Ledge

How to send photos to a print shop from a Mac without losing quality

· 6 min read

Export the photos from the Photos app as full-size JPEGs: select them, choose File > Export > Export Photos, set Photo Kind to JPEG, JPEG Quality to Maximum and Size to Full Size. Crop each one to the shape of the print first, so the shop does not crop it for you, and check that every photo is large enough for the print size. Then upload the exported files directly or put them on a USB drive, rather than sending them through a route that shrinks them.

Export full-size JPEGs from Photos

Photos stores your pictures in its library, and most print shops want ordinary JPEG files. Exporting makes them.

  1. Select the photos. Command-click to pick several, or select an album’s contents with Command-A.
  2. Choose File > Export > Export [number] Photos.
  3. Set Photo Kind to JPEG and JPEG Quality to Maximum.
  4. Set Size to Full Size. Anything smaller throws away detail the print needs.
  5. Leave Color Profile on its default unless the shop asks for something specific.
  6. Untick Location Information if you would rather the files not carry the place each photo was taken.
  7. Click Export and choose a folder. A new folder named for the order keeps everything together.

This route includes your edits: crops, light adjustments and filters are all baked into the exported JPEGs. The other option in the same menu, Export Unmodified Original, gives you the file exactly as the camera made it, without your edits, and often in HEIC format. That is the wrong choice for printing something you have cropped.

Live Photos export as a single still, which is what you want for print. Moving a photo out of Photos into another app on a Mac covers the faster drag-out routes and what they keep.

Crop to the print’s shape before you export

Print sizes have fixed proportions, and they rarely match your photos exactly. A 4x6 print has a 3:2 shape; 5x7 and 8x10 are boxier still. iPhone photos are 4:3 by default, so they fit none of those precisely. When the shape does not match, the shop either trims part of the picture or leaves white borders, and you do not get to choose what goes.

Crop it yourself instead:

  1. Open the photo in Photos and click Edit.
  2. Click Crop, then use the Aspect menu to pick the ratio that matches the print, such as 5:7 or 8:10. Switch between portrait and landscape if the frame is the wrong way round.
  3. Drag the photo inside the frame until the composition looks right, then click Done.

Crops in Photos can always be undone with Revert to Original, so nothing is lost. Do this before exporting, because the export uses whatever crop the photo has.

Check that each photo is big enough

A photo that looks sharp on screen can print soft if it does not have enough pixels for the size you are ordering.

  • Find the size. In Photos, select a photo and press Command-I to see its dimensions in pixels. For an exported file, select it in Finder, press Command-I and look under More Info.
  • Compare with the shop. Most print services publish a minimum or recommended pixel size for each print size. Use their numbers, not a general rule.
  • Watch for shrunk copies. Screenshots, images saved from web pages and photos received through some messaging apps are often much smaller than the original. On an iPhone, Messages has a Low Quality Image Mode setting that sends reduced photos on purpose. Ask the person who took the photo for the original, or have them AirDrop it, which sends the full file.

This is the one time you should not shrink photos before uploading. How to resize an image on a Mac before you email or upload it is for the opposite situation, where small files are the point.

Watch the file format

iPhone photos are usually stored as HEIC. Some print shops accept it; many accept only JPEG. The Photos export above turns everything into JPEG as it goes. For HEIC files already sitting in a folder, select them in Finder, Control-click and choose Quick Actions > Convert Image. How to convert HEIC photos to JPEG on a Mac before uploading explains the options.

Get the files to the shop

How you send them depends on how the shop takes orders.

  • Upload page. Open the shop’s ordering page and drag the exported files from Finder into its upload area. Most accept several files at once. If the page asks for a single file, Control-click the folder in Finder and choose Compress, then upload the zip.
  • Email. When attaching photos in Mail, look for the Image Size menu in the message header and choose Actual Size. If the attachments are too large to send normally, Mail offers Mail Drop instead.
  • In person. Copy the folder to a USB drive and eject it in Finder before unplugging. How to copy files to a USB drive on a Mac covers the drive formats a shop’s machine is most likely to read.

Put quantities and print sizes in the shop’s order form rather than in file names, unless the shop asks for that.

Collect the photos before you order

Photos for one order rarely come from one place. Some are in your library, some arrived from a relative in Downloads, a couple are scans on the desktop. Gathering them while the shop’s upload page waits leads to missed pictures and duplicate prints.

Ledge gives you a place to collect them first. Drag each exported file up to the notch at the top of the screen and let go; it lands on a shelf that drops from the notch and stays there until you take it somewhere. When the set is complete, open the shop’s upload page, press Option-Space or click the notch, and drag the photos off the shelf into the upload area. To keep a copy of the order, drag them onto the order’s folder in a Finder window instead, and they move there.

Ledge does not resize, crop or convert photos; the export from Photos does that part. It has no account and no cloud, so family photos stay on your Mac until you upload them to the shop yourself. It needs macOS 14 Sonoma or later.

Questions

Can I send photos straight from Photos without exporting them?

Yes, with care. Photos’ Share menu can hand pictures to Mail; in the message, set Image Size to Actual Size. For an upload page, exporting first gives you files you can check before you send.

Why do my prints look darker than the photos on screen?

A screen glows; paper only reflects the light in the room, so prints usually look a little darker. Some shops offer automatic correction. If you have already adjusted the photos yourself, check whether that option is on, since it can change your edits.

Should I send HEIC files if the shop accepts them?

Only if the shop says it handles them well. JPEG at maximum quality is the safest choice.