Best approach to upsizing an image for print?

[ADMint]

Could use a bit of advice here.

So I was showing off some of my 13 x 19 prints to a lady I met at Barnes & Noble when she decided to call her daughter to stop by and check out my work. The daughter came, checked out my work, and found a print she really liked.

Problem is she wants the print to be at least 3 feet wide. Now being that I shoot in RAW with a D800E, with an uncropped image I can get a size of about 20 x 30 inches without upsizing.

That said, this particular image gives me a document size of 19 x 29 inches (according to PS).

So… what’s the best way to upsize to say 36 x 24 in Photoshop CS6 without losing image quality? And can I go higher in PS?

I’m sure (guessing) this is fairly simple for PS to handle, but I just need to make sure I’m not losing anything by going this high. And yes... this is a tiff file.

BTW, there’s also the issue of having to send the image out to be printed since my Epson 3880 can only do up to 17 x 22 inch prints.

Thanks.

 

[ADMint]

Thanks guys appreciate the help. Figured it out.

 

[Stuart20831]

points to ponder....(1) if it printed well on the 3880 it will print great on a 9800 series printer.

(2) if you fill your field of vision at about two feet to view this print... you should be at about four feet if you print it as large as you are discussing... print detail will look about the same at the correct viewing distance.

Let the lab upsize the print with their software.....unless you have a 9800 and are going to print it yourself...

Stuart

 

[Hugowolf]

...

So… what’s the best way to upsize to say 36 x 24 in Photoshop CS6 without losing image quality? And can I go higher in PS?

It would better to print from Lightroom, or Qimage, both of which will do better than CS6 at rendering for print output. Qimage automatically, Lr by merely checking a box.

...

BTW, there’s also the issue of having to send the image out to be printed since my Epson 3880 can only do up to 17 x 22 inch prints.

The 3880 will print 17.2 x 37.4 inches directly from the driver; longer with a RIP. 17" x 22" is the max borderless size, not the max printable size.

Brian A

 

[mike earussi]

...

So… what’s the best way to upsize to say 36 x 24 in Photoshop CS6 without losing image quality? And can I go higher in PS?

It would better to print from Lightroom, or Qimage, both of which will do better than CS6 at rendering for print output. Qimage automatically, Lr by merely checking a box.

In what way is LR better at uprezzing than PS?

...

BTW, there’s also the issue of having to send the image out to be printed since my Epson 3880 can only do up to 17 x 22 inch prints.

The 3880 will print 17.2 x 37.4 inches directly from the driver; longer with a RIP. 17" x 22" is the max borderless size, not the max printable size.

Brian A

 

[Hugowolf]

...

So… what’s the best way to upsize to say 36 x 24 in Photoshop CS6 without losing image quality? And can I go higher in PS?

It would better to print from Lightroom, or Qimage, both of which will do better than CS6 at rendering for print output. Qimage automatically, Lr by merely checking a box.

In what way is LR better at uprezzing than PS?

The output-to-print algorithm in Lr is definitely better than any of those in Ps CS6. I have heard, though I have no experience of it, that the current version of Ps CC is marginally better than Lr.

Likewise, the best Qimage output-to-print algorithm is marginally better than Lr.

Brian A

 

[mike earussi]

...

So… what’s the best way to upsize to say 36 x 24 in Photoshop CS6 without losing image quality? And can I go higher in PS?

It would better to print from Lightroom, or Qimage, both of which will do better than CS6 at rendering for print output. Qimage automatically, Lr by merely checking a box.

In what way is LR better at uprezzing than PS?

The output-to-print algorithm in Lr is definitely better than any of those in Ps CS6. I have heard, though I have no experience of it, that the current version of Ps CC is marginally better than Lr.

Likewise, the best Qimage output-to-print algorithm is marginally better than Lr.

Brian A

I have CC Bicubic, which seems to work for my needs, but am always looking for something better. Also my familiarity with PS, developed over many years, has precluded me from learning LR. Would I be gaining anything by printing in LR vs CC?

 

[ADMint]

...

So… what’s the best way to upsize to say 36 x 24 in Photoshop CS6 without losing image quality? And can I go higher in PS?

It would better to print from Lightroom, or Qimage, both of which will do better than CS6 at rendering for print output. Qimage automatically, Lr by merely checking a box.

...

BTW, there’s also the issue of having to send the image out to be printed since my Epson 3880 can only do up to 17 x 22 inch prints.

