Photo from email prints with vertical lines

[JenniferMurphy]

I received some photos from a friend in the body of an email. She wants me to make some small prints (about 2-3 inches) to use as decorations at a wedding shower.

When I view the photos on my screen, they look great at any size, but when I print them, they have regular vertical lines that make them look like they were stitched together.

In Irfanview, the info screen says one of the photos is 728 by 546 pixels. If I print a 3" image, that's about 180 dpi, which should be pretty good, no?

Is there anything I can do to get rid of those lines?

Thanks

 

[KmH]

728 px / 3" = 242 ppi
546 px / 242 ppi = 2.26"

728 x 546 makes the long side 1.33 x longer than the short side. The 4:3 aspect ratio a lot of cell phone and P&S cameras have is 1.333.

The regular vertical lines may be banding/posterization. Have a look at the histogram for the images.
Image Posterization

 

[480sparky]

Can we at least see some of the images?

 

[JenniferMurphy]

728 px / 3" = 242 ppi
546 px / 242 ppi = 2.26"

728 x 546 makes the long side 1.33 x longer than the short side. The 4:3 aspect ratio a lot of cell phone and P&S cameras have is 1.333.

I would, of course, keep the aspect ratio fixed. I'll probably scale them to a constant height and then crop to the desired width.

The regular vertical lines may be banding/posterization. Have a look at the histogram for the images.
Image Posterization

I've attached the histogram results from Irfanview for the photo with the most noticeable lines. Now what do I do with this information?

Thanks

 

[JenniferMurphy]

Can we at least see some of the images?

Sparky,

I'd love to post the photos, buy they are of people who I don't know and who may not want their photos "out there".

How about if I cut out the faces? That would still leave most of the photo.

If I cut a rectangle out of the middle using Irfanview, is the cutout really gone or just masked? Could someone remove the mask and reveal the faces? These are png files.

This forum doesn't seem to allow png files, so I uploaded a test photo to this Dropbox folder:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/osn8u7gq3hkhx33/93UzB8PX7K

If this is safe, I'll do the same for the photos in question.

Sorry to be so paranoid, but I wouldn't want someone uploading my photo without my permission.

 

[JenniferMurphy]

The problem is with the printer.

I had been printing the photos in landscape orientation. The lines were vertical on the photos (parallel to the short edge of the paper). I happened to print in portrait and saw that the lines were now horizontal on the photos (still parallel to the the short edge of the paper). Then I tried printing on my B&W laser printer. No lines at all.

I should have suspected the printer immediately, since the photos showed no lines in the screen. I'm kinda surprised that no one here suggested the printer.

I checked the manual. It said to run the maintenance procedures. I ran a nozzle check, cleaned the print heads, and aligned the print heads. That made it only a little better. One of the diagnostic tests suggested I might have to clean the heads up to four times. If that doesn't work, wait 60 minutes and do it again. If that doesn't work, replace the cartridges.

The printer is less than a year old. The cartridges are OEM.

The printer is an Epson Workforce 845. It's one of those all-in-one devices. This is not the first problem I have had with it.

 

[KmH]

I'm kinda surprised that no one here suggested the printer.

I was very surprised you didn't post any examples for us to see.

 

[JenniferMurphy]

I'm kinda surprised that no one here suggested the printer.

I was very surprised you didn't post any examples for us to see.

A little sarcasm there?

If you were paying attention, you would have seen that I replied to Sparky that I didn't have permission from the people in the photos. I also offered to post redacted photos if anyone could tell me how the redaction mask works.

 

[BrickHouse]

I think most people would assume you would check the printer first before coming here to post.

 

[JenniferMurphy]

I think most people would assume you would check the printer first before coming here to post.

Yes, I agree. I already said that. But I was under the (apparently mistaken) impression that these discussion forums were intended as a place where more experienced people would offer assistance to those us with less experience. I guess at least some of the people here are more interested in being snarky. Oh, well. Bye.

 

[BrickHouse]

I guess at least some of the people here are more interested in being snarky. Oh, well. Bye.

It's what we do. Glad I can help.