Preparing Files for Printing at a Photo Lab Using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom’s Export Module
There are two ways to turn your digital image into a printed masterpiece. Option 1: Deliver the file to a professional photo lab and have them print it out for you. Option 2: Do all the hard work yourself and put the image down on paper using your own inkjet photo printer. Both options have advantages and disadvantages. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom’s Print Module makes the second option–inkjet printing on your own equipment easy–for those with the right training but it is not always my preferred method. Having images printed for me at a professional photo lab is often the easiest and most cost-effective way to get my photographs out on paper.
Lightroom’s Print Module is great for those who want to feed their own paper into their own printer but often I prefer to hand the hard work off to a professional lab. For folks like me, preparing “print-ready” files using Lightroom’s powerful Export Dialog and then delivering these files to a lab is the easiest way to go. If you understand how Adobe Photoshop Lightroom’s Export Dialog works then you can build Presets (aka. Templates) to automate your photo lab preparation process. With the right Export presets in place preparing files for delivery to a professional lab is incredibly fast and easy.
It is worth reviewing the whole lab print preparation process before we talk about the specific buttons involved in the Export Dialog.
Preparing Files For Photo Lab Printing Using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
- 1. Completely enhance your image using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom’s Develop Module and any other image editing software. Fix everything that needs improvement until your image looks perfect.
- 2. Decide on the size of print that you would like to order from your lab. Reduce this paper size to a ratio. A 4″x6″ print, for example, is the product of a 2:3 ratio. An 8″x10″ print is the product of a 4×5 ratio. We need know the ratio of paper width to height to see if it matches up with the ratio of your original capture.
- 3. If the ratio of the paper and the ratio of original digital capture match then we can skip cropping to fit the intended output paper size. If the ratios do not match then we will need to use Lightroom’s Crop Tool to fit part of your image within the boundaries of your target paper size. Cropping with the appropriate fixed aspect ratio helps to ensure that you get the right shaped image back from your photo lab.
- 4. We need to to create a copy of your image that is ready for your photo lab using Lightroom’s Export Dialog. This print-ready file should be sized appropriately to fit your paper choice and it may also need a new filename, a new color profile, and the appropriate type of output sharpening.
- 5. Deliver the print-ready file to your photo lab along and wait for them to do all the hard work.
- 6. Hang the finished product on the wall and enjoy!
I am going to cover the steps involved in preparing a 4″x6″ print in my first video tutorial. I will cover preparing files for this size paper first because this paper size is a perfect match for my camera’s 2:3 aspect ratio. I do not need to crop any part of my original capture away to fit the target paper size since the ratios match. Now I could crop in tighter on my subject if I wanted but I don’t need to crop anything away because the capture ratio matches up with the ratio of my output paper size. This makes life easier but it is not going to succeed with some of the other common reproduction sizes.
I would like to make one more point before you watch this video tutorial. The true beauty of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is in the power of templates and presets. Lightroom’s Export Dialog is just a fancy “Save As” button. Plugging in the necessary settings for your print-ready file–this size, this file format, this color space, this resolution, etc.–each and every time you want to order a print is inefficient. Lightroom is an incredible tool for the busy digital photographer because it can be trained. Teaching the software to automate a repetitive process, meaning building an Export Preset for 4″x6″ lab printing, is the best way to improve your efficiency.
Building an Export Preset for 4×6 Photo Lab Printing in Lightroom from David Marx on Vimeo.
If you just watched the video tutorial on 4″x6″ print file preparation then you might have noticed that I built and saved two different types of templates. I built a Filename Template first so that my print-ready files are automatically renamed. In this video I built a new Filename Template so that Lightroom will automatically append the words “4×6 Print” onto the end of my existing filename.
Adding a clear description into the new file’s name prevents confusion. Appending the purpose, and the size, onto the filename is particularly helpful when I need to order copies of the same image in multiple print sizes: ie. when a client requests a 4″x6″ print, a 5″x7″ print, and an 11″x14″ copy of the same original capture. It is easy to confuse myself, and my photo lab, if I neglect to give each file a clear descriptive name.
Appending more information onto the file’s name is just one of the steps involved in the Export Dialog. It is an important step, but I also need to instruct Lightroom to create the right type of file. For most photo labs, we need to deliver images saved in the Jpeg file format. This is especially true for photographer’s working with digital camera Raw files. Raw file formats are a great way to store your original capture information but you need to remember that Raw file formats are not printable.
