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Ro13

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I did not post this under printers as I do not want to print this myself...I want to have it done in a larger format. My question is, is there a reference guide for how big you can go, based on megapixels, before you start losing detail? I assume the best thing to do for a larger image is alter the RAW file?
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Ro
 
You never lose detail by making the picture larger. Viewers are able to see that detail is missing if the pixel density is low and the image is viewed from close up. If a large picture is viewed from far back, the lack of detail won't be missed. For example, billboards are printed at about 8 pixels/inch, and no one complains about a lack of detail.

To answer your question, for pictures viewed hand-held, the usual recommendation is about 300 pixels per inch for a high quality print. This means a 4000 x 3000 pixel image (12MP) could make a high quality 13" x 10' print, assuming the optics and photographic technique produced a sharp image to begin with.

With low-detail subjects, half that resolution (180 ppi) may give an acceptably sharp and detailed print. For example, a picture of a sky with soft clouds would look good with a lot less than 300 ppi.

For a "will-it-work" answer, tell us how large you want to print, and how the image will be viewed. Tell us also, what kind of camera was used to take the picture. The overall image magnification from sensor to print is extremely important in the final outcome.
Ro13 said:
I did not post this under printers as I do not want to print this myself...I want to have it done in a larger format. My question is, is there a reference guide for how big you can go, based on megapixels, before you start losing detail? I assume the best thing to do for a larger image is alter the RAW file?
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Ro
Click to expand...
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JerryG

My galleries at:
http://www.pbase.com/jerryg1
 
As a test you can do the following: Make a crop of your picture (preferably a detail-rich section) that will fit a small (say 4"x6") print at the dpi that the full-size picture will have at the desired size. Example: say you want to print your 2000x3000px file at 20"x30", that's 100 dpi, so make a crop of 400x600 pixels and submit that for printing. It should be really cheap to print and it'll allow you to examine whether the resolution is high enough. Make sure that you view the small print at the appropriate distance! Normally you inspect small prints from rather close by, but the purpose of this test is to have it at the distance you would view the poster from.

In addition, you can also get a 4x6 print of the entire picture so you can check how the colors come out before ordering the large, expensive print.
 
In this case, the answer is simply in the acronym - dpi is dots per inch.

So calculate dots (in this case, pixels) per inch by dividing the # of pixels by your print image size in inches.

So a full-size 50D image printed at 10x8 is about 396 dpi (use the smaller of the horizontal and vertical answers assuming you will be cropping to match aspect ratios) and at 19x13 it is 243dpi. Assuming an excellent photo, an excellent print should easily be produced 19x13.

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EOS 50D, 20D, 10D, 630, A-1, SD1000
-- Please remove the Quote option!
-- Why can't you edit more than once???
-- How about switching to real forum software?
 
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