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Author Topic: Print Resolution Issues - Questions from Camera to Print  (Read 1405 times)

cabasner

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Print Resolution Issues - Questions from Camera to Print
« on: September 06, 2009, 02:05:55 pm »

First off, I know that the information in the Camera to Print video has been out there a long time, and may have been superceded by technology, but I still have some questions.

I think I understood most of the discussion on the Camera to Print video, done a few years back and which I have just gone back to review again, regarding the 480-180 resolution for output.

However, I have a few questions about the information there, including the details about sharpening related to output on a contone (photographic) printer.  My question relates to output on a contone device, that is, when sending an image for output at a photo lab.  I got the impression that all of the discussion on the video related to output on inkjet printers.  Does the 480-180 resolution apply to output on a 'photo printer, such as that in a professional photo lab, as well as to output on an inkjet printer?  That is, if I was going to send an image to a photo lab, say, at 16x20, would a 180ppi resolution be adequate?  Would the discussion about uprezing in the video, if I was going to output a 20x30 at a photo lab, apply?  That is, should I consider doing the super sharpening, photo grain, and output sharpening, at say 200%, on a Canon 5D file, as discussed on the video?

Secondly, if I did the uprez, should the output resolution be at 180 or 240ppi, for 'photo' output (as compared to inkjet output)?

Lastly, I saw here in this forum, a statement that the Super Sharpening 1 (done following an uprez) should be 'faded' to 10-15%.  I did not get the impression, based on the video, that any kind of fading should be done, but I could easily have missed it or misunderstood the suggested workflow.

Again, I know the information in the video has been out there a long time, and maybe my questions are irrelevant today, but I'm still curious.  Is there even more up to date info out there these days about these kinds of things?
   
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Schewe

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Print Resolution Issues - Questions from Camera to Print
« Reply #1 on: September 06, 2009, 04:15:19 pm »

Contone and high rez ink jet are essentially "similar". They aren't exact but it's close enough that for the purposes of testing, it's a good starting point. So yes...although for any high frequency images with lots of detail I think you'll find 180 a bit low without resampling...

Super Sharpener by default comes in at a 33% opacity )I'm pretty sure...I wrote it but haven't run in for a while). The reason I said 10-15% (or 20%) is that SS is strong...so you want to use it with a degree of subtly. If you turn it down to 10% and then gradually add in more % (without going too high) you'll be better off.

In terms of upsampling...as it stands now, I do all my upsampling in Lightroom for printing unless I need to go supper big (over 300%) because Lightroom's upsampling is better than Photoshop. LR since 2.3 has an improved upsample tat is an adaptive blend of Bicubic and Bicubic Smoother depending on the amount of upsample.

Also, in testing I've found that adding about 50% to the pixel density when you are under about 300PPI and then let Lightroom do the output sharpening can help high frequency images as well as images that have a lot of strong high contrast diagonals...so, if you were at 180PPI at your print size you would want to add about 90PPI. You could just do right to 300PPI. Going past 300PPI for upsampling prolly won't get you much unless you go back into Photoshop for substantial post upsample work...
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