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Author Topic: Resolution & Canon IPFX100 Series w/ CS3 Plugin  (Read 2887 times)

Josh-H

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Resolution & Canon IPFX100 Series w/ CS3 Plugin
« on: July 03, 2008, 08:24:08 pm »

Wondering if anyone can shed some real light on the issue of resolution when using the 16 bit plugin with IPFX100 series printers. I have read pretty much the entire Wiki on the subject - no clear direction [at least I couldnt find any]. I made another post here below somewhere but it didnt really give me any answers - so at the risk of getting a little battered and bruised by asking the same question twice - help!

According to Canon's own Digital Learning Centre Here:
Canon Digital Learning Centre You only need to make sure the the actual file resolution is at least 200DPI once the file has been correctly sized to the size you want to print. Simple - easy and pretty much the approach in Fromt Camera to Print.

However - most of the Wiki talks about sending the plug-in 600PPI files. Either resized without resampling - so sending something like a 6x9 at 600DPI and letting the plugin uprez it with Bilinear to whatever size you want to print by rescaling the image in the plugin. Or - by uprezing in CS3 to the image size you want to print at 600DPI [MASSIVE FILES!] and then sending it to the plugin - in other words taking control of the uprezing so the plug in just prints nativley what it receives.

In from Camera to Print Jeff talks about sending the printer the native pixels provided the resolution is between 180 and 480 DPI - and this is how I have been working with my old printer.  Bur with the new IPF5100 things are different as a result of the 16 bit CS3 plugin.

Can anyone shed some light on the best way to do this?

Any assistance or direction would be more than greatly appreciated since I dont really want to have to make a heap pf prints and waste expensive ink and paper trialling this.
« Last Edit: July 03, 2008, 09:03:19 pm by Josh-H »
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Josh-H

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Resolution & Canon IPFX100 Series w/ CS3 Plugin
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2008, 06:28:40 am »

So.. any IPFX100 owners got an opinion?

I really would love to hear from some owners how they approach this.
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nemophoto

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Resolution & Canon IPFX100 Series w/ CS3 Plugin
« Reply #2 on: July 06, 2008, 10:05:01 pm »

I have a 6100 that I've had for about a couple of weeks. I'm still playing with  the settings, trying to get use to it, but I've found that, regardless of whether I use the plug-in or print driver, I get roughly the same results with images at 300 dpi. Previously, I owned Epson, so I used 240, 300 and 360 at my dpi dettings. With the Canon, since it's resolution is based on 600dpi, you should be fine with 300.

Don't know if this helps, but it's my 2-cents.

Nemo
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Josh-H

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Resolution & Canon IPFX100 Series w/ CS3 Plugin
« Reply #3 on: July 06, 2008, 11:24:50 pm »

Quote
I have a 6100 that I've had for about a couple of weeks. I'm still playing with  the settings, trying to get use to it, but I've found that, regardless of whether I use the plug-in or print driver, I get roughly the same results with images at 300 dpi. Previously, I owned Epson, so I used 240, 300 and 360 at my dpi dettings. With the Canon, since it's resolution is based on 600dpi, you should be fine with 300.

Don't know if this helps, but it's my 2-cents.

Nemo
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=206073\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Thanks.

I tried a couple of different things over the weekend.

I tried the following with a Canon 5D file - printed on A2 Ilford Gold Fibre Silk paper.

Method 1. Open image in CS3 and Uprez the image in CS3 200% by doubling the pixels using Bicubic Smoother. Let the PPI float. Apply PhotoKit Super Sharpener 1 twice. This is the reccomended method by Jeff Schewe in From Camera to print for uprezing images - I did not apply Film Grain 200 as per From Camera to Print. Then I sized it to suit the paper by changing the DPI [was approx 250DPI] without resampling and applied PhotoKit Output sharpeningas appropriate. Then sent to the CS3 16 bit plugin. Result in print - looks over sharpened to my eye and more so that seems to have picked up some nasty artifacts here and there. From a distance print looks ok, but pixel peeping its got some issues. This particular shot has heaps of fine grass detail so it really shows up over sharpening. I should add the original capture is already very sharp taken tripod mounted with mirror lock up at F8 with a 70-200 F2.8LIS.

Method 2. Open image in CS3 and Sized to 600DPI in CS3 [so it was approx 6.9x4.7] without resampling. Apply Photokit Output Sharpener at 480 Glossy Fine. Send to the Plugin and let it upsize using Bilinear. Scale photo to fit the paper in the plugin. This is the approach talked about by 'Weasel' in the FAQ discussion on sharpening workflow test revisted on the Wiki.
Result in print - Much better than option 1 - the over sharpening is obviously gone and the print looks smoother. Everything is still sharp, but without halos and looks VERY nice.

Conclusion - from this very limited test it would appear to my eyes that its far better to send native pixels to the IPFX100 printer at 600DPI and let it interpolate and scale to fit the paper in the plugin than it is to uprez the image in photoshop and try and sharpen it appropriatley. Now it may well be that my sharpening skills are not the best and others could produce a better result with uprezing - no question.

