Cropping

[Chelsea.corrine]

 Hi! How do I crop the photo after editing and not lose a ton of MP ? I have this one photo in particular that my client wants to put on a canvas but when I have it cropped the way I want iT and then saved it goes from over 20mp to 4.4. 

[Damien Symonds]

Hi @Chelsea.corrine, this should answer your question: https://www.damiensymonds.net/2014/03/how-aggressively-can-i-crop.html

I'm obliged to ask - do you print many photos?  On either canvas or normal photo paper?

[Chelsea.corrine]

Hi! Thank you for responding! I already read that article! While it was helpful, I still don’t understand how to crop AFTER editing without losing so many pixels. I didn’t crop THAT much and it dropped drastically when I exported at 100% quality in jpeg. 

[Damien Symonds]

The very nature of cropping is deleting pixels.  That's why we do it.  Cropping (removing parts of a photo) has been part of printing for as long as photography has existed.  It's completely normal, and absolutely nothing to stress about.

Maybe you could show me some screenshots to explain your concerns?  A screenshot before cropping, and after.

[Damien Symonds]

5 hours ago, Damien Symonds said:

I'm obliged to ask - do you print many photos?  On either canvas or normal photo paper?

Also, I really need to know the answer to this question.

[Chelsea.corrine]

Sorry I missed this part. I print up to 8x10 and have printed canvases personally, but not for clients.  I will be able to get u a photo of the “before” in the morning!  Sorry, a fellow photographer on a fb page told me she crops in photoshop without diminishing the file size and referred me to you.  This is where my confusion is coming into play.

[Damien Symonds]

3 minutes ago, Chelsea.corrine said:

Sorry I missed this part. I print up to 8x10

Do your prints match your screen exactly?  Because the photo you posted above is grossly dark, and I went to your page, and almost ALL the photos are grossly dark.  I very much fear your screen is badly too bright.

3 minutes ago, Chelsea.corrine said:

Sorry, a fellow photographer on a fb page told me she crops in photoshop without diminishing the file size

She's either pulling your leg, or not telling you the whole story.  Either way, it's BS.

[Chelsea.corrine]

[Chelsea.corrine]

Grossly?  

[Damien Symonds]

14 hours ago, Damien Symonds said:

Do your prints match your screen exactly?

Please answer the question.

[Chelsea.corrine]

I haven’t printed my clients photos.  My personal ones I have taken with my camera do match, but I don’t edit them the same. They have just been ones I have taken on a field.   Not the same as the ones you say are grossly dark.  Yes they matched.

[Damien Symonds]

Can you post one or two of the personal ones for me to see?

[Chelsea.corrine]

[Damien Symonds]

Yeah, these are dark too

PLEASE get a monitor calibrator as soon as you can.

[Damien Symonds]

21 hours ago, Damien Symonds said:

Maybe you could show me some screenshots to explain your concerns?  A screenshot before cropping, and after.

Can I see these screenshots?  Make sure they're actual screenshots, not just photos of your screen.

[Chelsea.corrine]

I just got this Mac it’s a 2017, how do u suggest getting it calibrated?  How light do u recommend editing the photos? The photos look the same on my phone as they do on my computer.. I’m happy with the result as are my clients... how much lighter should it be so the look I’m going for makes us happy as well as printing?

[Damien Symonds]

Please ignore all phones.  Phone screens are deliberately manufactured too bright.  ONLY assess your editing screen based on pro lab prints.

https://www.damiensymonds.net/2010/09/all-about-monitor-calibration.html

[Chelsea.corrine]

Thank you that link is incredibly helpful.  I will send off 3 of my clients images for printing and compare, then find a calibrator to buy.

[Damien Symonds]

https://www.damiensymonds.net/what2buy.html

I really really would like to see those screenshots.

[Chelsea.corrine]

I don’t know how to do the screenshot on my computer like I would on my phone.

[Damien Symonds]

Don't worry, Google will give you a thousand hits.