I had a print in a magazine recently and my shot got super pixelated, and:
1) it was really cropped, 2) It was a used for a 1 page and a spread, 3) I never really noticed that the document size was being cut down in adobe lightroom 2.6...

Has anyone ever encountered this problem (The document size becomes 21x14 for my 7D's file after exporting in lightroom)? I tried checking for solutions and the only thing I could find is changing the exporting > file setting then changing the Width and Height (using inches) to the higher value... I was wondering if this is really the only way to fix this problem or rather a limiter?

Thanks

hmm.. i haven't encounted any with lightroom.. try to check the details when you export it.. it would ask you how many resolution, dpi...

It's set to 240 dpi.. I don't touch the resolution unless I really want it smaller... the pixels resolution is still it's 5184 x 3456 but the document size (checked in photoshop) is just 21x14 inches.. I feel that it's a huge waste of data.. If I do adjust the resolution/dimension of the photo in lightroom by setting the exporting setting's (setting the width and height) it won't be consistent for shots taken in portrait and shots taken in landscape.. that's one of my problems with that solution..

The size according to the net at least, the print size should be 72" x 48"... mine only reaches 21"x14" when exported in lightroom...

Will Lightroom allow the image to be exported at 17280 x 11520 pixels?

It's set to 240 dpi.. I don't touch the resolution unless I really want it smaller... the pixels resolution is still it's 5184 x 3456 but the document size (checked in photoshop) is just 21x14 inches.. I feel that it's a huge waste of data.. If I do adjust the resolution/dimension of the photo in lightroom by setting the exporting setting's (setting the width and height) it won't be consistent for shots taken in portrait and shots taken in landscape.. that's one of my problems with that solution..

The size according to the net at least, the print size should be 72" x 48"... mine only reaches 21"x14" when exported in lightroom...

Your camera takes images at 72dpi. Thus an image with dimensions of 5184x3456 will be sized at 72"x48" (that is, 5184 pixels / 72 dots per inch = 72 inches, etc.)

Since the resolution was changed to 240 dpi in LR, the new size will be 21"x14" (5184 / 240 = 21.6)

The change in image size (in terms of dimensions in inches) was due to a change in resolution. There is nothing wrong with your file.

You have more resolution than you need for a magazine print, perhaps the image got pixelated because of the way the publisher processed your image for print? Perhaps they cropped out too much of your image given the size they used it for...

HTH!

Your camera takes images at 72dpi. Thus an image with dimensions of 5184x3456 will be sized at 72"x48" (that is, 5184 pixels / 72 dots per inch = 72 inches, etc.)

Since the resolution was changed to 240 dpi in LR, the new size will be 21"x14" (5184 / 240 = 21.6)

The change in image size (in terms of dimensions in inches) was due to a change in resolution. There is nothing wrong with your file.

You have more resolution than you need for a magazine print, perhaps the image got pixelated because of the way the publisher processed your image for print? Perhaps they cropped out too much of your image given the size they used it for...

HTH!

Is that how it works? I see.. I shall try it... so let's say it's 72"x48" at 72 dpi, when I transfer it to PS and change it to 300 dpi, won't that still make a difference in terms of quality for printing compared to the 24"x14" at 240 dpi then changed to 300 dpi afterwards? Sorry, I only because conscious of this when I started to print larger prints..

as for the question about the print, yeah, too cropped for a spread and the other 1 page one...

Your camera takes images at 72dpi. Thus an image with dimensions of 5184x3456 will be sized at 72"x48" (that is, 5184 pixels / 72 dots per inch = 72 inches, etc.)

Since the resolution was changed to 240 dpi in LR, the new size will be 21"x14" (5184 / 240 = 21.6)

The change in image size (in terms of dimensions in inches) was due to a change in resolution. There is nothing wrong with your file.

You have more resolution than you need for a magazine print, perhaps the image got pixelated because of the way the publisher processed your image for print? Perhaps they cropped out too much of your image given the size they used it for...

HTH!

Hi Brian,

not trying to get off-thread:

i was under the assumption that DPI has nothing to do with the camera... it is the amount of megapixels a camera is capable of that determines the size of the image...

a dslr is primarily concerned with the horizontal and vertical pixel count and the post-processing software converts that info into DPI (whatever size you specify)...

can you explain more why you said cameras takes 72 dpi? :)

oops, hey Brian,

***ah i didn't know that you can adjust the DPI settings in-camera for Canon... that answers my question... :)

thanks!

DPI (or better said as PPI, pixels per inch) is just the assigned density of pixels on a square inch. A 4 by 6 photo at 300 DPI is equal to 16.667 by 25 inches at 72 DPI. Whether the camera takes at 72 DPI (JPEG) or 240 DPI (RAW) is irrelevant since the density can be easily changed by reassigning it in Photoshop. What is more important in printing is the actual number of pixels per side (or pixel dimensions / resolution) since this determines the largest printing size that one can do (depending on printing options available, e.g. tarpouline or ink jet or magazine) by assigning the appropriate PPI density.

If your image dimension is 5184x3456 that means using a photo lab you can go 5184/300 = length in inches and 3456/300= width in inches without interpolation (resizing). If you plan to print it as a tarpouline then the equation comes out to 5184/72 and 3456/72 which results to the biggest print you can do in inches in a tarp without resizing.

Here's what I think happened.

