Preparing for online printing

[Soulboy]

Okay, this might seem a bit vague and I appologise if it is, I want to try out a couple of online printing labs (I don't have a good enough printer here at home).

What's the best way of preparing my image to send to a lab, size wise?
I tend to load my RAW files into Photoshop from ACR at the default size of 3008 x 2000px but with 300px dpi instead of 240px dpi.

If I want to obtain a 10 x 8 print, it's suggested that I have an image size of 3000 x 2400px at 300dpi which doesn't lend itself well to the dimensions of my original file. So what do I do? I'm a bit confused about this printing lark.

[Hlop]

I tend to load my RAW files into Photoshop from ACR at the default size of 3008 x 2000px but with 300px dpi instead of 240px dpi.

I'd do this with 240 dpi - pretty much enough for printing

[Nnnnsic]

Odd, because a lot of shops here suggest 200dpi to print from.

Regardless, if you use a plugin like Genuine Fractals PrintPro or Extensis Pxl Smartscale you can make the images bigger than what they are...

[Soulboy]

It wasn't so much the resolution I had the problem with, it was the actual size of the image's dimensions.

If the standard size of a NEF file is 3008 x 2000px and a 10 x 8 print translates to 3000 x 2400, how do I make my NEF fit those dimensions with distorting the image?
If I submitted my image as it it, I'd have a 100px gap both top and bottom of the print, is that normal?

[kipper]

6x4 and 12x8 have a 3:2 (or 3/2 = 1.5) ratio, which is what the Nikon D70 produces. They're saying that for a 10x8 you should produce a 3000x2400 which is a ratio of 3:2.4 (or 3/2.4 = 1.25). To get the correct ratio you can either crop down the image and give them a 2500x2000 which still provides a 3:2.4 ratio. Or you can use Fractals PrintPro or Extensis Pxl Smartscale and scale the image to 3600x2400 and then crop off 300 pixels top and bottom (600 total) to provide them with a 3600x2400.

So the simple answer is you can't print a photo directly out of a D70 at 10x8 without cropping. You can however print a 12x8 because that maintains a 3:2 ratio. Hope that makes some sense.

[Soulboy]

It does sir! I thank you very much.