(Posted also on Europe board...)

Hello,

I bought a digital camera, took a great trip and now have some specific questions about how to print the pictures out. (For the life of me, I can't figure out how to reduce/resize them; they all come up 8.5 x 11!)

I'm not entirely stupid, but, apparently, enough so that I'm missing something in the "resizing" option from the menu. When I resize them, they are suddenly very pixilated, which I don't think is the intent of the software or of Sony. (It's a Sony Cybershot DSC-P1, 3.3 megapixels. The accompanying software is called MGI Photosuite.)

Anyway, just wondering if someone can suggest a message board site to help me. Thanks in advance!

Linda

The pixelization is probably because you took them at a much lower resolution than 3.3 megapixel. Check the camera manual for increasing the resolution. You should see your photo capacity decrease dramatically. You can goto the usenet group at:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&group=rec.photo.digital

In most photo programs you can highlight the photo and drag a corner in a preview screen, making sure to hold the shift key when doing so to preserve the aspect ratio. I've never used MGI's but many others. If not, go to the dimensions screen (maybe ctrl-G) and reduce by a %.

Perhaps part of the problem is that "size" is not a very meaningful term when refering to a digital image. It can refer to the dimensions of the photo as viewed (or printed), or it can refer to the size of the file. In the second instance, "resizing" an image would reduce the amount of information, posibbly resulting in pixelation.

I believe that in Photosuite if you select the "Print" option while an individual photo is selected, it will be automatically "redimensioned" (without loss of resolution) to fit the current paper size. You can reduce the dimensions manually with the mouse, without reducing the resolution.

Note that you may also need to set the printer options for high resolution (I believe there is a "properties" menu on the Photosuite "Print" dialogue box.) For me, Photosuite always defaults to plain paper/medium quality, so I have to reset this each time I print.

When I want to print photos smaller than 8.5x11 using Photosuite, I usually create a "collage project". Begin with a blank canvas and then drag-and-drop the image(s) you want to print onto the canvas. You can change the dimensions with the mouse, arranging the photos as you want them on the page. This doesn't actually change the amount of information in the image, so a 3MP photo will still be 3MP.

Try Phil Askey's excellent site and forum at http://photo.askey.net

Mike, wouldn't it be MORE pixelated at the larger size (if it is a question of setting the resolution) than at a smaller size? That said, I think that is a good thing to check on. Here is a site that has so much info, maybe an answer is in it.


http://www.cliffshade.com/dpfwiw/

Thanks to all who replied at such length! I will take a look at all these suggestions...

Best,

Linda