Re: Windows XP Filmstrip View Cropping Pictures

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Yves,

This is very informative, thank you for writing such a thorough response.

Funny you should mention aspect ratio. I took a look at my old Nikon
Coolpix 990 and it's aspect ratio is 2:3 so it fits a 4x6 picture. I also
have a new Canon Digital Rebel and it's aspect ratio is 3:2. I'm only having
the problem with my Nikon Coolpix 5200 and that's because of it's aspect
ratio.

I did look on the Photo Center of Walmart.com and you can adjust the crop of
the picture before printing, so that solves my problem with all the pics I
took with the 5200.

Thanks again for the detailed response...

"Yves Alarie" wrote:

> Welcome to the world of digital cameras and the non-compatible world of
> digital printers. Although they are supposed to work well together, they
> don't and your results are typical and expected. Your pictures a cropped
> when you print.
>
>
> The reason is that most consumer digital cameras produce an image with an
> aspect ratio of 4 (length) x 3 (width). Divide 4 by 3 and you get 1.33. This
> is the aspect
> ratio. Look at the dimensions of your image in pixels and divide the larger
> number by the smaller number and you will get 1.33. Unless you have a Sony
> and you shoot with the option 3:2 or you have a Canon Digital Rebel, it
> shoots at 3:2. The 3:2 aspect ratio is 1.5
>
>
> You want your image printed 6 (length) x 4 (width). Divide 6 by 4 and you
> get 1.5. Or select any other paper size, 7 x 5, 7/5 = 1.4, or 10 x 8, 10/8
> = 1.25
> You can't fit 1.33 (you camera file aspect ratio) into 1.5, the 6 x 4 aspect
> ratio or any other common printer paper size. Impossible.
> So what are the options.
> You stretch 1.33 to 1.5. The proportions of the items in the photo are now
> out of lines
> and you get an ugly picture.
> The next option is you let the software print the entire image with no
> stretching, but now it will print a smaller and correct image within the
> paper size you selected, but to fit it in correctly you will have to accept
> white edges around the image. Or, if you print borderless, it prints the
> image from borders to borders, but it crops the top and bottom edges in
> order to fit the image on the paper size you selected.
>
>
>
> There is another option, permitting you to "float the crop". You will still
> have to crop but then you can select how much of the bottom or top of the
> image you will remove to make it fit your selected size. You need some photo
> editing software to do this.
>
>
>
> A. Some options if you print at home
> A very good one if you are into printing at home is Qimage, you can download
> the
> demo here and try it:
> http://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage/
> and you can also download the manual and learn how to use it. It is probably
> the best software for printing but a little "quirky" to use at first and I
> don't recommend it for the casual user.
>
>
> The other would be Microsoft Digital Image 10. Lots of fancy printing
> options much easier to use than Qimage. You probably can get it for around
> $60.00 after the usual rebates. You can try a demo:
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/products/imaging/default.mspx
>
>
> These software applications will provide the option to crop your image to a
> specific size,
> your specific size being 6 x 4, or anything else. So you will have to
> remove a little bit from the top and a little bit from the bottom of your
> image and then it will fit
> 6 x 4 perfectly. Both softwares will do this automatically and will also
> give you the option of placing the crop (floating the crop) where you want
> it, all at the top, all at the bottom or a little bit of both. Then, the
> image will fit exactly on the paper size you selected, provided that you
> have a printer capable of printing borderless and not all printers can do
> this. You print your images directly from these software applications.
>
> There is also free software that you can use if the only thing you want is
> to crop, see below.
>
>
>
> B. An option if you just want to crop and send the picture for printing
>
> This free software will also allow you to "float" the crop after
> automatically cropping the top and bottom to fit 6 x 4 or any other size. If
> you don't like the automatic crop, move the crop up or down to suit your
> needs. Very fast and it is free and probably what a beginner should use
> instead of the fancier photo editor softwares.
> http://ekot.dk/programmer/JPEGCrops/
>
> The way to do it is to make a copy of your original files first. NEVER edit
> an original file.
>
> Open the folder containing your original files. Hold the Ctrl key down and
> press the letter A. This selects (highlight in blue) all the files (or just
> select the files you want). Then, hold the Ctrl key down and press the
> letter C. This makes a copy (pastes) of the selected files to your
> clipboard. Then hold the Ctrl key down and press the letter V. This makes a
> new copy of the selected files in your folder. Same file names but with the
> words "Copy of" in front of the file name.
>
> Now you start JPEGCrops and you select the folder you want and all the files
> "Copy of".
>
> JPEGCrops will import them and will show them to you with the "automatic
> crop" for all your pictures. The automatic crop is the gray area at the
> bottom and top of each picture (if you selected 4 x 6). If you like it just
> hit the crop button. If you don't like it, hit the center of the picture
> with your mouse pointer and move the crop up or down as you wish. If you
> want to crop more and still keep the 4 x 6 aspect ratio, click on a little
> square at the edges of the picture and move the crop to what you like. Then
> hit the crop button.
>
> When you are looking at the 4 x 6 crop, hit your Up or Down arrows on your
> keyboard to change the paper size. This will give you a very good idea of
> what you can get out of a 4:3 image on all the different paper sizes
> available and how the automatic crops are made. Also, change the aspect from
> 4 x 6 to 6 x 4 and see what you get. Best way to learn how pixels are
> removed to fit a particular paper size and printing landscape (horizontal)
> or portrait (vertical).
>
> This software is absolutely the fastest way to crop photos for printing to
> any size paper you want and is free! Once the crop is done, import the file
> in a photo editing software and you can now work on modifying the picture
> for color, contrast, etc.
>
>
>
> Since you need to crop a little from the top and bottom of the photo in
> order to fit a 4 x 6 print, don't frame your subject too close when you take
> the picture with your digital camera and then, probably, the automatic crop
> of the XP wizard (or the Wal-Mart etc. printer) will be acceptable. It is
> not an XP problem, simply is due to the different aspect ratio of digital
> cameras to common photo paper sizes aspect ratios. With a digital camera
> shooting at an aspect ratio of 4:3, the best printing size is 5 x 7 paper
> (divide 7 by 5 and you get 1.4 which is quite close to 1.33) . In this case,
> the automatic crop will be quite narrow at the top and bottom. This is
> another reason to NEVER edit an original picture file. You may want to print
> again using a different paper size. So make your crop accordingly on a copy
> of the original file.
>
>
>
> Another option.
>
> You can upload your pictures to this site and have them printed. They use
> the same printer as Wal-Mart, but lower prices
>
> www.winkflash.com
>
> After you upload, you select the print size you want.
>
> You will get a preview of the print image with three options:
>
> Crop all at the top
>
> Crop all at the bottom
>
> Crop a little from the top and a little from the bottom.
>
> Select the one you want and you will know exactly how the picture will be
> printed on the size paper you select.
>
>
>
> "Cropped off" <Cropped off@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:DBC4FAF6-9EE3-482C-8012-781E8D5661BD@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > I take pictures off my digital cameras via the Windows XP scanner and
> camera
> > wizard. I've noticed that in filmstrip view the small thumbnails on the
> > bottom of the screen tend to crop off the top of the picture. When you
> look
> > at the picture in full frame, or open the picture with editing software,
> the
> > cropping is not present. When I send these to print at Walmart the
> thumbnail
> > view (with the crop) is what gets printed vs. the full frame.
> >
> > Anyone else seeing this as well? Any suggestions to prevent this
> behavior?
>
>
>
.

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