Maximum size print question

IanClark

IanClark

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Hi All,

Hope you don't mind my asking what could be a silly question.

I'm an amateur at photography however I have been very fortunate enough to be asked by a lady for a print of one of my shots. It's more of a letterbox format image.

The shot was taken using a 400D which as many of you will know is a 10.1mp 1.6 crop. Normally, the horizontal pixel count is 3888 however a crops sees one image at 3776x1855 pixels and 3806x1936 pixels wide on another image. There is a 3rd that is the full 3888 wide and 1836 deep.

Based on these values, what would be the maximum size image that could be printed that would not compromise image quality? I suppose we would look at the smaller of the 3 (3776x1855).

Thanks in advance

Ian
 
It really depends on viewing distance, for which there is a formula somewhere that it's too late on a Friday evening for me to start Googling for. Obviously an image that is to be viewed from 10ft will tolerate more pixellation than one that is to be viewed from 5ft.

If you are in a position where you have to interpolate upwards then I recommend cranking the dpi up (I use 1200dpi) to give you access to more tone boundary detail before sharpening/noise control and then resizing back down to 300dpi at the physical dimensions you need for printing and re-sharpening again. It gives you a good crack at quality enlargement from smaller sensors.
 
Hi Chris,

Thanks for your reply. I think the image is simply going to be in a sitting room. Ideally I'm not looking to enlarge the image.

From a different perspective. If I were to take the file which is in TIF format as it is to a printing service and asked them to print, what is the "ideal" maximum print size with the image as it is to show it as I would see it on a screen?

Cheers
 
IanClark said:
Hi All,

Hope you don't mind my asking what could be a silly question.

I'm an amateur at photography however I have been very fortunate enough to be asked by a lady for a print of one of my shots. It's more of a letterbox format image.

The shot was taken using a 400D which as many of you will know is a 10.1mp 1.6 crop. Normally, the horizontal pixel count is 3888 however a crops sees one image at 3776x1855 pixels and 3806x1936 pixels wide on another image. There is a 3rd that is the full 3888 wide and 1836 deep.

Based on these values, what would be the maximum size image that could be printed that would not compromise image quality? I suppose we would look at the smaller of the 3 (3776x1855).

Thanks in advance

Ian
Click to expand...

dpi depends on the printer. use the search function there are a fair few threads in this section discussing it
 
What media is it to be printed on (canvas, paper, acrylic ....)?

If needbe you can upscale it easily using Genuine Fractals.
I print myself and had very good results with QImage's Hybrid SE interpolater at the time of print rendering.

If you're not upscaling in any way then 3888 x 1836 (px) = 33 x 15.5 (cm) @300dpi
For reference, A4 is 30x21 (cm) or 3508 x 2480 (px)
 
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