You gave them a file with a pixel dimension of 5184x3456 BUT with a PPI of 240. They probably placed it in their layout without thinking since they just saw a massive file and concluded it was high resolution already. (magazines should double check PPI of photos all the time since some photographers are not aware of the correct values). Indesign, or any layout software for that matter would use the 240 PPI value as the density of how the image will be printed, therefore resulting to a pixelated print. It should have been 300 PPI instead.

In this case, it's not Lightroom that is at fault, but rather you (the thread starter) and the magazine. The export conditions that the file was given, was set at a lower PPI compared to the actual requirement of the printer which was 300. The magazine has also the responsibility to check whether the file has been assigned the proper PPI even though that it was given a large file sized file.

Here's what I think happened.

You gave them a file with a pixel dimension of 5184x3456 BUT with a PPI of 240. They probably placed it in their layout without thinking since they just saw a massive file and concluded it was high resolution already. (magazines should double check PPI of photos all the time since some photographers are not aware of the correct values). Indesign, or any layout software for that matter would use the 240 PPI value as the density of how the image will be printed, therefore resulting to a pixelated print. It should have been 300 PPI instead.

In this case, it's not Lightroom that is at fault, but rather you (the thread starter) and the magazine. The export conditions that the file was given, was set at a lower PPI compared to the actual requirement of the printer which was 300. The magazine has also the responsibility to check whether the file has been assigned the proper PPI even though that it was given a large file sized file.

I actually did push it at 300 dpi after exporting it from the 21"x14" (from the 240 dpi)... Yeah, my fault on that part.. When I read sir Brian replied, I tampered around with some of my raw files, and I'm not trying to be an expert but from observation there was a difference when:
1) From the 21"x14" inches, which was the result from the 240 dpi, I pushed it up to the 300 dpi..
2) From the 72"x48" inches, which was the result from the 72 dpi, and pushed it to 300 dpi...

The second situation was less pixelated compared to the one that came from the first situation, which leads to my hypothesis that there still is in fact a difference that if I would instead export from lightroom the 72 dpi then push it up to 300 dpi after in photoshop it would make prints better.. But since it's just observation, and I don't have time or enough money to print it out now, I think it would be better to ask.. so, is there indeed a difference?

Thanks for helping me out

you dont push it to 300dpi in photoshop. you reassign it. pushing it means your resizing it to something bigger. reassigning by ticking off resample image and putting in 300.

why not just export it in lightroom as 300dpi if you plan to print it. why export it to 72 and resize or reassign it. there's no need to push it anymore if the settings are actually correct to begin with.

yes, there is a difference. pushing it to 300 makes it pixelated. like i said earlier, reassign it by unclicking resample image in the image size dialog box.

you dont push it to 300dpi in photoshop. you reassign it. pushing it means your resizing it to something bigger. reassigning by ticking off resample image and putting in 300.

why not just export it in lightroom as 300dpi if you plan to print it. why export it to 72 and resize or reassign it. there's no need to push it anymore if the settings are actually correct to begin with.

yes, there is a difference. pushing it to 300 makes it pixelated. like i said earlier, reassign it by unclicking resample image in the image size dialog box.

If I am understanding what you said right, then this means:
In actuallity DSLR's can't print large prints if you assign it's dpi to 300 in lightroom, because its inch equivalent will be dropped lower that 21" x 14" inches... This in turn wouldn't make a DSLR a really efficient device then...

From my initial understanding from the past, what I stated in the past, assuming I want to print a tarp at 72" x 48" inches, so in turn I should set it at 72 dpi so the document size will be as the assumed tarp size, then reassign it to 300 dpi afterwards to create more pixels for the larger print (cause we definitely can't keep it at 72 dpi cause of course we still should reassign it at 300 dpi or even higher since it's a larger print)... Now, my point isn't about setting it at the right dpi or what.. It's more of a question, cause if I set it in lightroom at 300 dpi already the document size would be lower than 21"x14" inches (which is the size when it's at 240 dpi).. so wouldn't that mean it would be more pixelated if I printed it at that setting cause we definitely can't print an image size as 21" x 14" inches when the print is suppose to be 72" x 48" inches?

I hope you understand me, I don't know if I'm asking it right :p I know I had my share of mistakes in that magazine print (but of course it was already exact but they still cropped it), so it would be more appropriate to ask now so I won't make that mistake again...

Thank you Sir Nino Carandang

Since this has turned into a printing thread, I'm moving this to the appropriate forum. In addition, we have several detailed thread about ppi/dpi and printing facilitated by Nino and Jo in the past, so here are the links as well.

http://www.tildefrugal.net/photo/dpi.php
http://www.digitalphotographer.com.ph/forum/showthread.php?t=18952
http://www.digitalphotographer.com.ph/forum/showthread.php?t=3858
http://www.digitalphotographer.com.ph/forum/showthread.php?t=5413

Since this has turned into a printing thread, I'm moving this to the appropriate forum. In addition, we have several detailed thread about ppi/dpi and printing facilitated by Nino and Jo in the past, so here are the links as well.

http://www.tildefrugal.net/photo/dpi.php
http://www.digitalphotographer.com.ph/forum/showthread.php?t=18952
http://www.digitalphotographer.com.ph/forum/showthread.php?t=3858
http://www.digitalphotographer.com.ph/forum/showthread.php?t=5413

ok, thanks too for the links :)

If I read it right, my guess is more or less right :D thanks again :D I don't know if you have to close this or what, but I think one of the links I got from one of the threads answered my question.. So I don't think I need to continue this thread anymore..