How to Maximize Image/Printing Quality?

[KmH]

I can't write you a book here.
Real World Image Sharpening with Adobe Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Lightroom (2nd Edition)
Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS4

Digital photos don't have 'grain'. They have image noise, and you use the Noise Reduction feature in the Camera Raw Sharpening panel.

In the camera you use an exposure technique known a expose -to-the-right (ETTR), to ensure you do not under expsoe.

Because of the way digital images work, under exposure makes image noise more visible in a photo.
Noise reduction softens image focus, which is why noise reduction and sharpening are both in the the Sharpening panel.

A JPEG made in the camera has already been edited in several ways based on the software written by a committee of camera engineers several years before you released the shutter.

Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: A Professional Image Editor's Guide to the Creative use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PC

You can also access Adobe Community Help directly from CS 4 by clicking om Help > Photoshop Help, or by pressing the keyboard F1 key

 

[Josh66]

I realize that it won't (hopefully) be in the print, but the horse head logo looks a little odd when it's directly beneath an actual horse head.

 

[The_Traveler]

I've got a Canon 50D and I take action horse shots.
I'm looking to try to maximize my image quality so I am happier with the printed results. I also sell the pictures and want others to be very happy with the quality.
The slightest crop or adjustment (In Adobe photoshop) seems to completely alter the quality to the point I'm not happy.

The absolute truth - and what you may be getting from the elaborate advice you are getting and seemingly not understanding - is that you just don't know enough to run that camera well. While a sophisticated camera may seem likes it's automatic, once you get in the loop with changing sizes, colors, etc, there is the almost infinite capacity to screw things up.

It's like the difference between taking a plane to Europe and piloting one yourself.

Now you have to face up to the fact that you have two choices to get good quality; treat the camera like an expensive p&s and let some printer handle the re-sizing and color correcting or start learning about the camera and post-processing.
And you won't learn it by asking questions about every little fact or expecting people here to write you a book about everything you don't know.

Read your camera manual
Learn about the exposure triangle
Read about composition and framing
Get a book or find tutorials on resizing and basic post-processing
Read them or look at them.
When you come to something you don't understand, then ask questions here.

It's up to you, not us.

 

[MysticPhotography]

Thanks for the replies (not so much the snark) I did not realize it was against forum rules to ask questions. My mistake.
KmH, thanks so much for the help. I will look into those books you posted.

 

[The_Traveler]

Thanks for the replies (not so much the snark) I did not realize it was against forum rules to ask questions. My mistake.
KmH, thanks so much for the help. I will look into those books you posted.

It's not against the rules, the real problem is that your quite excellent camera can only do so much without your help and you need to know how to go on from there.
Right now you don't have the knowledge and there aren't simple answers.

Think of photography as a mountain. 15 years ago, anyone wanting to climb that mountain, to get good results, had to climb the increasingly steep walls, learning the skills as he/she went. It was only that long term accumulation of skills and knowledge which made climbing the last very steep portion possible.

Modern cameras are like having a helicopter drop you off a good ways up the mountain.

The magic of modern cameras has relieved you of a lot of effort but it has put you in a situation where you don't have the skills and knowledge to go any further - and there are no single answers or 'tricks' that will get you further until you learn something.

 

[MysticPhotography]

Thanks for your reply. It was a lot less snarky than the previous one. I don't know as much about my camera and photoshop as I would like. Which is why I was asking. Everyone pointing me in the right direction of where to go, books to think about getting, and links online was extremely helpful

So I did some googling and reading. Snapped a quick shot to work on. Any quick thoughts on it for my first real attempt with a raw file
Before on the left, After on the right