Manipulation before resizing or after?

Janice

Janice

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Janice
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Can anyone advise me please? I am after making an iimage 20 x 16".
I import them from RAW into photoshop at around 11x8" (ish) at 300dpi.

Do I manipulate them at the native size... then make it bigger, then sharpen?

Or do I import into Photoshop, then make it bigger, then do the curves, levels etc on the big one, then sharpen?
 
resize first imo - you'll need PS to interpolate the simplest data possible.
 
I think I'd resize first - if you want to make any 'destructive' ps-work, it will be exaggerated when upsizing
 
Thanks guys. thats what I did. But just wanted to make sure in case it was the wrong way! :D
 
Just to be different ..

Curves / levels first , you want to modify 'real' data not 'estimated' data. Once the original image has been balanced then you can re-size / sharpen as required for the final print.

Also if you resize first your PC has to do a load more work when its adjusting the image, ie doubling the size means four times the maths.
 
I must say it took AGES to manipulate at that size!! But I thought it best to do it when big. I didnt want to upsize all those "doings" that I'd just done and find they looked awful bigger.
 
safest way to do it when using PS!
 
Thanks Jonny. And Ive just realized I voted for your guitar!! ;) :thumbs:
 
Janice said:
I must say it took AGES to manipulate at that size!! But I thought it best to do it when big. I didnt want to upsize all those "doings" that I'd just done and find they looked awful bigger.
Click to expand...

Just saw this Janice.

To be honest at 20 x 16 you do not need a ppi of 300! Your file is far too big. You could easily have switched off the resample button and got a 20x16 at roughly 150ppi. I might upsample then slightly tol 180 ppi.

Aim for a file size of 3600 pixels x 2880 pixels for a 20x16 image. this will give as i say 180ppi. this is more than enough for a print at that size.

remember you do not view a 20x16 like a 6x4 image. you view the larger image from a few feet away so the ppi level is not as critical as it is in a smaller image. I print most of my 19x13s at 180ppi and they look great so a larger image should look just fine.

You've also realised that a 20x16 @ 300ppi (6000 x 4800 pixels) is a huge file that takes ages to edit. Because you have doulbled the size of the image you have added in lots of data that was not in your original image. It's not normally advised to resample as much.

Another thing you can do is use QImage to print the file. Just use your original and qimage will interpolate it to suit the image size you want. Works very well and gets very good reviews.

if you can afford to, try both ways and get prints back to compare. 300ppi is only required for prints that you view from a few inches - 6x4s, 7x5s. Even 8x10s. I'll always go for native resolution until I get below about 180ppi. only then do I upsample very slightly.

regards
Jim
 
The way I deal with it is a simple of rule of thumb..... if whatever I do is going to affect any "edge" data (sharpening, arty filters, etc) I leave it to last. Hues, saturation, contrast and the like I do at the native size simply cos it's quicker!

As has already been said interpolation errors are not good if sharpening is done before upsizing.... ;)
 
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