A3 Size Print - Resampling help?

richn

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Hi, I have a picture that I want to print at A3 size the pixels of the picture that I have are 4763 x 3247 at 300dpi. whats the easiest method to resample it to make an a3 size photo im using photoshop cs6.

if somebody can give me a quick run down on how to resample the size on photoshop I would be very grateful as im not quite sure what I am supposed to do and have read you need to change the dpi?

thank you.
 
if I just re save the raw file to a lower dpi such as 200dpi then open a new document that's a3 size and paste the image and free transform it to fit?
 
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If I need to rescale and it's only for myself, I use a dirty and easy method. I use the crop tool and set the dimensions to A3 (sorry, can't remember off the top of my head what they are) and the resolution to 300 dpi. My cameras all give files large enough to allow this without too much loss of quality - certainly for normal viewing distances!
 
what ive just done is changed the crop aspect ratio to 1 and 1.4141414 selected the image then I have loaded that up and gone to image size > change document size to 42 width and 29.7 height > un ticked resample and constrain proportions > then that's changed the ppi from 300 to 284.178

I think this is the right way to do it?

what if I was to double the size of a3 would you do it a different way in order to keep more ppi or am I just shooting myself in the foot because of the actual pixels to start with?
 
Not exactly what you are asking, but I get a lot of photos printed at A3 and I don't resample. Most of these photos are only 4000 pixels on the longest side. This means they get printed at a lower dpi, but I can't notice any difference what so ever even when studied against a A4 version of the same print from the same file (which would obviously be at 300dpi). I tried to get my head around the whole resampling and enlarging thing then just thought I would get a test print done and see how it came out....I was pleasantly surprised.
 
Whichever way you play the resizing/cropping game, keep the original file just in case what you do doesn't work! If you do your own printing, the best way to decide on the best method is to "suck it and see".

FWIW, there is a limit as to how far you can enlarge a digital file before quality suffers but it's very dependent on the viewing distance - look at the massive advertising hoardings from a distance and they look fine but get closer and they're rather dotty! I have some A3 prints that I've done from a D70 which has a resolution of 3000px x 2000px which should (if you believe the 300ppi "rule") only allow a 10x6.7" print - smaller than A4. They don't stand close inspection but you wouldn't usually look at them that closely.
 
You don't need to resample the image at all. Changiong the ppi value will give the required size

So an A3 = 11.7" x 16.5"

You have 4763 x 3247 pixels

PPI = Pixels/Print Size

4763/16.5 = 288ppi
3247/11.7 = 277ppi

So you may need to crop the image slightly but once you crop go to Images Size and switch off resampling and then you can just select the file size and it will amend the ppi value to give you the required print size.
 
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