How large can I go? First time making big prints...

[Sheiky]

Haha yeah but I don't live in the States [] I can print bigger if I want, but not where I normally print my pictures. And frankly 20*30 inch is big enough for me [:P]Just ordered a best of 2009 album with 60 of my best photo's from 2009 all printed on A3 format. Can't wait to see it!!





Good luck and have fun with your exposition!

[jimr]

Given you are using the 450D (XSi) and good lens you should have absolutely no problems at all.


I have printed 30x40 with lower resolution cameras. I have printed tons of images at 8X10 and lots at 16X24. They all look good.


You might want to try a couple of test runs with your online service just to put your mind at ease.

[ShutterbugJohan]

So, if the original size looks sharp corner to corner, can I use that as a gauge do you think?

Yes, but remember the viewing distance when making large prints. For example, a 30x40" print should be viewed from about 4 feet away. Good luck!

[Gina Franco]

Bill: thank you! I did email them with a few questions and you're right: lightning fast. Very helpful. Also, I'm impressed by the shipping policy. I've been loading the cart with mostly 16x24 prints, but I'm adding a few 12x18, and one 24x36. I think that's brave enough for me.


Thanks everyone for responding so quickly and for the great tips.


Happy shooting!

[clemmb]

I had one of mine from my XTi on a billboard. It looked great. I am not sure how big that was.


Mark

[Daniel Browning]

Can anyone tell me how large I can blow up my images without losing sharpness and quality?

I've seen 2 MP images printed at 20x30 and they look great. (Of course, they would have looked much better if they were 200 MP instead of 2 MP.)


I've also seen 0.9 MP blown up to 50-feet (takes up the whole field of view and then some), and that looked great (movie theater).


So you can definitely make large prints. For your camera, 16x24 (with no cropping in post) would be 180 ppi, which most would consider pretty sharp, even up close. But it would take more than quadruple the megapixels (over 50 MP) to maximize the resolution of a 16x24 print. For more information, check out this thread:


What is the ideal number of megapixels?

[cian3307]

I've printed a few shots from my 10.2MP 400D up to A1 size (roughly 23 x 33 inches) and they have looked fine. Of course, this is assuming you're not squinting at them up close but standing back far enough to view the entire picture without having to roll your eyes around! Even close up, you need to look very closely to make out pixels. I suppose what different people consider acceptable is based on how close their eyes are to the picture. As Daniel says in his post, a movie theatre picture looks great, but thats because a viewer isn't going to be staring at a 1 foot square section of the screen from 18 inches away!

[SupraSonic]

Form Graphic Desinger people they always request RAW files.

[SupraSonic]

i.e. these file format is EXPANDABLE

[jks_photo]

Hello Gina!


Im in the photo finishing business [ you come to me to have prints made[] ]. I can tell you that you can safely go as to print as large as 24x36 prints .


I've done it with my Xti. Just make make sure you do your part i.e. proper exposure and focus and it will come out ok. One important thing to remember is to shoot RAW. Then use canon's DPP the when it's time to convert to jpeg set the jpeg output size on the DPP softwre to size 24x36 at 300DPI. If you have the maintain aspect ratio checked it will give you something like 22x36 or somewhere around the size of 24x36. the just crop the jpeg to the exact size say for example 24x36. You should be okay.





good luck!!