Thread: Take better prints of photographs yourself

Take better prints of photographs yourself. Photographic paper is expensive, especially the popular ready-cut 10 x 15 cm sheets. And unfortunately, photos printed directly from a digital camera look worse than they do on the camera's screen.

A4 photographic paper sheets are distinctly more affordable than pre-cut small-format papers. You can save money if you print more photographs on one sheet and then cut the pictures yourself.

For printing, there are several options. The first place to go is the support program that comes with most printers. Many can pack a number of photographs together in various layouts on one sheet of paper. The other is to make contact prints, i.e miniature images which are printed next to or below each other on a sheet of paper. The common image editing program Photoshop has this function in the 'File' menu under 'Automate'. Here you will also find 'Picture Package', which can fit photos of varying sizes on one sheet. An old but still helpful function is 'Page Layout' in Paint Shop Pro. With this, you can comfortably use the mouse on a (virtual) sheet to slide, scale and place pictures in any way you want (the program can also automatically align the pictures for you).

The scissors from your drawer are the best left there when it comes to cutting the pictures. Getting straight edges will require a sharp cutter, a stable metal ruler and a surface that doesn't scratch easily. All these are easily available at office stationery shops for just a little money. Rulers with guided cutters are another good alternative, and can even give your photos special edges like waves, etc. Cutting tables which automatically wedge in the photograph sheets according to the layout so that they become slide-resistam are much more professional but also expensive. In any case, it is essential that the prints are absolutely dry before you cut them so that the colors do not smear.

NOTE

Actually, the PC has become quite superfluous when it comes to printing. Avoiding the detour to the computer and simply plugging the memory card or USB stick into a printer directly seems much easier. But this has a disadvantage. Printers that are not the very latest are not quite so good at scaling pictures, which then appear grainy. In such a case, image editing and printing programs do a considerably better job. not quite so good at scaling pictures, which then appear grainy. In such a case, image editing and printing programs do a considerably better job.