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Author Topic: adding borders  (Read 36583 times)
rayw
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« Reply #15 on: December 27, 2010, 05:40:26 PM »

The problems I have with scanning are -
1) got to plug in the power lead - which plug is it?
2) got to remember the correct twain driver.
3) got to wait while it warms up
4) got to remove about 9 inch stack of books/papers from the top of the lid.
5) got to find somewhere to dump said books/papers.
6) and so on and so forth.

Now the snow has all but gone, I can't even suggest taking a white snapshot. Grin

Best wishes,

Ray
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adwb
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« Reply #16 on: December 27, 2010, 05:43:02 PM »

Its even easier to save a blank white background page in any photo editor then import that in the first step instead of scanning, is it not?
I am still try to justify to my self why I need to buy this software when I have lightroom3.3 and CS5
The borders thing seems to be one of them as I don't think I could do this in the lightroom print module.
I could create ablank with ab order and save the images with borders and add them but its long winded.
Alistair.
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admin
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« Reply #17 on: December 27, 2010, 06:00:04 PM »

If you're looking for the easiest way to make white, just open any image in the editor, set brightness to 100, and then use "File", "Save As" and name the file "white".  Smiley

Mike
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Fred A
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« Reply #18 on: December 27, 2010, 06:13:19 PM »

Quote
Its
I am still try to justify to my self why I need to buy this software when I have lightroom3.3 and CS5

If you have to ask that question, then I know you haven't made a print on paper using Qimage.

Fred
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adwb
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« Reply #19 on: December 27, 2010, 07:21:47 PM »

thats the problem, yes I have, several  A3 size on gloss and satin/pearl finish. both from  2mb camera small low res images and size 1600w x 1200h @ 72 pixel per inch] and from Pentax 10 mb images 3008 x 2000 @  300 pixels per inch
I cannot, when viewing from 1 foot away or close up see any difference between printing the10mb images with Lr3.3 or Qimage and in fact neither can a couple of people who I asked to look at the images in a "blind test"
I accept that the old low res images were upsized to a higher standard but again from a 1 foot viewing distance ,[ not unreasonable for a A3 print], there was no discernible difference.
regards
Alistair
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rayw
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« Reply #20 on: December 27, 2010, 08:09:26 PM »

Hi Alistair,

It depends on what sort of printing you do, how much up-sizing, how often you run repeat jobs, if you want to print a number of images on one large sheet, etc. If you are familiar with cs5, you will find, most likely, that the qi interface is very 'different'. However, the qi tutorials and inbuilt help are quite good, and generally if you can't find what you want, provided you can describe the problem adequately, you will normally get a prompt reply from Fred, Terry, or Mike or others on here. Plus, if you go for ultimate, and you have a sensible request, the chances are that Mike will try and incorporate that idea in a future upgrade.

There is no other software that I know off, certainly at this sort of price, that will produce consistent high quality large format prints. Adobe products are very weak when it comes to printing, but if your printing is nothing larger than postcard size, say, and you are printing one per sheet, then I guess the Adobe products will handle that OK, anything larger, than there is a difference, even if _you_ can't see it.

However, when it comes to editing, if you want to work on the image details, layers masks, that sort of thing, then  I expect you will prefer to use the more feature rich adobe cs5, but if you have good images straight from camera, then staying in qi will produce far quicker prints.

So, if you are wanting to print images, then you need qi, to get the best possible results at an acceptable price.

Now, you referred to viewing distances, etc. with the older, lower res. cameras,  qi up-sizing was far better than the adobe offering. This still applies. You can severely crop an existing high res image, and still get an acceptable A3 print. You can get a decent print from a camera/phone, you can up-size a 10MB image to way beyond A3, and then you can save the job, the layout, whatever, and recall it when required.

It's horses for courses.... Wink


Best wishes,

Ray

ps - info more eloquently supplied here - http://ddisoftware.com/tech/articles/march-2010-smart-photo-printing/
« Last Edit: December 27, 2010, 09:13:14 PM by rayw » Logged
Terry-M
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« Reply #21 on: December 28, 2010, 09:35:26 AM »

One other way to make a plain image of any colour is to use the Print to File function in Qimage. I have a small collection of such images.
Ray
Quote
but if your printing is nothing larger than postcard size, say, and you are printing one per sheet, then I guess the Adobe products will handle that OK
The 6x4 and 5x7 images I print with Qimage are excellent; Qimage makes a better job of small prints too.  Wink
Terry
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Owen Glendower
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« Reply #22 on: December 28, 2010, 04:43:07 PM »

The 6x4 and 5x7 images I print with Qimage are excellent; Qimage makes a better job of small prints too.  Wink

This matches my experience when printing severe crops.  Even in a 4x6, you can see the effects of Qimage interpolation in the fine detail.

But I've also printed high-res images full-frame, fit-to-page on 8½x11 with & without interpolation, and I agree that it's difficult if not impossible to see the difference.  Mike notes in one of his articles that with today's high-res cameras, there's less need for interpolation.

