The Best Ways to Edit Your Photos for Outstanding Prints
Updated: Feb 16, 2022
We're all guilty of this - having hundreds upon hundreds of wonderful, special photographs of loved ones, events, and generally unforgettable memories...trapped on our phones, where we rarely go back to look at them.
Our favourite solution to this conundrum?
Prints, of course!
Our go-to way of immortalising our best photographs is (and will always be) a beautiful, glossy, coffee-table-worth photo book. But what's the best way of prepping your photographs to make sure they're perfect and print-worthy?
Here are a few tips!
Convert busy photographs to black and white
Popping a very busy or overly colourful photograph in black and white can help with a lot of things - it places more focus on the subject of the image, and emphasises the emotion of the scene.
In the words of Canadian photographer Ted Grant : “When you photograph people in colour, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in black and white, you photograph their souls!”
A black and white edit also has the added benefit of getting rid of distracting elements in the background or foreground of the image - like bright colours, unintentional photo bombers, and overlooked household items.
Straighten your horizons
Unless for a specific effect, slanted images can detract from the main action of the photograph. Straight horizons are stable and calm, whereas tilted horizons come across as chaotic and unsettling.
Tilted horizons are also (visually) quite dated - keep your images looking timeless by correcting wonky horizon lines!
The crop and rotate tool in Lightroom is particularly good for this, since it gives you grid lines to make sure your verticals and horizontals are on point!
Crop in to the main focal point of the image
Just like converting an image to black and white to get rid of distracting background elements, cropping an image in to focus on the main subject is the perfect way to make a great photo even better!
It makes your favourite people front and centre, and focuses on the emotion between your and your loved ones.
This editing tip is also great for creating a strong focal point for detail shots.
Make sure your images are a good resolution for printing
The larger the resolution, the bigger you can print your images - a great starting size is 1MB or upwards. Make sure, no matter what editing software you use, that your export settings are always on the highest quality. The last thing any of us wants is a grainy, pixellated photograph in an otherwise wonderful photo book!
Most un-cropped and uncompressed cellphone images are around 1MB, so they’ll print just fine - as long as you keep them relatively small to medium size on a page. Selfies typically don't work well as full page spreads!
And if you want to print large, high-res professional images are the way to go!
Ready to get started? Click here to start your order.
If you have any questions about our gorgeous photo book offerings, or even need some more editing tips on how to make your photos the best they can possibly be for print, visit this blog post, or get in touch via our contact page!
#familyphotosjohannesburg #photobookdesign #photobookprinting #familyphotographs #familyshoot #photobooks #quickandeasyphotobooks #fynnphotobooks #photobookssouthafrica #easywaystoprintaphotobooksouthafrica #quickestphotobookdesignjohannesburg #photobookprinting #fynnstudio #photobookprinting #fineartphotobookscapetown