 minutes ago, CarolHectorPhoto said:

Yep! He told me to post on here, although I wasn't 100% sure WHERE.  I hope he can find it.  Thanks for trying to help me out! :-)

He uses the "unread content" button to browse this site, so he doesn't miss a single post.   One of the many advantages of this setup over FB!

I'm merging two of your three threads on this question, @Greg da Silva (and deleting the third as a duplicate), to keep them all in the same place. 

And really, really, no.  No steps are missing.   What are you having difficulty understanding about the masking step?

I promise there are no steps missing.   Add the levels layer, force the background to white, then mask that levels adjustment to just the area immediately around the hair, exactly as shown in the screenshot. 

If you don't understand how to mask, then please do consider taking Damien's Layers & Masks class. 

Go back to the client and ask for pixel dimensions.  "High resolution" can mean any of a million different things, so ask them what they're using the files for and what pixel dimensions they need for those uses.

You could always just give them your full-res files (no resizing or cropping) and be done with it, and I imagine any client that simply asks for "high res files" would be happy with that.  But if they actually have specific size needs, it would be good to know what they are and try to meet them.

Even just 11 might do it -- it makes a huge difference in file size in bytes to go down just one level. 

You'd have to ask your client about that.  There may be some server-side issues why they have a KB limit on their images (though I'd give them a serious side-eye, since most servers should have the bandwidth to handle images that are much larger than 500KB).  But if that's the client's limit, that's the client's limit.

How are you saving these files?  What JPG quality level out of PS?  I'd imagine going down a quality level (assuming you're not already at or below about quality 9) should do it for you.

1 minute ago, misstea said:

Yes, I did. So I'm looking at about 3.2 megapixels correct? And that's way too small for a large print... Would it still print at an 8x10 size? 

Thanks

No, you're missing a decimal place.  This is 0.32 megapixels.   (Mega = million.)  You're barely even on the curve in the graph at the bottom of Damien's article, I'm afraid.

Just to clarify -- what do you mean by "where I retouched"?  What did you do to the background besides the gradient?

25 minutes ago, Tcgural said:

Ok great! Based on the screens I am using would you suggest one over the other as my main editing screen?

Generally speaking, external monitors are better for editing than laptop screens, and are easier to calibrate.  I'd wait for Damien if you want input on these specific screens!

It's very normal for there to be variation between the two screens -- in fact, it's rare to get a perfect match. 

So I'd choose the screen you want to make your editing screen, and work on troubleshooting to get it to match your prints perfectly. 

Which screen matches your prints?  What you want the screen to look like is irrelevant.

And were you following Damien's instructions for calibrating?  The laptop ones for your laptop screen, and the desktop ones for your external monitor. 

http://www.damiensymonds.net/calibration.html

Sounds like you don't understand how layers and masks work?  I highly recommend Damien's Layers & Masks class -- only $32, and it will change your life.

http://www.damiensymonds.net/trainingialm.html

As long as you still have the exact files that you sent to print on your computer (so you can compare the prints with your screen), and as long as you have no reason to believe that your lab has changed the way it prints, your old test prints will be fine. 

Doesn't "export original" work to get the raw files out? I haven't tried it myself (because Photos is EVIL), but I thought that would work?

Can you screenshot your Finder window with the card plugged in?

And you've restarted your computer, I trust?

If so, sounds like a faulty card reader, but make sure to run through the entire process of elimination to rule out all other possible culprits.

So process of elimination it.   Try another card reader, or use the cable that came with your camera to connect it directly (only if you don't have another card reader, as the cable method isn't recommended).

Then try another card. 

7 minutes ago, lshaeffer said:

Thank you for the list of instructions...perhaps Apple should be giving you a cut!

I have a card reader but it doesn't seem to either be connecting or broke (not sure how that happened).

I followed your "firs things first" and I still do not see my cannon 7d under devices.  

It wouldn't be a "Canon 7D" -- it would be something like "EOS_DIGITAL."  Does no icon pop up at all on your desktop, now that you've changed your preferences?

The DPI of the raw image is utterly irrelevant here.   What are the pixel dimensions of your image?

Have you read this article on whether or not to convert to DNG?  You should make a considered decision, and not add onto your workflow just because someone said you should.

45 minutes ago, TinaK said:

Ok, so I freed up 30 GB of space so far (still working on deleting more files)…the issue still exists.  Is there likely another problem in addition to HD space?

30GB is still way too little free space -- remember, you need to hit 1/3rd free.  And have you restarted your computer since freeing up that bit of space?