Resizing Photos

[lightwriter]

Okay all you photoshop/lightroom gurus, I have a question for you. How do you re-size your photos to use on layouts?

I'm still in the learning phase of PS-CS5 & LR3. I've learned how to edit my photos in LR then PS but then I draw a blank as to what size to make them to add sharpening (which I've been told is the last thing I should do in an edit.) I've been making them 4x6 with sharpening but when I start creating a layout most templates use odd size photos. Do I just re-size pulling on the corner(& holding the shift key) and make it fit in the template photo spot? Does this throw off my sharpening?

I shoot in RAW so I have to export to jpg - just not sure if I should be re-sizing in the export, then taking the picture into PS to apply sharpening (with an action), then adding it to my layout - re-sizing to fit the photo spot on the template? Seems like a lot of work and stuff to remember. What do you ladies do/recommend?

[Jen22]

I do it exactly as you described (pulling the corners while holding the shift key). I find that the cretive suite program does really well resizing. If, after I've scaled it down, I want it sharper, I do the smart shapen on it. That's how I do it anyways

[KateD]

I also shoot in RAW and edit using LR3 and CS5 (although I convert to Adobe's DNG format when importing into LR). I don't convert to JPG to put the photo in the layout; I right-click on it in LR and choose open as smart object in PS (or something similar to that). That way I can resize multiple times without losing quality.

[lightwriter]

Thank you! I knew somebody here would have an answer for me. I never thought about changing to a smart object, that's brilliant! Makes total sense!