Damien Symonds

First, find out the resolution that the lab requires. Most are 300ppi, but some differ.

I beg you not to wait too long to take the print sharpening class. But for now, the most important step is to accurately crop/resize your files before sending them to print. You can't just send any old file and expect it to turn out ok.

I think you're holding in your hand the photobook that's living proof of how wrong it is.

What did you decide to do?

How did you go, Amy?

Did you resize them appropriately first? What about sharpening?

Yes, 12 is always too big for printing. 10 is the absolute maximum to use, and depending on the situation, much lower can be fine. Can you give me some more information about the photobook? Did you set it up using a template? Or did you design the pages from scratch? Or was there no page design at all - was it just a matter of providing image files for them to print on the pages?

Looks good at this size. Just be careful of repeated cloning patterns in the trees.

I'm not asking about cropping (although that is relevant too). I'm asking about the resizing. If you're not doing that either, then no wonder you're having troubles!

Alas, sometimes this is really hard to fix. Generally it's a size issue. What size are you making the image before sharpening and uploading?

Oh gee. Dad's hair might be ok - you might be able to copy it from the other side of his head, to create a plausible edge. But Mum doesn't have that luxury, does it? May I see a closeup of her head?

At first glance, I thought it would be sufficient to sample the dark pink hair colour, and add a Solid Color layer of that colour, set it to "Color" blend mode, and paint on to the roots. But when I tried that, it left the areas too light, and they still looked a bit obvious, you know? So instead, I tried "Soft Light" blend mode. Do you think she'll be happy with this? After applying it, I found I had to revisit the colour of the layer, to make it pinker.

Ya did great. I left the lines because I was l-a-z-y. But yes, maybe it would be a good idea to clone them out.

I'm so sorry, I don't understand. Can you explain a bit further?

I think you should pursue this. If it's only the bright orange bits, you could easily change that.

Hi mate, the most important aspect, I think, is to actually write it. On a piece of paper, then scan or photograph it. This is too obviously a font, you know? Then you would do this.

Let's take jpeg out of this completely. I just want to know about the raw files. You make some adjustments to a raw file (eg white balance, exposure, etc). Then you move on and do the same to the next photo. Then you click back on the previous photo (that you'd processed). Are you saying that it's no longer processed? Are the sliders still where you put them, or have they gone back to default settings?

Here's the PSD, by the way. Based on this method.

Oh no!! Did you explain how bad that'll look? What's wrong with her son's shoes that isn't wrong with her husband's?

Can you explain this part? Losing the edit?

I haven't done all the masking, but is this on the right track?

Yep, great. 240/236/235. I can work with that. Can you give me a few minutes?

Yes, that's right. Great.

Do you mind taking the 100% crop again, just to be safe?

Windows isn't colour-managed. You can't trust it. Only trust colour-managed programs like Lightroom, Photoshop and Bridge. Oh, and Firefox. So, let's get back to the important topic - do Photoshop and Lightroom match your pro lab prints?