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Author Topic: Determining how large you can print when viewing in LR/PS  (Read 1770 times)

Simon Withington

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Determining how large you can print when viewing in LR/PS
« on: August 17, 2010, 03:33:15 pm »

Hello

I am trying to establish 'how big' I can get away with enlarging several images.  The images vary, in that some have been radically cropped (and as such are only around 2000 pixels wide) where as others are 'full size' tifs created straight from the RAW file and are nearer 4000 pixels wide in their current form.

I am looking to offer print sizes to clients (ideally) up to 39 x 28", but before I offer such a service I need to make a judgement on the 'maximum' enlargement that individual images can handle.  Clearly some will lose significant detail at this size and would benefit from a smaller maximum print size, where as others may well reproduce satisfactorily at a larger size.

I've been following this discussion http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=45150.0 with interest, but I would appreciate any tips and advice re how I can make a judgement when viewing enlarged images in Lightroom and/or PS, as to whether, once printed, they are likely to be 'acceptable'.

Is it just a case of enlarging the image, then viewing at 100% magnification to establish how much detail and sharpness has been lost, or is there another, more effective way.  Obviously, sending a load of test prints off would help, but printing at this size is expensive, so this really isn't an option.  Unless perhaps I pick an image that is likely to be as 'bad' as they get and see how that copes, on the basis that everything else will likely cope better?

Any help would be appreciated.

Many thanks,

Si

tho_mas

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Re: Determining how large you can print when viewing in LR/PS
« Reply #1 on: August 17, 2010, 04:15:41 pm »

I would appreciate any tips and advice re how I can make a judgement when viewing enlarged images in Lightroom and/or PS, as to whether, once printed, they are likely to be 'acceptable'.
my advice is to make actual prints at different sizes and at different printer resolution and with different sharpening techinques. Nobody can tell you what you may find "acceptable".
I think everyone would agree that 200% enlargement is easily doable. From then on it depends on the motif, the quality of the capture (technique wise) the printing technique etc. how much enlargement is acceptable. 400% is clearly not impossible... but it depends.

As to the viewing size on the monitor ... it's the same. This is a learning process. Since CS5 Open GL is not so bad so viewing the image at print size with Open GL enabled might help a bit. I still prefer to view images without Open GL and I prefer to view them at 25% for softproofing (with zooming in at 100% to check details) and at 50% to judge sharpening. Too, when viewing at 50% for sharping I move back from the monitor (about twice the normal viewing distance). However I also zoom in at 100% to check sharpening artifacts.

I also prefer enlargement in Photoshop under controlled conditions over printing at reduced printer resolution (where the printer manages the interpolation). I have yet to see a print (of my works) that looks better at native pixel size and printed at 200dpi than enlarged 150% and printed at 300dpi (which will result in the same printing size). Printing larger it is even more obvious that 300dpi works better for me... in conjunction with the paper and the printer my lab uses (this goes for C-prints). But YMMV.
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fike

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Re: Determining how large you can print when viewing in LR/PS
« Reply #2 on: August 17, 2010, 04:59:51 pm »

for me this is a highly dependent on the subject-matter and the quality of the original capture.  If the image is perfectly sharp at ISO 100 it may be able to be enlarged more.  If it has any defects in quality or has a higher ISO, then you may need to alter your expectations.

When I am faced with this question, I generally take the image dimensions in pixels and divide by 240.  this is generally about as large as most prints I work with can go.  I found when I went from my 30D to my 50D that I started to find that because of diffraction and/or noise in the higher pixel-pitch sensor the DPI (that 240 number I mentioned) needs to be closer to 300 to get the best quality from the camera. 

Note that I haven't said anything about enlarging and other stuff.  I find for my favorite detailed subject-matter that enlarged results are poor.  If you are scaling-up clean smooth skies, sharp-edged buildings, and/or simple objects, I think you can go well out of this range I have provided.  On the other hand, I don't find that detailed woodland photos with intersecting branches and leaves can tolerate much increase in resolution. 

Unless the image is grossly out of focus, I don't find much use for 100% magnification when assessing how much I can enlarge the image.
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Fike, Trailpixie, or Marc Shaffer

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Re: Determining how large you can print when viewing in LR/PS
« Reply #3 on: November 21, 2010, 07:25:18 pm »

When you make your test prints view them at the same distance as people will be viewing your large prints and not at arm's length like pictures in an album or a 8x10 on the mantle.
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madmanchan

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Re: Determining how large you can print when viewing in LR/PS
« Reply #4 on: November 22, 2010, 11:16:42 am »

It is mostly about subject matter. Low-res pictures of nice fluffy clouds tend to enlarge nicely ...   :)
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Eric Chan

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Re: Determining how large you can print when viewing in LR/PS
« Reply #5 on: November 22, 2010, 09:03:00 pm »

The only way you'll know if your images will print a certain size is to try it yourself.

I've taken 2-4 mp captures and have run them up to 24x36 and I've had other images at 21mp fail to give me a decent 8x10. Every image is different!

If the image is well crafted, expect even a 4MP jpeg to make a respectable 24x36 at the proper viewing distance (NOT from 18 inches away the way I look at them!;-).

Your results will vary depending upon your image quality, lens choice, workflow, etc.

Even if you print an 8x10 section of a larger image, you should be able to get a good idea if the image will work. Eventually, you'll gain the insight to tell from the image on your display, but you still need to try it occasionally to keep in practice!
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Larry Angier
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