FERNDOWN CAMERA CLUB

 

RESIZING IMAGES FOR DIGITAL PROJECTION

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS

 

First of all, some notes about the sizes required for SAPA competitions and Ferndown CC club competitions.

The standard image size agreed (by SAPA) for digital projection is 1400 pixels by 1050 pixels.  These are the maximum width (1400) and maximum height (1050).  These numbers are the correct aspect ratio for standard digital camera images (ratio 4:3).

Please note that the maximum width (1400) and maximum height (1050) cannot be exceeded, regardless of format (horizontal or vertical).  Thus a portrait style (vertical) image cannot be more than 1050 pixels high, giving a width of 788 pixels, assuming the image has not been previously cropped.
This must be remembered, particularly when resizing vertical images.

Letterboxing and squaring of images is perfectly acceptable so long as the maximum dimensions are not exceeded.  So, a letterboxed horizontal (landscape) image might have pixel sizes 1400 wide by 876 high, for example. A narrowed vertical (portrait) image might be 1050 high by 589 wide, and so on.  A perfectly squared image cannot be more than 1050 pixels high, so will be 1050 pixels wide as well.  An image that is almost square must stick to the 1050 height maximum, but can be wider than that figure (but not more than 1400).

RESIZING THE IMAGE

  • Start Photoshop Elements, and open the first image to be resized.
  • Make sure that all editing of the image that you want to do is completed before resizing, especially cropping.
  • Click on Image on the top menu bar.
  • Move your pointer down to Resize on the drop-down menu.
  • Then select Image Size on the sub-menu.
  • The top box shows the existing width and height in pixels which should be greater than the sizes we have been discussing above.  (If the pixel sizes are less, you cannot change them upwards, so abandon the resizing).
  • Make sure that all three boxes at the bottom left of the Image Size window are ticked.  If not, move your pointer down and tick any empty boxes.

HORIZONTAL (LANDSCAPE) IMAGES

  • If your image is horizontal (landscape): using the top box headed Pixel Dimensions, type in the required width which should be 1400.  Note that the height changes automatically, typically to 1050.  In any case it should read 1050 or less. 
  • If the height is shown as more than 1050, click Cancel on the resizing window, and start again for a vertical (portrait) image.
  • The job is done, so click the OK button, and you will see the image shrink.  You can bring the resized image up to fill the screen using the mouse wheel.
  • Save the resized image in the usual way. 
  • You may wish to change the file name slightly to avoid overwriting the original image.  This will allow you to print from the original size image, which might give a better print quality.

VERTICAL (PORTRAIT) IMAGES

  • If your image is vertical (portrait), or is square(ish), you will need to change the height figure instead of the width.
  • Using the top box headed Pixel Dimensions., type in the required height which should be 1050.  Note that the width changes automatically, typically to 788.  However, the width can be any figure, but not greater than 1400.
  • If the width is shown as more than 1400, click Cancel on the resizing window, and start again for a horizontal (landscape) image.
  • The job is done, so click the OK button, and you will see the image shrink.  You can bring the resized image up to fill the screen using the mouse wheel.
  • Save the resized image in the usual way. 
  • You may wish to change the file name slightly to avoid overwriting the original image.  This will allow you to print from the original size image, which might give a better print quality.

Important Note.

When resizing, especially if you have been cropping the image previously, which may have changed the aspect ratio, it is essential that you check both the height and width pixel figures on the resizing window, to make sure that neither exceed the maximum size.  If one of them does exceed, click Cancel, then start again, using the other size box.  In other words, if the width 1400 made the height too big, then type in the height as 1050 and the width will be less than 1400, which is fine.

 

 

Mike Smith
Ferndown Camera Club
14th January 2010