?? about size ( see that poll is working already ;))

[jann1033]

since i have never ever gotten any of my digital photos( dslr) actually printed but have two free huge prints ( spent enough $$$$$$ and you are bound to get something "free") i am wondering what to do about making sure they are good to print at that size ( one's 16x20?, one's 11x14?)since i usually crop something out of a picture is there any way to tell what the largest print i can make well would be( i mean other than camera mp since that doesn't really help if they are cropped...i notice some things i have are ok at smaller,probably due to crop) ....does anyone understand what i mean??????????????

 

[Master Mason]

you need to know your aspect ratio...

So if your picture is 2x3 ratio then you will get everything in a 4x6 or an 8x12 or 16x24 and so on.... anything that is not in that ration will be cut accordingly. If you crop, and you know your ratio then you will know what will be in it as it grows...

Make sence?

 

[jann1033]

uhhhhhhhhhhh no ..does the 2/3= mpxmp? ie 2036 mp x 2086 or is that something different entirely? and if not where would i find that...didn't see anything except the mpxmp in the properties

 

[handicap18]

IIRC (someone can correct me), but the "best" size for digital pictures if 4 inches x 6 inches. So, to keep the original picture all there you need to multiply evenly on both horizontal and verticle. Thus 8x12, 16x24, etc,,, If you print a non edited/croped picture at 8x10 or 11x14 part of the original picture will not make it onto the enlargement.

So when croping you need to find the ratio that Mason was refering to. If you crop the original to a panorama size of say 4x10, then it essentially wont print correctly on anything but a sheet of paper cut to 4in x 10in.

As far as the largest print you can make from a croped photo. It depends on how much you crop it and what your preferences are in regards to the amount of grain/noise you'll get. The more you crop the more info you lose. If you take a picture that started out as just the head and shoulders of a person and crop it down to just one eye it will not look as sharp at 16x24 as the original would at the same enlargement. I have not come across any kind of table that might break this particular info down for you. I do believe there are programs out there that will multiply the size of the pic. A former poster mentioned a program to take an 8mp original and enlarge it to billboard size which would make it something like a 60mp file. I guess somethink like that could work for coped images.

Hopefully others might have some experience with this. Its a good question.

 

[Master Mason]

uhhhhhhhhhhh no ..does the 2/3= mpxmp? ie 2036 mp x 2086 or is that something different entirely? and if not where would i find that...didn't see anything except the mpxmp in the properties

You could use pixels.... The deal is that one side is 2 for every 3 on the other side.... So when you use a 4x6 photo you have the entire information put in the print.... if it not in that ratio then something will be croped...

For a croped print, you can find the ratio that you cropped it to and then know what size print will have all of the cropped photo inside...

 

[jann1033]

so if i am getting this right if it's 2000 mp on one side it should be 3000 mp on the other side for the entire picture to fit in the 2:3 ratio...

but how about clarity/noise...if it's noisier the more you enlarge it, how can i tell how large any one picture could be enlarged till it doesn't look good anymore? would i be able to see what it would look like blown up before i order it?( Shutterfly is the site)

 

[mabas9395]

If you have a Canon Rebel XT for example (and everyone should), your largest photos are 2304 pixels by 3456 pixels for an aspect ratio of 2x3, so your 4x6 photos come out just fine. But your 16x20 print will have a ratio of 2x2.5 and your 11x14 will have a ratio of 2x2.545454. So when you do your cropping, make sure your output matches the ratio you want your final print to be.

But your original question was "is there any way to tell what the largest print i can make well would be". That really depends on what the resolution of your printer is.

But to give you an idea, at costco photo they have the following MINIMUM pixel requirements.
4 x 6 - 640x426 pixels
5 x 7 - 1050x750 pixels
8 x 10 - 1280x1024 pixels
8 x 12 - 1536x1024 pixels
11 x 14 - 1600x1143 pixels
12 x 18 - 1600x1066 pixels
16 x 20 - 1920x1536 pixels
20 x 30 - 2272x1500 pixels

The online service Snapfish.com has the exact same requirements (in fact, their help page was IDENTICAL to Costco's so they probably are connected some how).

