I am a total novice at editing photos and even worse at using a computer so my question may not make sense but here goes. I have edited & cropped several photos and saved them to disk. I took this disk to the photo lab where most of the prints had the tops and bottoms of the scene cut off? When I looked at them on my computer screen the picture was complete but not when printed. I know I can reduce the pixels and compress the size but how do I know what to reduce it to so that it fits into the frame of a standard photograph (6 x 4)? I am using ACDsee 3.1 that came with my Pentax camera to edit the images. Pls help??
If I'm understanding your question right, the problem you're facing is with the ratio of the image after you crop them in your program.
You actually have all the information you need to answer your own question. You want to have an image with a ratio of 6x4 when you're done, so it's time to bust out a little basic math.
A ratio of 6x4 inches can be viewed in pixels as well. Basicly, for every six pixels wide, you need to be four pixels tall.
Take the width of your current resolution (for example 2245 pixels wide) and solve for the height in the following equation: (w4) = 6h
2245x4 = 6h
8980 = 6h
8980 / 6 = h
1496.66666 = h
1497 = h
If the image width is 2245 pixels wide, then the height needs to be 1497 pixels. Crop your image height to that dimension, and you'll be good to go!
Hi Matt, Thxs for your advice. I had no idea what the pixel ratio's really meant apart from the higher the number of pixels the clearer the image would be when enlarged. I will give it a go and hopefully all my hard work will not be wasted.