Print sizes?

[Rob Tolley]

I know how DSLR's show it's picture size in pixels, but how does that translate into the actual print size?

I'm getting a Nikon D5000 and the largest image size is 4288x2848 pixels, but what does this translate to in print size and how much of the image quality would I lose if I wanted to print a canvass at A2 or A1 for instance?

 

[POAH]

it depends what the DPI is set too.

if you set the print to be 1dpi you would get an print 4288x2848 inches lol

if you are printing at home then you can get away with quite low dpi particularly on canvas. if you set the DPI to 180 you'll get a print of 23.8 x 15.8 inches. you can also interpolate to make it bigger. if you are uploading to a server for company to print they normally take care of the problem.

 

[Chappers]

Most printers have a native resolution of around240 dpi. At this resolution your theoretical print size is about 11 x 17 inches.

Having said that there are a lot of factors that come into play, and i have regularly had images printed much larger than the theoretical limit. It's down way the files are processed, and the software used to print the image. Plus of course the optics involved.

To give yo an example. Several years ago I shot an image on a Canon 300D, with the 70-200L f4. Image was gently processed ( Not over sharpened and no excessive noise reduction). It was then output to 20 x 30 inches via a Kodak LED printer onto Lustre Photo paper.. Now the Canon had a 6Mp sensor so the file size was around 18Mb. Looking at the print today I would say I was just passed the optimum size for sharpness, but when only viewed close up.

So there are a number of factors involved and the only way you can really know is to have the image printed. You could try taking a small portion of the image, scaled to A2 and see what it looks like. The canvas finish will limit how sharp the image will be anyway, plus at A2 you are going to be several feet away viewing it

 

[efunc]

300 dpi is really the acceptable resolution for a colour image. when delivering a b&w image I'm generally asked for 600 dpi. I certainly wouldn't be happy with 180 dpi.

 

[POAH]

A4 print on gloss you'll see pretty much no difference at normal viewing distance between 180 and 300. 300 is not the native resolution of an epson printer so I don't print at 300.

 

[Undercrank]

Rob, in the context of the best commercial prints on genuine archive photographic paper, here's the way it pans out at the optimum professional standard of around 250ppi:

7 x 5
1778 x 1270

7½ x 5
1905 x 1270

8 x 6
2032 x 1524

9 x 6
2286 x 1524

10 x 8
2540 x 2032

12 x 8
3048 x 2032

15 x 10
3810 x 2540

18 x 12
4572 x 3048

So your Nikon D5000 will deliver right up to 18x12 without interpolation (upsizing).

Sam

 

[Rough Edges]

Infront of me as I type I have a 30x20 inch print on the wall from my Nikon D300, not sure if Photobox would have done anything prior to printing in the sizing aspect..