Camera Raw is a starting point. Raw is a wonderful initial capture format but it is not an acceptable choice for your print-ready output file. Check out our article on the differences between the Raw and Jpeg file formats for more details. Thus, my print-ready files are often a Jpeg copy derived from my original Raw capture. Thanks to the power of the Export Dialog producing this copy is easy.
Here is a screenshot of my entire Export Dialog window configured for 4″x6″ print-ready file creation. I closed a couple of the panels–watermarking, metadata, etc.–to make the Dialog fit on my screen. You can leave these features turned off since they will not do anything to improve the quality of your printed image. The critical questions are where should the new file be saved, what should it be called, what file format should it use, and what physical size should it be.
Again, the goal here is to set everything up and then to save your work by building a new Export Preset. Filling in these blanks once is not terribly hard, but doing this again and again is inefficient. Building a template for 4″x6″ printing makes the whole process super fast and easy!
Now 4″x6″ prints are easy for me since my 35mm digital camera creates images using a 2:3 aspect ratio. 2:3 scales up to 4×6 perfectly. I need to add an additional step into my routine though when I want to order a 5″x7″ print. For 5″x7″ printing, I must crop off a piece of my original image because this paper size does not scale down to a 2:3 aspect ratio. This video tutorial explains how to crop using a fixed aspect ratio with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom’s Crop Tool. Gene McCullagh has a great in-depth article on all of the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom’s Crop Tool features over at lightroomsecrets.com.
Cropping to a Fixed Ratio with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom from David Marx on Vimeo.
I need to point out here that I can crop my original image in Lightroom without any fear of doing permanent harm because Lightroom’s image enhancement system is always non-destructive. Nothing that Lightroom does to an image is “ever set in stone” and the parts of the image that I am cropping away are not being permanently removed from my original file. Setting a 5:7 crop in Lightroom, or making any other change in the Develop Module, can be undone at anytime!
Our final video tutorial covers the steps involved in the Export Dialog once your file has been cropped to the appropriate ratio. Again, the goal is to set everything up once and then to save all of the settings as a new Export Preset. Automating repetitive tasks makes your workflow more efficient and preparing files for photo lab printing is the perfect place to harness this power!
Building an Export Preset for 5×7 Photo Lab Printing with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom from David Marx on Vimeo.
Here is a screenshot for my complete 5″x7″ Export Dialog settings in case you need it.
Repeat the Export Preset creation process for all the paper sizes that you frequently order. Building Presets for all of the paper sizes that you frequently order is one of the best ways to speed up your Lightroom workflow!
Related Tutorials:
- Using the Crop and Straighten Tool in Lightroom
- Understanding Adobe Photoshop Lightroom’s Nondestructive Image Enhancement System
- Printing with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom’s Print Module and Virtual Copies
- Creating Email Ready Images Using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom’s Export Dialog
Filed Under: (07) Exporting • (09) Printing with Lightroom • Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Tutorials
About the Author: David Marx is a digital photography instructor whose engaging teaching style inspires photographers of all skill levels. David is an Adobe Certified Photoshop and Photoshop Lightroom Expert. David has led Adobe Photoshop / Photoshop Lightroom seminars and digital photography field workshops for The Rocky Mountain School of Photography, FirstLight Workshops, The American Society of Media Photographers, and the world-renowned Blackberry Farm Resort. To learn more about David's software seminars and field photography workshops, please visit 
Great tutorial, nice easy to understand explanations.
Just a question on the file format setting at jpg. As jpg is lossy compression and tiff/psd are non lossy compression just wondered why you selected jpg and not tiff or psd for print production?
Dear Martin,
It is a trade-off. It is true that the Jpeg format is compressed and that the compression does remove some amount of color variation. The question is can the eye see the loss if the compression is used carefully?
Uncompressed file formats like Tif or Psd are arguably better but the files that they produce are much larger. Larger files are harder to upload to a lab via the Internet. Larger files take up more storage space, etc. So the question is are the larger files really going to produce a better print?
My feeling is that unless you have access to the very best printers run by the very best printmakers then the larger file does not produce a noticeably better print when compared to the lightly compressed jpeg. It doesn’t produce a print that justifies the slower delivery and the wasted storage space.
My advice though is to try it for yourself. Try sending both files to your lab– if they will accept tif–and carefully label the results. Hang the results on the wall or compare them under a good light and see if you can tell any difference.
–
David Marx
Thanks David for the reply and I understand your point. As I deliver my files to our printer by dvd I will stick to the larger tiff files but I will do a comparison just to satisfy my curiosity.
You at least opened my mind to another possibility that I had dismissed up until now.