However, interpolation is only one of many reasons to use Qimage.  Another recent thread has reminded me that cropping and/or re-sizing can be quite complicated and error-prone in other programs.  In Qimage, it's something I don't even think about.  I just do it, and print.
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Terry-M
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« Reply #23 on: December 28, 2010, 05:12:24 PM »

Owen,
Quote
Mike notes in one of his articles that with today's high-res cameras, there's less need for interpolation.
There are some test images somewhere, in addition to those on the  Qimage web site, that clearly demonstrate the loss of definition when the native resolution of the printer is not used.
I did these tests at someones request on this forum but I've lost the details now.
My point is, if you do not interpolate to the native resolution of the printer 720ppi or 600ppi depending on the printer, you will loose quality. You may not see it on every image but why risk it when Qimage does it so easily. Us "old" users take it for granted now.  Roll Eyes
Terry
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Owen Glendower
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« Reply #24 on: December 28, 2010, 06:12:28 PM »

Owen,
Quote
Mike notes in one of his articles that with today's high-res cameras, there's less need for interpolation.
There are some test images somewhere, in addition to those on the  Qimage web site, that clearly demonstrate the loss of definition when the native resolution of the printer is not used.
I did these tests at someones request on this forum but I've lost the details now.
My point is, if you do not interpolate to the native resolution of the printer 720ppi or 600ppi depending on the printer, you will loose quality. You may not see it on every image but why risk it when Qimage does it so easily. Us "old" users take it for granted now.  Roll Eyes
Terry

Good point.  Another "set it & forget it" advantage of Qimage.

Some of those test images are here, I think: http://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage/quality/

I can remember running onto this page very early on (fortunately) in my adventures with Qimage.  I didn't have a high-end camera or printer, but the downloadable test images at the above link made it crystal-clear that you can indeed see the difference between 300 ppi and 600 ppi in the final print...and if memory serves, my printer at the time was a Deskjet 9650.

Back then, I had no idea what I was doing, but I shot photos with my Canon G2, printed from Qimage, and got great results.  What a bargain.
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Owen Glendower
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« Reply #25 on: December 28, 2010, 08:16:29 PM »

1) Scan a blank sheet of white paper, 8.5 x 11. Save as a JPG
2) Open that in Qimage using a black border (or any color) and set it for FIT TO PAGE.
3) Now you have a white print with your border as the background.  Right click on the preview panel with the white page, and click DESELECT
We do that so our next size selection will not change the FIT TO PAGE size of the background.
4) Click the little red "F" and say OK to tun on Freehand mode.
5) Select your new size and border color for the top prints and *DRAG* your smaller images on  to the white image.

Great tip, Fred.  It occurs to me that this method would allow the printing of images with more than the two borders allowed in Qimage.  Specify two borders as desired on your image and two more on a slightly-larger white image.  Repeat ad infinitum.  I'd swear I remember someone in an earlier thread complaining about the two-border limitation.
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Terry-M
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« Reply #26 on: December 28, 2010, 08:46:57 PM »

Quote
Great tip, Fred.  It occurs to me that this method would allow the printing of images with more than the two borders allowed in Qimage.
You can use the same trick of using  a plain image for making uneven borders too.
Terry
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Oldfox
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« Reply #27 on: December 29, 2010, 09:50:26 AM »

1) Scan a blank sheet of white paper, 8.5 x 11. Save as a JPG
2) Open that in Qimage using a black border (or any color) and set it for FIT TO PAGE.
3) Now you have a white print with your border as the background.  Right click on the preview panel with the white page, and click DESELECT
We do that so our next size selection will not change the FIT TO PAGE size of the background.
4) Click the little red "F" and say OK to tun on Freehand mode.
5) Select your new size and border color for the top prints and *DRAG* your smaller images on  to the white image.

Thanks for the tip, I tried that.

1) 2) 3) 4) ok
5) whatever I do, the images go to page 2 and 3 and ...

How do you exactly do 5) ?, select your new size...?

/fox

ps. it seems that it is easier for me to add the necessary borders and exact size in Photoshop, that's a pity because otherwise Qimage wins PS 6-0, in this case only 7-6 (after tiebreak)
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Fred A
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« Reply #28 on: December 29, 2010, 10:22:45 AM »

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1) 2) 3) 4) ok
5) whatever I do, the images go to page 2 and 3 and ...

How do you exactly do 5) ?, select your new size...?

You forgot to go to FREEHAND MODE, or, you are not dragging the image on to the same page.
When using freehand mode, double clicking to get them into the queue doesn't work. They must be dragged.

I know, I do that double click all the time...

I don't know which Qimage you are using, but you need the print properties box to change sizes.
You must deselect the previous prints so they do not change sizes when you change sizes for the subsequent prints.

Tell me exactly what is happening when you try to follow the steps 1-5.
It even says to DRAG the images in the steps.
Should be easy to track your moves.

Fred
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Oldfox
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« Reply #29 on: December 29, 2010, 11:35:32 AM »

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You forgot to go to FREEHAND MODE, or, you are not dragging the image on to the same page.

No I did not. And I am dragging them.

I am using Qimage Pro, v2010-209

Steps 1 to 4 are ok and I do exactly as you suggested (well, for step 1 I created a A4 page in Photoshop, but it comes fine in Qimages view pane).

For step 5 I tried several combinations. Here are two versions:

5.a.1 - I changed print size to 102 x 127
5.a.2 - I dragged the images one by one

5.b.1. - I clicked the image thumb
5.b.2. - I changed print size to 102 x 127
5.b.3 - I dragged the images one by one

It seems that this time they are all in one page, but they are behind each other. If I change the size of background image in full screen mode, you can see this. For some reason the background image is number four in the queue of five. I would expect it to be first.
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