Pixaco cropping question

[simpo two]

I was going to get some A3 prints from PhotoBox, but Pixaco are much cheaper - however their closest size is 18"x12".

Their site makes great mention of how they save you trimming those pesky white areas by - cropping the photo I can't see any way to ask them for the other way - is there one? Joust...?

[joust]

They don't, ever, crop the photo. They always crop the paper.

What they do is the "short" size is fixed. The long side is variable depending on the image dimensions. However, they have a maximum length that an image can be and after that they scale down the whole image to fit the long side.

So, if you have an image that is, say, 1600x1200, and you printed that on 18"x12", this is what happens.

The short side is fixed at 12" for the short side of the image. This means that the short side has 1200 pixels for 12", or 100 pixels per inch.

The long side is now set at the length of the image. In this example, that would be 1600 / 100 pixels per inch, which is 16".

What you therefore would get back from them was a 12"x16" print, with every single pixel reproduced.

Now, lets say you had an image that was 1800x1260.

The short side would be 12" and 1260 pixels, and so you have 1260/12 = 105 pixels per inch.
The long side would therefore be 1800/105 = 17.14" long.

You would therefore end up with a 12"x17.14" print from them.

It is all explained here www.pixaco.co.uk/static/popup/faqs.stml

J

[simpo two]

Thanks. Yes, I read that, which is why I asked for help! I've never seen anyone make such a meal out of what is such a simple thing; it must be the German flavour coming through!

So an 18"x12" print may be nothing of the sort, depending on the aspect ratio... If I send a 16:9 image, it'll come out 20" x 12", yes?

[HankScorpio]

joust said:

However, they have a maximum length that an image can be and after that they scale down the whole image to fit the long side.

[simpo two]

OK, thanks. A simple concept that takes a long time to explain.

I think a few diagrams on their site would be easier. After all, a picture is worth 1,000 words!

Cheers folks.

[joust]

simpo two said:

So an 18"x12" print may be nothing of the sort, depending on the aspect ratio... If I send a 16:9 image, it'll come out 20" x 12", yes?

AFAIK yes, they don't have any maximum length for the large formats. I've always fancied sending them a file that is 12"x80" and seeing what they do with it

From their FAQ

For the poster formats up to 18x12” the longer side of the print is variable. The maximum length of the picture when printed landscape (maximum height when printed portrait) is equivalent to the properties of the digital file. However, the shorter side of the picture corresponds to the format ordered (i.e. 8” for the 12x8 format and 12” for the 18x12 format). Any white borders resulting from the longer side being less than the ordered format will be removed.

J

[simpo two]

But you said 'they have a maximum length that an image can be and after that they scale down the whole image to fit the long side'...

[HankScorpio]

And :

joust said:

For the poster formats up to 18x12”

So are they using that as the maximum sheet size and then trimming the white or are they printing off a roll for the 12x80 you speak of?


It's be handy to know as I do a fair bit in 16:9 and the photobox "panoramic" crops are a bit severe.

[joust]

They suggest that the 12" is fixed, so you could end up at 80x12 on that basis.

However, I find that hard to believe.

For the smaller ones they say that they have a maximum length, so a 6x4 can be a maximum of 7x4. Once they go over that they centre the image.

See www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=200715 for a view of what they do at smaller sizes, I guess you chould just try one of the large format ones and see what they send back!

J