Going to try a 3rd option tonight, which is the method reccomended by John Hollenberg on the Wiki - as follows:

John Hollenberg initially confirmed Marc's findings, but after viewing the Luminous Landscape Tutorial From Camera to Print went back and re-tested. He now believes that if the PPI will be between 180 and 480, no resampling should be done in Photoshop, and the file should be set to 600 PPI (without resampling) and then re-sampled in the Photoshop Export plugin using Bilinear. Detailed steps follow, starting with a duplicate of master file:

1. Capture sharpen with EasyS from Outback Photo (I usually use Low with Halo Control, and may set the opacity of the sharpening layer to 50-90% depending on how much sharpening has been done by the raw converter)
2. Flatten the image
3. Resize to my desired output size without resample (let the PPI float)
4 .Output sharpen with Photokit Sharpener for the proper media and using the proper PPI (e.g., Inkjet glossy 180 PPI)
5. Resize to 600 PPI without resample (let the size float)
6. Print from PS Export plugin using 600 PPI, highest number of passes, unidirectional, proper media type, and resample to desired size (same as in step 3) using bilinear in the plugin.


Will see how this goes tonight - but will select Bicubic instead of Bilinear in the plugin as Bicubic wasnt available in the plug in when John wrote this method.
« Last Edit: July 06, 2008, 11:39:42 pm by Josh-H »
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Josh-H

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« Reply #4 on: July 07, 2008, 06:34:47 am »

After more testing and trialling I have settled on this method as the best to my eye. All test prints were made on A2 Ilford Gold Fibre Silk using the same 5D test image. I used the 5D image in lieu of a 1DSMK3 image as I feel its a better test of the plugins capabilities. Nothing scientific about this thought process - just felt like the best way to test it.

I've detailed the instructions I am using below in case anyone else wants to try this method. I need to thank John Hollanberg and several other Wiki members for their invaluable assistance with this - either in post or via email.

This workflow produces the sharpest and most natural looking prints to my eye.

1. Capture sharpen in Lightroom to suit camera / file requirements. I am finding generally that 1DSMK3 files need around amount 50-60, radius 1 and detail of between 25 and 40 - but your mileage may vary. Regardless use whatever capture sharpening in whatever program you find preferable.

2. Open image in CS3 and click 'Image', 'Image Size' and set the size of the image you want to print without resampling - E.G 16 X 20 . Let the PPI float. DO NOT resample the image. This follows with the advice in Michael and Jeff's excellent From Camera to Print of sending native pixels to the printer properly sharpened. With the caveat that the PPI falls between 180 and 480.

2.1 Softproof the image. Adjust as required.

3. Output sharpen with PhotoKit Sharpener for the appropriate PPI for the image. E.G. 180 PPI Glossy.

4. Flatten Image.

5. Click 'Image', 'Image Size' and change the PPI to 600 without resampling the image. Let the image size float. This step obviously is intended to feed the plugin its desired 600PPI.  

5. Open the Plugin in CS3 and select the 'Main' Tab. 'File', 'Export', 'IPFX100 Plugin'. Select 'High Accuracy 600PPI' and 'Highest Gradation 16 Bit' Obviously make sure you have the correct rendering intent, the correct paper type and size selected. Select 'Highest' For print mode and ensure you have unidirectional selected in 'Advanced Settings' Also make sure you select 'Bicubic' in 'set configuration'. I understand Bicubic was not available for the 5000 series - in this case select Bilinear.

6. Select the 'Page Set-up Tab', click 'enlarged reduced printing', select 'scaling' and resize the image to the SAME output image size you selected in Step 1. This is the only painful part of the process as you can only do this by selecting percentages and watching the image size change. Would be much easier to just change the image size to the same as you set it to in step 2. Hopefully Canon fix this in updates.

7. Click Print.

I hope this saves someone else the paper and ink that I spent testing it. At least I do feel more informed having been through the test process on my own however. So would still encourage anyone else unsure on the best way to tackle this to try a few different methods.

I would also love to hear from anyone else who tries this or has already been using this method and what they think of the results. Personally, I am thrilled - the print quality is stunning.

I feel pretty confident that it would be possible to get results this good via other methods as well - particulrarly if someone is well versed in uprezing and sharpening 600PPI files - but this method above is the easiest for me and definately produces sharper and smoother prints than any of the other methods I have tried [and I tried quite a few! - Blowing through a full box of A2 Ilford GFS in the process.]

Enjoy.
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One Horse Studio

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« Reply #5 on: July 10, 2008, 05:41:26 pm »

Just spotted your post. I have several actions that do the final output sharpening for different media types....matte, glossy, etc. These actions are based on the sharpening workflow suggested by Jeff Schewe in the video series "From Camera to Print". In that action the final step is to "resize" to 600 ppi. I then use the plugin to do the final print size and let it do the uprezing, but I use bicubic. Very happy with the print quality.
Good luck with your printer.

Greg....
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JeffKohn

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« Reply #6 on: July 10, 2008, 07:41:53 pm »

You guys realize that changing the PPI setting (Image Size with resample un-checked) has absolutely no effect in the image aside from changing a metadata tag, right? I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish by changing the image size and letting the PPI float, followed by changing the PPI and letting the image size float. You could have just set the PPI to 600 in ACR and gotten the same thing.
« Last Edit: July 10, 2008, 07:42:52 pm by JeffKohn »
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jerryrock

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« Reply #7 on: July 10, 2008, 08:24:23 pm »

The Photoshop Plug-In actually does the resampled resolution that it needs to print.
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Gerald J Skrocki

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« Reply #8 on: July 12, 2008, 06:56:22 am »

If you are on a PC, just get Qimage, a cheap printing package, and ppi becaomes a thing of the past. A demo is available for free.
« Last Edit: July 12, 2008, 06:56:55 am by enduser »
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