Thanks again.
addendum: typo in my name on previous submission…
Hi David,
Enjoying reading your tutorials and advice within, thank you. The big question that has been haunting me for a long time is how LR manages image data as you increase/decrease the size of a print. In PS it’s pretty clear – a smaller frame requires a change in resolution to maintain image integrity – smaller images, higher resolution; larger images – lower resolution, or, for the uninitiated , resample image size! Clear as it is, the process is slow and irritating.
However, in LR there is no clarity as to what is actually going on. What decisions is LR making? What happens if we take an image that would print comfortably at A4, 240 dpi, and instead create an A2 print? Is LR managing the file resizing with care and attention, in a way that dedicated re-sizing software would? Or is butchering the image data and “making do”?
I use LR a lot, but this aspect of the software is a big mystery, and not much covered in tutorials, blogs and so on, at least not in any depth. So, if you can shed any light, forgive the pun, on the matter, I would be most grateful
All the best,
Aaron
Dear Aaron Davies,
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom interpolates each print size out from the original using Lanczos kernal interpolation. For more details read this excerpt from Martin Evening’s definitive The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book: The Complete Guide for Photographers.
–
David Marx
You have no idea how long I have been looking for answers. The folks at labs often don’t know Lightroom or are full of attitude. The library books are either too detailed, not specific to my questions, or are unavailable. Web sites don’t get to what I need. BUT YOU HAVE! Your site and tutorials are amazing! Thank you!! I may make my deadline after all.
Cheers,
Paulette
Dear Paulette,
Thanks for the kind words about our tutorials. I really appreciate it. If you like what you see here please join us for one of our Photoshop Lightroom seminars or a digital photography field workshop. I hope you made your deadline!
Best regards,
David Marx
There is a bug in Lightroom v3.5′s print module. I have been advised by Adobe today to demote my version of Lr to v3.4.1. I have this version on my laptop and it outputs the correct size at the correct PPI and displays it correctly in Br.
I have carried out the demotion and confirm that I am back in business.
Dear Barry,
Thanks for the bug update. The videos in this tutorial use Lightroom’s Export dialog rather than the Print Module. The technique illustrated here is not affected by the bug!
–
David Marx
Well this might be a *life saver* for me right now because suddenly, the Lr print module will only output jpgs at 72ppi despite having my pro lab’s required 402ppi set up. This is happening since updating to 3.5 and highly inconvenient. I use the print module to output jpgs for clients’ prints to upload to a lab, the run up to Christmas is my busiest time, and suddenly it only outputs 72ppi!!?? Can’t find anything out by a google search, a colleague got precisely nowhere with Adobe support who did not seem to actually grasp the problem. HELP! It must be a bug – his machine and mine are both doing this now! :0(((
Dear Nikcy,
There is indeed a bug here but I think that the bug is not in Lightroom. The bug is in the Adobe Bridge. Try this simple test. Take a file into Lightroom’s print module. Set the size and resolution and print to file. (Be sure that draft mode printing is turned off.) Now open the file into Photoshop and go Image > Image Size. Your file should indeed have the 420ppi resolution.
Looking at the same file though in the Adobe Bridge will show it’s resolution as 72ppi. Believe Photoshop and don’t panic! Also please file a bug report on this Bridge issue here.
–
David Marx
Hi David!
So If I don’t do the cropping thing for 5×7 or 8×10 prints, the photo lab will crop on its own? Yikes…
So, if I am printing 4x6s, I don’t have to do any cropping? Only the 5×7 and 8×10 sizes correct?
Cheers,
Rob
Dear Robert,
The answer to your question depends on the aspect ratio of your original capture. If you are shooting with a 35mm equivalent digital camera then you are creating images that have a 2:3 ratio. 2:3 scales up to 4″x6″ perfectly but not to 5″x7″ or 8″x10″. This is why something must be cropped away. You can make that choice or the lab will arbitrarily choose for you!
If you are shooting with a micro 4:3 camera, or medium format, or large format equipment then your capture ratio is not 2:3. Large format 4×5 cameras, for example, use a 4:5 ratio. A 4″x6″ print is not going to match this ratio without a crop but 4:5 scales up to 8″x10″ perfectly…
–
David Marx
That’s “border,” obviously.
I don’t have any wide boarders.
I enjoyed your tutorial on preparing images for photofinishing. However, it’s not always necessary to crop an image to that it will fill the entire sheet of paper. I sometimes have a lab print the entire image on a standard sheet, even if it leaves a wider boarder. I guess it’s a matter of taste.
Cheers,
Will