EB-1 wrote:
I don't normally do B&W but need to have large prints made from some of my color images. I was thinking that the Gargipixle AI is OK for resampling.
How do I best convert color 16-bit TIF to B&W? What labs for prints and what size do they need? TIA.
EBH
Call your lab ... tell them what you're working with and what you're trying to achieve. Their insight / pref might be worth a conversation.
What is your definition of "large"? What file size are you starting from? What media are you printing on? What viewing distance will be the display? Is the subject matter finely detailed structure or more about tonal values and gradients?
I have not used a lab in 25 years so am looking for one. Prints need to be about 16x20 or 20x25'. I just need to get prints made and shipped somewhere. Someone else will mat and frame them.
I assume some kind of matte paper will work since they are behind glass. We are all seniors so it doesn't have to be super duper archival material.
Resolution will not be what I prefer (300 ppi looks good at 10-11"). I read somewhere that normal people are OK with about 200 ppi if the image is good to start since they don't view stuff on the walls all that close.
Images would be from anything like 1Ds II, 1Ds III, 1Dx, 1Dx II, 5D III, 5DsR, 5D IV, R5, R5 II, etc.
EB-1 wrote:
I have not used a lab in 25 years so am looking for one. Prints need to be about 16x20 or 20x25'. I just need to get prints made and shipped somewhere. Someone else will mat and frame them.
I assume some kind of matte paper will work since they are behind glass. We are all seniors so it doesn't have to be super duper archival material.
Resolution will not be what I prefer (300 ppi looks good at 10-11"). I read somewhere that normal people are OK with about 200 ppi if the image is good to start since they don't view stuff on the walls all that close.
Images would be from anything like 1Ds II, 1Ds III, 1Dx, 1Dx II, 5D III, 5DsR, 5D IV, R5, R5 II, etc.
Gotcha ... I typically set my threshold around 225 PPI, as a matter of personal approach. I have printed larger for a client that stretched me between 150 / 175. Not my ideal, but they were happy with it. I revisited the installation years afterwards, and it was okay, I think that when we are very intimate with the work, our criteria is a bit uber-sometimes ... and viewing distance relevant.
Reminds me of a quote I read long ago regarding master woodworking / cabinet makers ... how they can point out 1,000 flaws in every piece they make.
Yeah, not everyone is as critical to the nth degree as we can be of our own work. And, yet ... there are those audiences that are even more critical. Know your audience, kinda thing, I reckon.
The one thing I might mention wrt upsizing, is that as the pixels get "spread" farther apart and filled in, it makes for a slower transition rate. Depending on the piece, the reduced contrast from that might need some re-edit pp after uprezzing ... to put some punch back into it (if it is a piece that warrants it). For some structure, it won't matter much, for others a could use some attention. Just be wary that post upsize may need some TLC afterwards, depending on how much you are scaling things.
I'm not too concerned about resolution; I've printed color enlargements for decades and will not overenlarge.
However, I don't know what to do about B&W. My eyes have a full complement of cones and I use them. I need a lab that I can send files to and then the prints will go to another location directly.
Do you have/use Photoshop? If so, pump the following into your search bar and dig in.
"photoshop channel mixer convert to monochrome"
Might start with some YouTube content (I saw one from diglloyd) and go from there. The process is not difficult. Using the channel mixer, you can selectively control the percentage of the Red, Green, and Blue channel content that goes into the B&W conversion. If you ever shot B&W back in analog times, and used color filters to balance how colors converted to tones, then the channel mixer method will feel familiar.
As for printing onto matte media, you will likely find if they look good on screen, they may turn out a bit 'flat' in print form. I greatly prefer matte paper for my B&W prints, but have found they need to appear borderline high contrast on screen to print with to my taste.
After some years of trying, I am finally getting B&W prints in the range of my best analog B&W output from a Canon Pro-1000 pigment ink printer. Never got there with the various dye ink printers I tried. If sending out, I suggest a couple smaller prints to pre-flight the process.
I have an older Epston 3888 printer and it's too small, probably clogged and too heavy for me to replace. I will take the output and send it to somebody that can make 20x prints and ship them within the States.
I haven't done a lot recently, but don't you use DPP? You can change Picture Styles to monochrome, if its not Picture Styles there's a drop down box and you change Standard etc to Monochrome.
I've heard Nichols in SLC area is good, used Chrome in SD years ago, I thought Reed in Denver is no more, read it on here, but I'm seeing a site for it so you might check. Even Duggal used to say 150 is ok, resolution should be fine, seems like i've had issues with prints not being 100% B&W although not sure where. Hate to not look at a print myself before delivery
Channel Mixer on Gimp is supposed to be good, I'll use it, ps probably has similar just depends on your goal. Editing in color can be advantageous. Epson 3800 does up to 17" wide, 16x24 a bit of a trick, used to be hard to find 17x25
… a general rule of thumb is that you can go as low as about 200 points in large prints. (Some set the threshold a bit higher, some a bit lower.)
Counter to the intuition of some photographers, the higher point setting are likely more important in smaller output sizes where you may view up close, even holding the print in hand in the case of folios.
I think the real challenge here could be the transition from color to monochrome. That often requires reinterpreting the image quite differently.
I need a lab that I can send files to and then the prints will go to another location directly.