Printing Photographs

[BobbyBobBob]

Hi

I plan to use my mums printer which prints coloured photographs.

I need to print about 5 or 6 pictures. The largest being about 16cm by 12cm and the smallest about 10 by 10. They need to fit into frames.

Basically its a laptray and you add your own pictures to make it more personalised. The pictures need to be a certain size as they need to fit into the frames on the tray.

The pictures I want to use are on the internet but are not currently the size I need them. Is it easy to change the size of these pictures so I can print them off?

or would it be easier to take them to a printing shop?

thanks

[Buenchico]

Resizing photos is simple and there are hundreds of programs which can do it. One example is Irfanview which is a free image-viewing program with loads of image-manipulation options built into it. (It deserves a place on everyone's computer because it's vastly better than the image viewing & editing functions provided with Windows):
http://www.irfanview.com/

Open a picture in Irfanview. Go to Image > Resize/Resample. Set your desired size (taking care to select 'cm' rather than 'pixels', and click 'OK'). Go to File > Print and check that 'original size' is selected. Click on 'Printer setup' if you need to tell your printer that you're using photo paper. Click 'Print'.
(If your picture is the wrong shape, such as rectangular when you need it to be square then, before resizing as above, click-&-drag your mouse over the part of the picture you wish to retain and then go to Edit > Crop Selection).

Alternatively you can print photos to exact sizes from any program that can import them, such as Microsoft Word. See my instructions here:
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Technology/Computers/Question918978.html

Chris

[BobbyBobBob]

Excellent. Thanks very much

[ChuckFickens]

I slightly disagree with Chris...

Irfanview is certainly the tool for this, but no need to resize the pictures, just select file > print and in the print dialogue that comes up select "custom" under the print size section and just enter the size you want to print it as.

[Buenchico]

Now why didn't I think of that?
;-)

[Ann]

Hi Buenchicho - I am interested in trying Irfanview if its a free download. I already have Windows own pic system, Xnview and Picasa but would like to see if Irfanview has any extra features. I have clicked on your link then download but there are a lot of options, none of which I recognise, so I daren't try as presumably these you have to pay for! How do I download this programme please? Many thanks!

[Buenchico]

Hi Ann:
Irfanview is 100% free. Use this download link:
http://download.cnet.com/IrfanView/?part=dl-IrfanView&subj=dl&tag=button
Click 'Save file'
Choose where to save the file to (unless your computer automatically saves downloads to a particular location).
Double-click on the downloaded file and follow the instructions ensuring that you disable any 'extras' which you might be offered, such as toolbars.
During the set-up process you'll be asked which files you want to associate Irfanview with. I suggest accepting the option for all image files.

[Ann]

Thanks for your good advice as usual Chris - much appreciated! x

[wildwood]

I can't believe I am saying this, but Chuck, you may have missed a crucial point. Isn't the main problem that the image Bobby has will most certainly not be of the same format as the picture size required. Setting the required size without cropping the image to the required proportions will result in fat or skinny objects in the print.

[wildwood]

not be of the same ratio as the picture size re

[Baldwin587]

Printing is an manufacturing method used for reproduce copies of text and images, typically with ink on papers using a printing press. It is a very vital part of publishing. Follow this link about all type of printing info.

http://www.emanprinting.net/

[snags]

''The pictures I want to use are on the internet but are not currently the size I need them''

And probably not the correct resolution either. Whatever image software you use, 'forcing' the resolution' (via interpolation for example) is never a good idea.