DxO photolab export lets you specify one maximum dimension for output size, whilst keeping aspect ratio. This is only ideal for square or rotatable monitors.
I would like to be able to specify e.g. “size the output to fit 2560 wide by 1440 high”, to suit my monitor.
A landscape photo that’s 6000x4000 pixels would come out 1440 high and 1440*6000/4000=2160 wide, filling the height and most of the width.
A landscape photo cropped to 6000x3000 (wider aspect ratio than the monitor) would come out 2560 wide and 2560*3000/6000=1280 high, filling the width and most of the height.
A portrait photo that’s 4000x6000 pixels would come out 1440 high and 1440*4000/6000=960 wide.
In all the above cases the picture output would use as many pixels as possible, without spilling off the screen or changing the aspect ratio. This is the key point: to get maximum quality on the screen that exists.
At the moment I can’t seem to do this. If I set the maximum to 2560, it will get landscape shots correct but portrait shots vanish off the top/bottom. If I set 1440, everything fits but wider shots (75% of my pictures) use only a small part of the screen. I can use resizing in the final viewer, but that reduces quality.
So, please allow me to specify maximum horizontal and vertical directions. People who prefer the current system can set both dimensions to the same value, for no change.
At the moment I output full size TIFFs, and resize them to fit 2560x1440 in Lightroom. Now that I have switched to PhotoLab2 for its excellent raw conversion, I should not need to use Lightroom anymore…
You can achieve that with the current Export dialogue …
Based on your monitor being 2560 x 1440 pixels;
for landscape, specify largest size = 2560
for portrait, specify largest size = 1440
… and PL will calculate the other side accordingly.
A better solution, tho (esp. for your portrait orientations), would be to export to some moderate image size (say, 1920) and use an image Viewer that automatically scales to your window-size … eg. Irfan (which is free for non-commercial use).
Well, I think that’s OK for a moderate number of pictures where you can multi-select the landscape/portrait separately. [So long as none are really close to square, so you can’t tell by eye.]
But I’d rather stick with the intermediate stage in Lightroom for large batches.
So, I think my feature request is still a good one. It’s years since I used photo software that can’t do this.
Asking 'cos I’m still curious as to why you’d want to reduce size of your images just to fit your screen … Doesn’t that make it a pointless exercise in capturing images at 6000x4000 / 4000x6000 in the first place?
Well, I’m not reducing the originals. The RAW file stays at original resolution. I need to export them for Prime to kick in, so I can’t view them in DXO. But I don’t want to look at one corner of the picture, so until I get a 6000x4000 monitor they need resizing somewhere along the line.
I’ve viewed full size exported pictures via IrfanView, but I think the IrfanView resizer is a little too sharp.
I also batch export anything I rated 4 stars and up to Dropbox, in two different sizes for a 2560x1600 tablet and a 1920x1080 monitor at work, on medium quality JPEGs. These are going over the internet so I don’t want them any bigger than they need to be. And I do smaller output for web pages.
If I ever get a 4k monitor, I’ll be exporting them all again.
Simplest solution is to find another viewer. On Mac, I’ve been very happy with LilyView, for quick full frame 4K views (i.e. LilyView automatically implements Retina). Apple’s Preview does not include Retina technology even in High Sierra, let alone El Capitan.
