Best prints from TIFF or JPG? (and other print ?'s)

OK, so I want to achieve the best possible print from my digicam. Do I start with a Huge TIFF @12mgs, or a JPG that's 2.4mgs? Does the printer have a limit as to how much info it can process? If it's TIFF that's best, then is it better or advisable to reduce (resize) the image file size to match the print size? IE, if I only wanted a 5x7, but TIFF is 12mgs, do I resize it first, or just send it to print as is? Are there specific printer setttings I should be aware of?

BTW, I primarily use Thumbs Plus for editing, as that's what I'm both familiar with, and comfortable with using. I also use a card reader for transfers, so no Nikon SW, and the PS stuff is mostly out of my realm at this point, except for cloning.

Steve S--D1X-N5700-S300

what printer do you have?...

Shy1 said:

OK, so I want to achieve the best possible print from my digicam.
Do I start with a Huge TIFF @12mgs, or a JPG that's 2.4mgs? Does
the printer have a limit as to how much info it can process? If
it's TIFF that's best, then is it better or advisable to reduce
(resize) the image file size to match the print size? IE, if I only
wanted a 5x7, but TIFF is 12mgs, do I resize it first, or just send
it to print as is? Are there specific printer setttings I should be
aware of?
BTW, I primarily use Thumbs Plus for editing, as that's what I'm
both familiar with, and comfortable with using. I also use a card
reader for transfers, so no Nikon SW, and the PS stuff is mostly
out of my realm at this point, except for cloning.

Steve S--D1X-N5700-S300

Click to expand...

It doesn't matter what printer you have!

For an excellent quality print you have to present the printer a print file with a resolution of 240-300 PPI. Anything over that is over kill, anything under, poorer quality print.

Your printer doesn't care it it is .jpg or .tiff....it only cares about the resolution!!!!!
George
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

phat dinh said:

Shy1 said:

OK, so I want to achieve the best possible print from my digicam.
Do I start with a Huge TIFF @12mgs, or a JPG that's 2.4mgs? Does
the printer have a limit as to how much info it can process? If
it's TIFF that's best, then is it better or advisable to reduce
(resize) the image file size to match the print size? IE, if I only
wanted a 5x7, but TIFF is 12mgs, do I resize it first, or just send
it to print as is? Are there specific printer setttings I should be
aware of?
BTW, I primarily use Thumbs Plus for editing, as that's what I'm
both familiar with, and comfortable with using. I also use a card
reader for transfers, so no Nikon SW, and the PS stuff is mostly
out of my realm at this point, except for cloning.

Steve S--D1X-N5700-S300

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

George Amer said:

It doesn't matter what printer you have!
For an excellent quality print you have to present the printer a
print file with a resolution of 240-300 PPI. Anything over that is
over kill, anything under, poorer quality print.
Your printer doesn't care it it is .jpg or .tiff....it only cares
about the resolution!!!!!

Click to expand...

But the printer's output quality matters. The difference between prints from four-colors and those from six-colors aren't much until people are involved.

Anyway, less than 600dpi both dimensions, four-colors and the print wouldn't look good. Three colors, forget about photos and get a new printer.
--
http://printerboyweb.net/G2

There is a setting called "Photo REI", that you would check if your images are less than 600dpi. How do I know if mine are, or aren't?

Steve S--D1X-N5700-S300

If you don't got da resolution, ya ain't got da picture, no matter what the printer!
George
''''''''''''''

PB said:

George Amer said:

It doesn't matter what printer you have!
For an excellent quality print you have to present the printer a
print file with a resolution of 240-300 PPI. Anything over that is
over kill, anything under, poorer quality print.
Your printer doesn't care it it is .jpg or .tiff....it only cares
about the resolution!!!!!

Click to expand...

But the printer's output quality matters. The difference between
prints from four-colors and those from six-colors aren't much until
people are involved.

Anyway, less than 600dpi both dimensions, four-colors and the print
wouldn't look good. Three colors, forget about photos and get a new
printer.
--
http://printerboyweb.net/G2

Click to expand...

You seem to be very knowledgable with printers. Recommend a good one you like. The prints I've made in the past have gotten some rave reviews for their print quality, but I'm always open to better ideas. and my printer is only 3 color cartridge, and another for black. HOW do I find my dpi's on my images? And, to go back to my original question, is overkill of DPI ok?

George Amer said:

PB said:

George Amer said:

It doesn't matter what printer you have!
For an excellent quality print you have to present the printer a
print file with a resolution of 240-300 PPI. Anything over that is
over kill, anything under, poorer quality print.
Your printer doesn't care it it is .jpg or .tiff....it only cares
about the resolution!!!!!

