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Archive 2015 · Advice sought: how big, realistically, could I print up this shot.....

  
 
Mjollnir
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Advice sought: how big, realistically, could I print up this shot.....


from a Panasonic GH2? I have an inquiry from an old intern of mine about hanging some shots of my in a clinic in Germany, printed at 40" and on acrylic.

That was two camera generations ago, shot RAW, 16MP 4/3 sensor, and likely the single best bit of PP I ever did for that camera. I've seen a promotional video of some guy in NY printing up GH3 shots to sizes I never would have considered, but have never printed anything from my GH2 years. I'm looking to try and not waste time/money on test prints to the degree that I can. Thanks!

Hornitos Road, Morning in the Forest by tanngrisnir3, on Flickr



Jun 09, 2015 at 04:49 PM
pokemanyz
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Advice sought: how big, realistically, could I print up this shot.....


Look into Alien Skin Blowup 3.
It does a great job up sizing images to whatever size you want.

http://www.alienskin.com/blowup/



Jun 12, 2015 at 05:53 AM
kdphotography
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Advice sought: how big, realistically, could I print up this shot.....


Subject matter has a significant impact on printing large, or rather "how large." I think 40" is really pushing it here because of the detail involved. It is subjective, but I'm not a fan of landscape images pushed too hard and fine details (which this image has, grasses, leaves, small branches) become lost and mushy. I also don't give much credence to the "viewing distance" distance mantra as from what I've seen in fine art printing is people like to get close. Billboards not so much. Fine Art Landscapes, yes.

Some printer programs, rips, and enlargement type programs do well---it's worth looking at to see how well the file holds up.

ken



Jun 12, 2015 at 09:29 AM
Tim Knutson
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Advice sought: how big, realistically, could I print up this shot.....


You could print it any size you want to. But only you can judge the acceptable quality. Why not blow five bucks and do a test print.


Jun 12, 2015 at 05:29 PM
Alan321
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Advice sought: how big, realistically, could I print up this shot.....


Decide for yourself where you want to hang the print and then how far away from it you will be when you look at it. Only then will you be able to decide on a suitable print size.

Whatever number of pixels per inch looks good at say 1 foot distance can be reduced in proportion to the intended viewing distance. So if 300ppi is ok at 1' then 50ppi is just as ok at 6'. In that case divide the width in pixels by 50 and you get the suitable width in inches. Usually you can let the printer or software enlarge an image to double its size without much compromise, but don't expect to get right up close and not see that the image looks a bit too soft.

I've had 8Mpx images that look really good as 24" x 36" prints on a wall 6 or more feet away from me.

By the way, don't confuse with ppi with dpi (dots per inch). You'll still want to print at 600 or 720 dots per inch even if there are only 50 image pixels per inch. The printer will sort it out and make it look good.

- Alan



Jun 13, 2015 at 05:20 AM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Advice sought: how big, realistically, could I print up this shot.....


One good test is to go through the post processing workflow to create the 40" wide print, then crop a letter-size section out of the middle and make a print of that. Tape that print (which will show only a small area of the overall print, obviously) to the wall and stand back and look.

If you are pushing the upper boundary of print size — and I suspect that you would be in this case — perhaps you can persuade your client to use a canvas print, since those are a bit more forgiving.

Dan



Jun 14, 2015 at 11:15 AM





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