Where do I start with printing my images..?

If you are new (ish) to photography and printing then ideally experiment initially with a home printer. It may take many attempts to create the correct sizes for your desired frames so practise first with normal paper (practising at this stage on photo paper will cost a fortune..) Before you get into choosing a preferred paper and other more in depth issues like colour profiles, which I’ll cover later, just get used to ensuring you understand you file size. Ideally you will already be working with Photoshop or a similar program. You can find this in PS under >Image>Image Size. This will give you the actual size details in cm and pixels of how big the image is without amendments. There have been many times I have an image I’d love to print A3 but the file size of that image would not make it possible. There are a couple of tips here - firstly if you have a DSLR - always shoot in RAW. A lot of cameras now will allow you to choose which format you want to capture your images in - so if if you want to print big, ALWAYS shoot in RAW. This will take up more space on your memory card so bare that in mind when choosing GB size on SD cards. The decider in how big your image file size is depends on the image sensor. Most modern cameras are over 20mp and the higher the number the higher the quality images and print size you can achieve. Bare this in mind when choosing new camera equipment. Even smart phones now have around 20mp so you should be able to print at least up to A4 from one of these. Another option if your file size isn’t as large as you would like your print to be you can increase the file size in both Photoshop and Lightroom. There are various tutorials on You Tube and online https://www.photography-raw.com/resize-in-photoshop/ on how to do this without losing too much quality but remember every time you make an image bigger than the original the quality is going to drop and create more ‘noise” and ‘grain’ in your image. This may work to your advantage if this is your style, but consider this before making enlargements - and always save a version of the original file, named accordingly. If you start playing around with re sizing and reduce then save you will lose the original larger image. Here’s an example - my image size is 80.8 x 60.1 cm but I want an A4 print. In the image size window I change the dimensions to 29.7 x 21 cm (There will be a link icon that you will need to click so that Photoshop automatically constraints the aspect ratio which will keep the reduction to scale and doesn’t distort the image). Hit ‘ok’ and then save the image as /name/a4 so this is a separate version not effecting the original. You can now print in your desired size. This will work in any size you may wish to print as long as it is the same or smaller than the original size. See link above for enlargement tutorials.. If you aren't able to achieve your desired print size with a fixed aspect ratio - you may need to crop your image so that it fits within a scalable ratio.

When you have grasped sizing then its time to decide on which paper type. You can purchase several affordable options on Amazon in gloss, matt and semi gloss, depending on your desired look. If this intended as a print for framing you will need a photo quality printer.