Problem with print - what can I do next time?

[tjhawk]

Hi, Not sure if this is a good place to post or not but it does have something to do with pringint - plz redirect me if I'm off . . .I recently printed a photo for a friend through Mpix.com. The image was of a tree, pond and it was very foggy. The file size was 2.4MB, f/10, ISO200, shutter 1/320. The problem is that the fogged area in the print is blotchy. The tree looks crisp and clean though. What should I have done to prevent this blochiness?

[OsmosisStudios]

We'd really have to see the photo and the print. Its hard without physically seeing the print, but if you can maybe scan it we might be able to figure it out.

[lonni]

Hi
without seeing the print and pic and knowing the size of the print I cant be sure but sometimes people get problems with patchy parts in the print beceause of resizing, especially with bulk processing places.

Images from digital cameras are quite large not just im mb but in pixels as well, they can usually be printed at a4 to a3 paper without any trouble and soemtimes up to canvas size.

To avoid it in the future you can resize the file your self and upload it for printing. If you use photoshop there are options to help with resizing, look through help.

here is a link to better explain what i was trying to say with some tips, worth a read, they tell it better than i can.

Understand How Color Works in Photoshop > Resampling



HTH
When you resize an image down the individual pixels are merged and blended to give what the program thinks is right. What happens with things like fog, sky, water and any other blocks made up of a lot of similar shades of the same colour is the program generally figures out an average. EG if there are some light grey some dark grey and lots of white it usually gets turned to white, causing the patchy or blocking effect. It is not so noticable with details like your tree.

It is made worse by bulk processing places beceause everything is just run trhough the same resizing program. They dont keep the full size file, they keep the resized file and they just print without realy checking.