Upresing Nikon D700 files for printing in 13x17"

[marimagen]

Sorry if this question has been asked before, but I'm a bit confused about the best way to upres pictures I took with my Nikon D700 (4256x2832 pixels in 300dpi) in order to print them in 13x17" via Photoshop. Should I use the Image Size dialog or the Print dialog? Should I directly enter the new size and let Photoshop do the work, or is it better to procede step by step going one linear inch at a time? Thank in advance for your answers, Marie

[PhotoEcosse]

Shouldn't be any need to "up-res".

Just print and the printer driver should do whatever is necessary.

Bear in mind that there is no direct relationship between a pixel on the screen and a dot in a print.

[Mark D Segal]

Sorry if this question has been asked before, but I'm a bit confused about the best way to upres pictures I took with my Nikon D700 (4256x2832 pixels in 300dpi) in order to print them in 13x17" via Photoshop. Should I use the Image Size dialog or the Print dialog? Should I directly enter the new size and let Photoshop do the work, or is it better to procede step by step going one linear inch at a time? Thank in advance for your answers, Marie

You don't need to go one inch at a time. Those days are over. Are you using an Epson or a (Canon) printer? The native resolutions are 360ppi and (300ppi). In the Photoshop Image Size dialog, check the Resample/Resize box, enter the 360 (or 300) value for resolution, enter one of the two linear dimensions (with the box for preserving the aspect ratio checked) and click OK. DO NOT SAVE THE FILE. Then print it. If you never want to change from these dimensions ever for the rest of your life you can save the file this way, but this is not recommended. Leave it in its native size before you made these Image Size changes.

[JRSmit]

Sorry if this question has been asked before, but I'm a bit confused about the best way to upres pictures I took with my Nikon D700 (4256x2832 pixels in 300dpi) in order to print them in 13x17" via Photoshop. Should I use the Image Size dialog or the Print dialog? Should I directly enter the new size and let Photoshop do the work, or is it better to procede step by step going one linear inch at a time? Thank in advance for your answers, Marie

assuming the print size is 13x17, that equates to around 250 pixels of your image to 1 inch on your print. You do not mention what printer you use. But normally canon is 300 and epson is 360. The suggestion of Mark is a good one, as you can see if the upressing to 360 or 300 introduces unwanted results, or you can finetune before printing.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Shouldn't be any need to "up-res".

Just print and the printer driver should do whatever is necessary.

The printer driver will not do any output sharpening after resampling which, IMHO, is the finishing touch of output resampling. Therefore, I'd always resample up to the native (300/360 PPI) printer resolution, before printing.

Cheers,
Bart

[marimagen]

That's very good news! Thanks to all of you. I'll be printing on a Canon Pixma Pro 10. Cheers!

[Jim Kasson]

Shouldn't be any need to "up-res".

Just print and the printer driver should do whatever is necessary.

I agree with what Bart said. In addition to his reasons, you should know that the Epson printer driver resamples with the nearest neighbor algorithm, which is usually not what you want. I suspect the Canon driver does the same, but I haven't tested it.

http://blog.kasson.com/?p=487

Jim

[marimagen]

OK, thanks. I'll do some tests. Cheers!

[langier]

Testing on your own system is always the best way to try things.

Behind my computer is a 30x20 inch print created with my D700. The image is cropped down about 20% from the original image. It has hung on the wall for about 2 years and in digital terms, this is timeless. I probably up-rezzed the photo using Photoshop. The print file, though, is at 180 ppi which looks fine on large prints. On my equipment and printer the image is superb and my mentor and colleagues confirm this.

The photo was taken with my D700, 17-35mm zoom probably at 1/30th at f3.5 hand-held in a dark monastery in Serbia. The iso was pumped up to 4500 since the monastery is 800 years old and technology there is minimum. Everything about the image tells me it is a failure if only the numbers mattered. But the heart and soul of the image combined with good craft makes this a winner and the print on my wall is the witness.

I stopped doing the math on my images many years ago and now rely upon the print as the final test. If the image can't reproduce well as a 13x19 image as a minimum it will seldom go further than my trash after archiving. There are exceptions, but they've got to stand out.

[marimagen]

Very nice photo, thank you! Yes you're absolutely right. The prints will speak for themselves. Cheers, Marie

[Ken Bennett]

The only suggestion I can add is that the Print module in Lightroom is quite good -- I switched over from Photoshop a couple of years ago for printing. There is no uprezzing needed, LR handles it all -- just enter the PPI you want for your printer (300 for a Canon), and choose the paper and print size, and let LR do all the work. The best part is that I can easily save presets for any of my print and paper size combinations -- so, for example, I can have "12x18 on 13x19 Luster" as a preset, and just click it once and all the correct settings are made for that print size. I have a lot of presets

I just had to print from Photoshop yesterday, using a template I made several years ago, and what a pain that is

[marimagen]

Thanks for your input. You're right it's a real pain to have to select individual options everytime we want to print. It's nice to be able to save presets.  Cheers!

[Ellis Vener]

That's very good news! Thanks to all of you. I'll be printing on a Canon Pixma Pro 10. Cheers!

Very nice printer. I am really enjoying using mine.