Pasting / importing an image looks too small on the page.

[Oh for Chrissake!]

Hi folks!

Whether I copy n paste from a Flickr page, or bring up a recent webcam pics of mine, when I paste or load them onto a US Paper sized page (8 1/2 x 11), the image appears rather small. Of course (CTRL - T) allows me to expand it, but then the pixels start breaking up.

I'm at View / Fit on Screen settings. I reset the overall preferences for Photoshop back to default, and my workspace is Essentials.

Still, the images coming out rather small. I don't think this used to happen. Any suggestions?

 

[chrisix]

see if with the us paper sized page, you use 300dpi or 72dpi, if on 300, put it on 72

 

[ALB68]

In order for your pasted image to be proportional to your page (more or less) your PPI in Image/Size must be the same. They can be different of course but you see what happens. More than likely anything you grabbed offline will be 72 PPI. By the way, DPI and PPI arent't the same. DPI is relative to printing and PPI (Pixels per Inch) is relative to viewing on a screen. If you want to know what size you will end up with, say for printing at 300 dpi, look at the size of the image in pixels and divide it by the dpi. For example, if you want your printed image at 300 dpi to be 8" x 10", your pixels will have to be at least 2400 x 3000 at 72. I print a good bit and before I download an image, I look to see what it's pixel dimensions are or it's size in MB. If I know I want to arrive at a 8 x 10 print size at 300 dpi, I have to have an image online at 72 to have a pixel dimension of 2400 x 3000. Your print size at 72 will be 2400/72=33.3 x 3000/72=41.67 inches. Seventy Two ppi is perfectly fine for display on a screen, tv etc. as your device doesn't care about that, only the pixel dimensions. Here is a helpful link http://www.scantips.com/lights/pixels.html

 

[Tom Mann]

Guys, there are misleading statements in the previous posts in this thread. In fact, we just had this exact discussion a few weeks ago:

http://www.photoshopgurus.com/forum...62-few-questions-about-screen-resolution.html

To give you a flavor of it, here is the text of my 1st post in that thread:

This is a very common misconception and bad advice. If you are creating for the web, it makes absolutely no difference what ppi or dpi setting you use. The only thing that matters is the total number of pixels in each dimension of the image.

To show this, look at the two attached images (taken from a recent PSG "help me tweak this photo" thread). As you can see, there is absolutely no difference in the sizes of these two images, nor any difference in the sharpness. However, one has its ppi set to 72, whereas the other has its ppi set to 300, but the dimensions in pixels is the same for both. If you don't believe this, check it out using EXIFtool or any other program which allows you to see the metadata.

The only time the ppi setting ever makes a difference (assuming the pixel dimensions are held constant) is if you are printing to a device that honors this setting, typically, a printer attached directly to your computer. However, if you are giving your image to someone else to print, eg, Mpix, a local photo shop, a photo kiosk in a store, in almost all cases, the ppi setting will be disregarded because they ask you what size print you want (ie, in inches or cm), and then their software intelligently resamples your image to bring its ppi to the optimal value for that particular piece of hardware.

However, I urge you to also read over the other posts in that thread, and the demo that I did that shows that the dpi setting makes ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENCE when an image is destined for the web. I would also add that the dpi only makes a difference when printing if you are printing to your own printer and it recognizes that parameter. Most printer drivers, including most commercial printing services simply ignore that number.

Instead, concentrate on the pixel dimensions, particularly for web applications.

HTH,

Tom M

 

[ALB68]

Tom, how exactly is my post misleading? I stated exactly that DPI is a printing term. True, you can post online at any DPI you please, (and I don't believe the OP was asking that) my main consideration in that statement is file size and time involved for uploading etc. My comparisons were simply to demonstrate how to look at an antidipated download based on usage. Sure, download those files that have small mbs if your going to use it online, but my desktop printing experience as well as wide format and laser tells me you need 300 dots per inch or you can expect crummy quality. A laser is a glorified printer and a minimum of 300 is required there. Commercial printers (as I am sure you know in all of your infinite knowledge) work on LPI or Lines per inch. but that's another issue. It is not my intent to mislead..please just state what is misleading rather than referring back to one of your posts.

 

[Oh for Chrissake!]

Thank you, Chrisix! That works better!

Jesse

 

[ALB68]

Good, I'll shut up. Hopefully the link helped.

Thank you, Chrisix! That works better!

Jesse

 

[Tom Mann]

Hi ALB -

I had several problems with your post:

1. You say that the ppi of the file to be placed on the (receiving) 8.5 x 11 canvas, not only *matters*, but you go on to insist that the two ppi's must be matched. Perhaps there are some combination of PS / ACR preferences and image sizes for which this might be true, but I've never seen the ppi of the incoming file matter in the least. Towards this end, I put together a little demo that illustrates this. I took an image for which the ppi wasn't specified, and then made two copies of it with separate file names. Both copies had same number of pixels as the original (ie, no resampling). One was 72 ppi, and the other was 300 ppi.

I then brought all three of them directly into PS CS6, and copied and pasted all three of them onto a blank 300 ppi canvas of dimensions 1064 pixels wide by 2120 px high. There is not an iota of difference in size between the three versions. I also repeated the same exercise using the "Place" command and there was no difference. The result can be seen in the 1st attachment.

Conclusion: The ppi of the input file doesn't make any difference whatsoever when placing it on a new, larger canvas. Note that the above demo is not the same as changing the ppi of the receiving canvas, ie, Chris's suggestion.


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2. My second problem with your post is that you introduced the distinction between ppi and dpi. IMHO, this was unnecessary. It is completely unrelated to the OP's problem (which, in reality, is caused simply by him having inadequate numbers of pixels in each dimension). The dpi / ppi distinction is legend for confusing people, and I suspect that it will also confuse the OP. If anyone is interested, the best, most concise explanation of the difference between the two quantities is, IMHO, in the last section of this page:
http://www.andrewdaceyphotography.com/articles/dpi/


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3. In your post, you state, "...If I know I want to arrive at a 8 x 10 print size at 300 dpi, I have to have an image online at 72 to have a pixel dimension of 2400 x 3000....". IMHO, this is terribly confusing. Even I can't figure out what you are trying to say. As we both know, the ppi for on-line images is completely irrelevant, so why did you mention it? It would have been much clearer and less misleading to simply make the same statement but completely remove any mention of 72 ppi, e.g., "For a nice 8x10, make sure your image is at least 2400 pixels by 3000 pixels."

Regards,

Tom M

 

[Tom Mann]

@OP - Your fundamental problem is that the dimensions (in pixels) of the images that you are attempting to use are too small. Flickr and webcams often offer the same image in several pixel dimensions. If your intention is to print these images with good quality, you MUST pay attention to what you are downloading, not try to fix it after the fact.

For example, if you see an image that you eventually want to print in 10 inch by 10 inch square format, you know that you need about 10 inches times 300 pixels per inch (ie, 3000 pixels in both directions) to get a really good print. Anything below about 150 pixels per inch (ie, 1500 pixels in both directions) will start to look grubby if printed 10" square format.

That's all there is to it. End of story.

Tom M