Shutterfly had slightly different results:
"less than 640 x 480 | Only wallet-size prints recommended
640 x 480 | Absolute minimum resolution for 4x6(results will vary)
1024 x 768 | Minimum recommended resolution for 4x6
1152 x 864 | Minimum recommended resolution for 5x7
1600 x 1200 | Minimum recommended resolution for 8x10 or larger
For large-format prints (11x14, 16x20, and 20x30), our recommendations are similar to those for an 8x10, although you may wish to help ensure the best possible print by using an image that is 3 megapixels or larger"

The thing I thought was interesting about these recommended settings was that the ratio of the pixels did not match the ratio of the print. So as long as your pixels are more than the recommendation (and I would go as much higher as you can) you will be fine if you are willing to let their machines crop your photos as needed to get the right printed out ratio.

 

[boBQuincy]

jann1033,

one way to "see" how the photo would look when printed is to resize it to the printed size and view a portion at 100%.
Since a "rule of thumb" is to print at 300 ppi for best results, the 16 x 20 would be 4800 x 6000 pixels!

My cameras don't go that high, so what we do is crop it in the imaging program using the best mode (bicubic for Photoshop), to the appropriate size, say 16 x 20 x 300. It will be a very large file so make sure all your editing is done first and the file is flattened to one layer.

Some think the image is sharper when resized in steps, or using Genuine Fractals, or some other program. I didn't see any difference but ymmv.

Some think that unsharp mask should be the final step, it seems to work well that way.
The 20 x 30 jpgs I sent to Shutterfly were about 13MB, the psd was about 100MB! They printed nicely and at normal viewing distance appear to be fairly sharp. Part of that may be that I am well over AARP age also.

Anyhow, that's how I recall doing it, others may have their own ideas and if they seem any good I am always up for "borrowing" them!

 

[fitzperry]

so if i am getting this right if it's 2000 mp on one side it should be 3000 mp on the other side for the entire picture to fit in the 2:3 ratio...

but how about clarity/noise...if it's noisier the more you enlarge it, how can i tell how large any one picture could be enlarged till it doesn't look good anymore? would i be able to see what it would look like blown up before i order it?( Shutterfly is the site)

If I remember correctly, Shutterfly will warn you if the image you've uploaded won't print well at the size you've selected. As others have said though, just be sure you have the aspect ratio correct. Otherwise they'll crop it for you to make it fit.

 

[Furgus]

You also have to remember that viewing a 20X30 print is not going to be from 6 inches, but 3 to 5 feet. So if you can live with the pixilation at that distance, which you can't really tell, then print it big. I have a 20X30 on my wall from a 4mp Kodak EasySheare camera and it looks great from that distance. Sure you get in close, and it is not so great, but no one looks at it to close.

Also this is borrowed from Scott Kelby and Russel Brown

Take a hi-res image*, go to image size set your document size to 110% (linked) and set your resample image to Biocubic smoother. (I'd set it to an action so you can set back and (F12)). Rinse and Repeat until you get to you desired size. A photographer friend of Scott Kelby told him about it, I heard it from a friend of Scott Kelby. He side that it is a glich in Adobe PS that Adobe can't give reason to? People use to blow up pictures for billboards, I used for a 8' x 4' banner. If you don't believe me, buy the plug-in. Try it first though.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

One way to preview it would be to upres your photo as described so that you now have a 16x24 at 300ppi (or whatever size) photo. Then crop out a piece of that photo that is 4x6 and 300ppi and have that printed at your local Target/Walmart/Photo store.

To be fair, you will want to view it from the same distance that you will view your poster size shot. The viewing distance has a large impact. Look at posters you buy at the store and you'll see that they aren't that sharp when viewed up close.

Unless you plan on viewing from quite a distance, I would stick with your sharpest, most noise free shots. Enlarging enlarges everything, including every flaw.

 

[jann1033]

holy crow, now i am totally nervous about this...i need to count to 10, breath deep then try all this stuff
thanks for the info

 

[Anewman]

Jann relax take a deep breath and remember the prints are FREE.

My advice do not worry about resolution, let the lab worry about that. If you are satisfied(or not) with the results you will know for future reference.

Just worry about cropping at the correct aspect ratio and sending the file with no resampling. The lab will upsize to the required pixel size without doing any further cropping.

If you use Photoshop, select the crop tool and enter the values(top tool bar) you wish to print at(actual inches are fine). Then Select the portion of the image you desire to print, it will only let you crop at the selected print size(correct aspect ratio), obviously since you are printing large you try to select as large a portion of the original image as possible.