The 3880 will print 17.2 x 37.4 inches directly from the driver; longer with a RIP. 17" x 22" is the max borderless size, not the max printable size.

Thanks for the clarification.

Brian A

Brian, I stated in my post that I wouldn't be printing the image myself as my 3880 won't print the size the customer wants. I was merely asking about manipulating the actual file so that I could print the image at 36 x 24 without image degradation.

It seems to me that a file manipulation is unnecessary as a large professional printer such as a 9880 should be able to handle that task as long as the file is of an adequate size - in this case my file size reads 19 x 29 inches so to get a 24 x 36 print I'm basically doing a 6 percent increase which I'm thinking a 9980 should be able to upsize rather easy. Am I missing something?

BTW I already have a RIP in the form of ImagePrint 10.

Thanks.

 

[Hugowolf]

...

So… what’s the best way to upsize to say 36 x 24 in Photoshop CS6 without losing image quality? And can I go higher in PS?

It would better to print from Lightroom, or Qimage, both of which will do better than CS6 at rendering for print output. Qimage automatically, Lr by merely checking a box.

In what way is LR better at uprezzing than PS?

The output-to-print algorithm in Lr is definitely better than any of those in Ps CS6. I have heard, though I have no experience of it, that the current version of Ps CC is marginally better than Lr.

Likewise, the best Qimage output-to-print algorithm is marginally better than Lr.

Brian A

I have CC Bicubic, which seems to work for my needs, but am always looking for something better. Also my familiarity with PS, developed over many years, has precluded me from learning LR. Would I be gaining anything by printing in LR vs CC?

There are two or three main differences between printing from Ps CC and Lr CC. Lr has the ability to layout several images on a sheet (or roll section), Ps does not. Lr can uprez on the fly to the printers native resolution (output from Lr, input to printer). Lr can remember print settings for an image.

The Lr print module, while it could be better, is so much better than the print dialog in Ps. The problem for many is that you cannot just use Lr for printing. It is a DAM, so you are forced to import images into Lr. I primarily use Lr for cataloging, so this isn't a problem for me.

Brian A

 

[Hugowolf]

...

So… what’s the best way to upsize to say 36 x 24 in Photoshop CS6 without losing image quality? And can I go higher in PS?

It would better to print from Lightroom, or Qimage, both of which will do better than CS6 at rendering for print output. Qimage automatically, Lr by merely checking a box.

...

BTW, there’s also the issue of having to send the image out to be printed since my Epson 3880 can only do up to 17 x 22 inch prints.

The 3880 will print 17.2 x 37.4 inches directly from the driver; longer with a RIP. 17" x 22" is the max borderless size, not the max printable size.

Thanks for the clarification.

Brian A

Brian, I stated in my post that I wouldn't be printing the image myself as my 3880 won't print the size the customer wants. I was merely asking about manipulating the actual file so that I could print the image at 36 x 24 without image degradation.

It seems to me that a file manipulation is unnecessary as a large professional printer such as a 9880 should be able to handle that task as long as the file is of an adequate size - in this case my file size reads 19 x 29 inches so to get a 24 x 36 print I'm basically doing a 6 percent increase which I'm thinking a 9980 should be able to upsize rather easy. Am I missing something?

From discussions with some much more knowledgeable than me, and with some inside knowledge, it would appear that the neither the printer nor its driver do the upsampling. The printer driver is queried, it returns the resolution it requires, and somewhere in the OS/printer pipeline the image is uprezzed. And by all accounts it appears to use nearest neighbor.

For 6%, this shouldn't matter. But there again, 6% isn't going to increase the file size much. I would ask whoever is going to print it. Generally, I prefer to receive images in there native size and do the upsampling. The only reason for clients to do it would be if they want to final output sharpening to selective areas of the image.

If you decide to do it yourself, then use Photoshop's new Intelligent Upsampling.

Brian A

 

[ADMint]

If you decide to do it yourself, then use Photoshop's new Intelligent Upsampling.

Yeah that's what my solution was, but I as you said, I'm going to talk to the print shop today before doing this just to be sure.

Thanks.

 

[paris1968]

I often make prints of the size you are planning from all types of files, some of them very small. I used to use On1 Perfect Resize, which is the successor to Genuine Fractals. A few years ago I switched to Benvista's Photo Zoom Pro, which I think does a slightly better job.