All print work (such as photo inkjet, laser, newspapers, magazines, photo books, and four-color lithographic printing) has to be set to a resolution of 300dpi as a best practice, so the files that are used are going to be far larger than those for web display. It's called the standard print resolution because it produces a seamless continuous tone image with no visible pixelation or color banding.
That being said, thanks to some fantastic resampling software, inkjet printers and most commercial four-color CMYK print devices can produce awesome results using lower-than-recommended resolution files. If you're not sure, check with your local business before you start outputting for print:
All terrestrial-based book-making software only function with JPEG or PNG files. If they are RAW, TIFF or PSD files, output and convert them using the Export as New Files feature to a folder on the desktop. Then they can be imported into the book software.
Here's an example of how you can use PNG files to preserve transparency—in this case, images with a ripped edge effect on the left and with a non-rectilinear 3D lift-off-the-page effect on the right.
Elements is well-equipped for print output if you have access to a laser printer or an inkjet device (note that photo quality inkjet printers will always produce better photographic quality than laser printers). If you have spent time resizing your images to fit your favorite paper sizes, then it's an easy process to choose Print (File | Print) and send the data to the printer. As a bonus, Elements allows you to queue multiple files for printing. If you forgot to load an image into this queue, it's easy enough to add (and subtract) images at a later date.
This is the Elements Print panel. I think it is overly complex and poorly designed:
To get an idea of both its capabilities as well as its complexity, the following screenshots illustrate the various steps needs for a regular home print, plus all of the many options it includes. Let's go over these now:
Select Printer: If you only have one device connected, that's the default; otherwise, hit the drop-down menu and select the appropriate print device. (Note that if you have recently replaced a printer, the software driver for the old one will still show up in this list unless you take the time to delete it).
Printer Settings: If it's not already displayed, click the Change Settings button here and choose the paper type to use for the current job. It's important to get this right because each paper surface has slightly different characteristics (look at the difference between gloss and matte paper) and if it's set incorrectly, it might affect the brightness and even the color of the resulting print.
Select Paper Size: This is a no-brainer, but I'm always mildly surprised at how easy it is to just press the print button in a hurry, only to find it was set to 5 x 7 inches and not A4, so I have to start over. Also, check the Paper orientation (Landscape or Portrait) in order to match the image being printed.
Select Type of Print: Most photographers will expect to fill the page with one image (choose Individual Prints) but Elements offers two other options, as you can see in the following screenshot.
Picture Package: This function arranges multiple photos onto a single page according to the layout chosen from Select a Layout. There are only four layouts for A4 paper—2-up (127 x 178mm), ten-up (55 x 91mm), 2-up (100 x 148mm), and 16 assorted sizes (a true package). Other paper sizes have a different number of options available.
Contact Prints: This used to be one of my favorite features because it mimics the photo darkroom contact print format. It adds as many images as you want to each page (actually, you can only add nine columns, which makes the images about the size of a small postage stamp). You can also include the date, caption, and filename of each image to the sheet if required.
In all of these printing modes (Individual, Package, and Contact Sheets), if you add more images than can fit on one page, Elements adds another page so that everything fits—a very nice touch.
Select Print Size: This final section allows you to set the print size smaller than the paper chosen—effectively giving it a white border, which is a nice touch if you are adding your work into a folio or presentation case, for example.
Tip
Fit to Page?
You might note that, if your file size is larger than the paper size chosen, there's no Fit to Page checkbox obviously visible in this busy Print panel.
I think this is a massive oversight on the part of Adobe. In fact, you might agree with me when I say the entire Print panel is ridiculously complex, especially if all you want is one quick print. (I think most print software utilities are poorly designed and unnecessarily complex—many are different for Windows or Mac and, like this one for Elements, most feature several confusing panels. I think it's high time the industry has a rethink about how it designs these handy software widgets, but as the move to the web and social media gains momentum, I suspect this might never happen.
Hit the More Options button at the base of the Print panel and, under Custom Print Size, lo! and behold, there's the fit to page checkbox (in Elements, it's actually called Scale to Fit Media).
This button takes you to the printer software where you can also set the paper size, paper type, and other printer-specific features such as 2-sided printing, borderless printing, check ink levels, and turn the printer's color management software to Off (it's always better to let Photoshop Elements handle the color management):
More Options: This button reveals three more panels for adding photo details and a border, checking Scale to Fit Media (custom sizes), and using Color Management (set this to Photoshop Elements manages colors). It's where you'll find the Scale to Fit Media checkbox.
Now, you are good to click the Print button!
Note
A word of warning: As you might be aware, the software that comes with your printer might look totally different on a Mac than it does on a Windows, and it's almost guaranteed that different printer models and brands each have their own uniquely designed operating software. All of them essentially do the same thing, but the design and layout of the features you'll find might be radically different. It can be very confusing, especially if you have just upgraded your local printer by buying a different brand. Once you have set Elements up to print, the process might get easier as it will remember your previous settings on that device. I think this is an area of image editing that is long overdue for a redesign. The Elements Print panel needs simplifying while third-party software supplied by various different printer companies could do with a total revamp.
If you are preparing images for print, it's worth noting that any sharpening that's added to the image will be softened in the print process, so it's a good idea to add more sharpening to files that are destined for print to counter that slight softening process.