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DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> Printing pictures need help
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12/06/2010 04:11:59 PM · #1
This may be a basic question for most of you but as of yet I really have not printed many of my photos. I am wondering if there is a good formula to knowing how big you can size a photo and still have the quality be okay.

For example right now I have a photo that is 3822 pixels by 2522 pixels I want to size it to a 30x20 to fit a frame I have. But I want to have a way to preview it before I spend the money to print it.

It looks like that translates to about 15inches by 10 inches. I am assuming I need to zoom in at %100 to see what it would look like at a 20x30 size is this right?

Any other suggestions of what I need to do to get the best quality before sending it off to the printers?
12/06/2010 04:32:51 PM · #2
I don't know of a rule of thumb for it, but if its a quality image saved at maximum settings from a good DSLR they should print well to poster size. But any noise will show up more than usual. So be very picky about your image selection.
I've printed 30x40cm recently and they seemed fine. I think a rebel - assuming its a good quality image, low ISO etc. should be fine at 30x20cm.
Print is its own art form though, if the machine is off so will the print. Double check them before you leave the store!
12/06/2010 04:45:10 PM · #3
A lot of printers will use software like Genuine Fractals to enlarge your image with no degredation to whatever size you ask for, as long as your original is of good enough quality.
12/06/2010 06:04:58 PM · #4
Like so many things, it depends

-on how noisy the original is
-on how much edge detail is present in the subject
-on the intended viewing distance of the print
-on your prioritization on image quality vs quality of the image, i.e. is it of an important subject or event, etc.

At DPC Prints (here), we require a minimum resolution of 150dpi to sell to the public -- it's been adjudged that this produces sufficient quality (on the right printer) to be commercially acceptable. For your image, that gives a size of about 25.5" x 16.8" -- close enough to 20x30 that you should be able to either enlarge the image a bit to fit, or just expand the canvas up to the print size and plan on covering it (or not) with a mat (with or without frame). If you want to enlarge to fit rather than border, it probably makes little difference whether you resample up in Photoshop (or other editor), lower the resolution to change the print size without adding/changing pixels, or let the printer resize the image -- just make sure your print image has the same aspect ratio as the paper to avoid unwanted cropping.

Personally, I (almost) always border/caption my prints, both to avoid resizing/cropping problems, and so that they are suitable for display with or without (expensive) mounting.

I have printed this image 20" x 30" -- it came from a 2MP P&S camera! Yes, it is noisy and pixellated (blocky, jaggies) when you study it from six inches away, but at a normal viewing distance (for a poster) of two-three feet it looks fine ...

12/06/2010 06:14:39 PM · #5
it also depends on how close you plan to get to it.

Message edited by author 2010-12-06 18:14:46.
12/06/2010 06:40:03 PM · #6
Thanks for the help and suggestions. I think I need to just bite the bullet and just print a few and see how they turn out.
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