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If I had to PP this image before printing - ideally what should be done?

Also, my Canon clicks pics in 2592 x 1944 which is a strange aspect ratio as I have to manually crop my pics before i take a 4*6 or 5*7 prints. Do all cameras have their aspect ratio like this (i.e. not matched to the printing aspect ration)

Making a photo ready for printing is something which most of us hobbyists don't know much about. You have to really know about the color profiles of the printing mechanism, because what you see in monitor won't be the same in the print becuase of the differences in the color 'gamut' (spectrum of colors which can be displayed/printed) your monitor and the printer offers.

We are lucky to have Professional photographers here in this forum, to anwer this question in detail. Rudra sir, please...

That aspect ratio looks strange, its somewhere between 7/5 and 6/5! What is the Mega pixel setting you use to take pictures?

Its 5.0MP, 4:3 aspect ratio.

@ImmortalZ: You're right...! I am bad at maths. I once got 8 out of 60 during my PUC :)

Yes - Its 5.0 MP and 4:3 which is strange as generally photos are not printed in this aspect ratio. I've been trying a few online services too (Zoomin, Snapfish, etc.) for this and it's always a pain to recrop all your photographs just so that they fit in the photographer's aspect ration (regular 4x6 or 5x7)

Also, with 5 MP what is the max size that I can expect if i need to blow one of my prints up?

All photos from Olympus and Panasonic dSLRs are 4:3 ratio, hence the name Four Thirds system. So it is no so strange.

I have got 3ftx2ft prints from 1.5MP images.

@Samurai-san - Can you also throw some light on the exposure issues that I am having. All my photographs have a small empty space on the left - so they're over exposed by one stop I guess. I generally shoot in P mode and more often than not do not change the exposure compensation at all.

Also - ideally how should one shoot B&W with a compact cam? Metering and exposure are going to be critical right?

^^ In fact, ALL compact cameras (P&S) have a 4:3 aspect-ratio sensors with choices of shooting in 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 and recently 1:1 as well. (Of course, the Panasonic LX1/2 were anamolies).

3:2 is what a 4"x6" print is whereas 4:3 is closer to a 7"x5".

As for "blowing up", it really depends on how close you're going to be viewing a photo. This is where DPI or PPI or pixels-per-inch comes into play.

As Samurai has said, you can blow up a 1.5MP or a 1500x1000 image to 3ftx2ft (36"x24"). So there's a PPI of (1500/36) = 42ppi. A 42ppi image will only look good when viewed from atleast 3-5ft away, which is fine for a wall poster but horrible for a magazine print.

300dpi is the optimum resolution for magazine or book prints, so the 1.5MP image would shrink to 5"x3.3" for a 300dpi print. Here's my minimum recommended printing list:

Casual photo-albums 6"x4" - 2MP
Casual photo-albums 7"x5" - 3MP
Serious photos 7"x5" -4MP atleast
8"x6" - 4MP atleast
12"x10" - 5MP atleast
36"x24" - 6MP atleast for desk-top frames and 2-3MP for wall-frames

This is my preference. I've printed beautiful portraits in 12"x10" from 2MP images but a lot is dependent on the contents and the details in the shot too. A landscape photo will always demand more pixels than a portrait for example.

We can go on and on about this but the simplest rule is: the more the better. :) If you're stuck with less, there's no harm in trying prints and understanding whether you're fine with it or not.

Finally, fixing/cropping sizes is the simplest job for a print - color calibration is another level altogether!

Payne

Some examples follow.

Shots that would require higher DPI due to presence of lots of details:

1. Colors of nature - Near the village of Chakiya, U.P


2. Perfect skies - Near the town of Chandauli, U.P


3. God is in the details - Chandelier in Jaipur.


All the above shots have loads of detail in them and would look good only one very high-res (300dpi) prints.



One example shot that wouldn't require a high-res print is this one>>
4. Colorful bangles - Firozabad bangles near Charminar, Hyderabad


This one has most of the photo out-of-focus or blurred and would look artistic even in a 100dpi print.

I have a question. If I have to get prints of some images taken with a 10.2 MP camera on a 5" x 7" paper, how do I decide on the dpi? The original image resolution is 3872 x 2592.

May be it is a stupid question, but please someone throw some light.

Should it be 3872/7 = around 530 dpi? Or no need to care about the dpi, just give print?

DPI actually depends on viewing distance. For putting an an album you need 300DPI atleast.
So with 300DPI you can make a print of 3872/300 and 2592/300 which approx means that the biggest print you can get is 8x12. However unless you want to go into the photograph and explore its past(you will have to add 2" to shorter side ;) ), you may be satisfied with a smaller print, in that case no problemo!
Any larger than 8x12, you will have troubles, but any smaller not issues!
Now if you wanted lets say 24x16" print then you will need to print at 150DPI, good for viewing on a wall, but there will be flaws when viewed closely.

Coming to your original question, 530DPI may not even be possible, as many printers have 300DPI limit,. so you tell the software you need 5x7 at 300 DPI, and it will do it for ya.

Linky : PPI, DPI, resolution and print size | DigicamGuides.com

yikes! The thread is starting to remind me of my dreadful days with math !!!! stupid:

Okay - Here's another challenge.

I've got my son photographed in a studio in Surat - the guy apparently specializes in infant photography. Now they work on a model where they do not give out the hi-res RAW image even if you get large prints from them. So if you want any more prints, you'd have to go to them and get more prints.

So i have 2 A4 size and a third larger photo frames of my son's photographs. I now want to take pic of these frames and at least manage to create a jpg source which I can use as a wallpaper on my monitor or get 5x7 prints. Would this be possible using a compact cam + tripod?

Easiest option would be to get A4 print scanned. That would give good enough quality for desktop or even reprints.

empty space on the left... You mean in the histogram? That by itself doesn't say much, can you post some of the images?

Generally it is better to make it B&W during post processing. Just make sure you are using higher F-stop or smaller apertures. Deep DOF is key for B&W and generally P&S gives much deeper DOF.