Click to expand...

But the printer's output quality matters. The difference between
prints from four-colors and those from six-colors aren't much until
people are involved.

Anyway, less than 600dpi both dimensions, four-colors and the print
wouldn't look good. Three colors, forget about photos and get a new
printer.
--
http://printerboyweb.net/G2

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
Steve S--D1X-N5700-S300

Hi....

Like cameras, printer selection is somewhat subjective. You love HP because you have one, you love Canon because you have one!

I have used both HP and Epson....lately I have leaned more to Epson as they were the first ones out with Archivel Ink.

At present I hae an Epson 1280 ($499) for final prints and an Epson 820 ($99.00) for proofing and every day work. If you are on a tight budget, the 820 is hard to beat......but I'm sure you will get more help than you want on this subject!
George
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shy1 said:

Steven S said:

PB said:

George Amer said:

It doesn't matter what printer you have!
For an excellent quality print you have to present the printer a
print file with a resolution of 240-300 PPI. Anything over that is
over kill, anything under, poorer quality print.
Your printer doesn't care it it is .jpg or .tiff....it only cares
about the resolution!!!!!

Click to expand...

But the printer's output quality matters. The difference between
prints from four-colors and those from six-colors aren't much until
people are involved.

Anyway, less than 600dpi both dimensions, four-colors and the print
wouldn't look good. Three colors, forget about photos and get a new
printer.
--
http://printerboyweb.net/G2

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
Steve S--D1X-N5700-S300

Click to expand...

Guys may I cut in....I just have a quick question. I bought a printer and I can'r really figure out if its a good one. Its got like a paper type sensor but I can't get decent quality pictures its a HP deskjet 960 c its not a photo printer (not only Photo) but the store said it has high photo printing capabilites....can someone help?

THNX

elriffa said:

Guys may I cut in....I just have a quick question. I bought a
printer and I can'r really figure out if its a good one. Its got
like a paper type sensor but I can't get decent quality pictures
its a HP deskjet 960 c its not a photo printer (not only Photo) but
the store said it has high photo printing capabilites....can
someone help?

Click to expand...

When you go to the print command, you'll see some options.

One of those options is "Paper Type" generally (for these smaller color printers)

Some printers just won't print full resolution unless the paper type is set to "Photo Paper Glossy" or something like that. Then look for options that say "High-resolution photograph" and have those checked.

Hope that helps.

jizzer

I only speak for myself, but I always print the 12MB TIFF files directly.

In Photoshop, I open my image and open the Image Size dialogue box ( Image -> Image Size...)

When that dialogue box opens, immediately UNCHECK the "Resample Image" check box at the bottom.

Next, change the "resolution" field to 300. Leave everything else as is, and let those other numbers change if they want to;-) Hit OK.

You will end up with a 300ppi picture that is less than 8.5"x11".

Hit "Print" in Photoshop. It (Photoshop) will automatically center the picture on your piece of paper.

jizzer

Resist the urge to resize your original file. Work on a copy of the original so you can always reference what you started with. Let your photo editor control what goes to your printer. Biggest problem with saving in TIFF or RAW is the amount of time it takes the camera to save the file to the card. I tend to almost elclusively save in Fine detail (1:4 JPEG compression) 2,560x1920 pixels with original file sizes anywhere from 800K-1,600Kb.

Best printer is like asking what's the best car. I use Epson's 2200 and the output is breathtaking in speed and quality of output. It can print 13 inches wide and also use roll paper, but 13x19 (Super B) size results in 12x18 inch prints.

What drives the printer is your photo editor and the majority who want to get the most out of their digital cameras probably use Photoshop. I won't let a photo get out of the house without first tweaking it first in PS. If your spending almost a $1,000US on a camera and almost $700US for a printer, it seems reasonable you wouldn't find it unreasonable to use a best in its class editor. You don't put cheap tires on a $150K sports car.

Pixels per inch (PPI) in cameras and dots per inch (DPI) in printers are used interchangably and that is not quite correct. As mentioned previously, a good rule of thumb is to get about 240-300 PPI to your printer. That means 5Mb pixel cameras set at 2560x1920 guarantee a superb 8x10 glossy.

You can spend countless hours at dpreview, steve's digicams, imaging-resources, digitalsecrets, digitaldog, etc and learn all about the minutae of digital image manipulation. The pros will tell you that it doesn't make much sense to save huge files if they are only going to be used as thumbnails on a website. Your first consideration when determining what file size to save in is what you need in the output stage. Good Luck and happy shooting.

--
JimKa