Winter treescape

[Chairman Bill]

I think this one might be worth getting printed up. From a D200, how big an enlargement is reasonable? Also, I note what looks like some purple fringing. Second question, can this be removed (I use Aperture & don't have Photoshop) and will it show up in printing to any great degree? Third question is, how much increase in brightness will be needed to compensate for the difference between the back-lit computer screen & the printed image (I'm going to have to get them done by the local camera shop so have no way of doing test prints)? Thanks in advance for your comments.
 

[dalethorn]

Normally when you take a photo to the camera shop to have it printed, if you ask them, they will advise which of their printers will do (or at least attempt) a top-quality job on the printing, at a premium price usually.  That's probably the best you can expect unless you know the printer yourself, or have had much printing done by them in the past.

OTOH, this image looks like it could be a really tricky print.  At this image size it's not easy to tell where one thing leaves off and another begins, like the purple-ish hues between most of the branches, which look quite similar to the purple-ish hues on the ground (snow?).  If I didn't have a printer at home, I might be tempted to send a few test images to Costco or Walmart etc., and have them run a few 8x12's, which at Costco are very cheap.  Their printing may not be the best ever, but the output should be good enough to tell you whether the image has significant print problems, before you send to the professional printer.

[jani]

I think this one might be worth getting printed up.

I agree, it's a fascinating image! I think, though, that you ought to lose most of the colour, but slightly enhance the yellows and reds.

Here's an alternative interpretation:

[attachment=10725:31602437...6bd72_b2.jpg]

I used Photoshop Elements and a Hue/Saturation layer, where I adjusted the saturation in the following channels:

Reds: +8
Yellows: +8
Greens: -100
Cyans: -100
Blues: -55
Magentas: -100

It's been a while since I used Aperture, so I can't recall whether it was possible to do selective colour adjustment like this, but I would be surprised if it wasn't.

Bonus: this may eliminate your purple fringing problem, since it will now be all monochrome. You may need to adjust the luminance of the magentas and blues to make it work well at full enlargement.

From a D200, how big an enlargement is reasonable?

That depends on the intended viewing distance.

I just printed an image taken with my 20D at 200 PPI to 30x40 cm, framed it behind glass, with a 29x39/40x50 matte. It looks very nice, and since it's on a wall, people are not likely to bring a loupe to it to see if any detail's missing.

Seriously, though; it is all about how your image will be presented.

I suspect that the subject matter is good for resizing with Genuine Fractals to a fairly large print size.

If you're unsure, try a few different sizes, and decide for yourself. If price is a concern, think of it this way: the prints that were the "wrong size" may still be keepers, and perhaps you can make a nice gift or two to family, friends or a neighbour.

I'm skipping the rest of your questions, since I've just about answered what I think I can.

Good luck with your printing, I hope you'll be satisfied!

[John R]

I would only-whiten-lighten to the point that you think it represents the scene or that you want it to represent the scene. Just tried it - also in Elements- Auto color or "remove color cast'- correction, and it does indeed compensate for the bluish-purple cast, but it has a somewhat different quality and mood then the original. This is a fact I am always confronted with in digital imagery. If no one ever sees the origninals, it will never matter.

JMR