Posted by Buck Ward on October 29, 2012 at 8:47 PM
A client bought rights to an image he wants to print very large 5 ft x 7 ft. to be used in a restaurant. The image was made with a Canon 10D, 6MP. He asked me If I "have this in a bigger file." I expect the request comes from his printer.
I have up-rezzed files in Photoshop before to get a higher dpi requested by a printer, but I'm not sure how effective it is, and I've never had one printed this large.
Any advice to make this 6MP image suitable for printing BIG?
Posted by Bill Maile on October 30, 2012 at 3:26 AM
Well Buck, my old camera is a Sony 6MP and have encountered similar requests and problems. One program my printer has gotten is Genuine Fractals and has had great results with it. It's about $150, but comes highly recommended from him and everything I've read about it backs that up. Someone here probably knows a heck of a lot more than I, but that is one possible answer. I am doing a series of 10, 40" x 60"s and so far quite remarkable.
One thing I just read about in PC World is a free program downloadable, called SmillaEnlarger. Have not tried it or seen any results but it also sounds remarkable.
Posted by Jim Bullard on October 30, 2012 at 9:23 AM
I've used Genuine Fractals. It is (was) a product of OnOne Software. The new version is called ReSize. It works well but any time you up-rez an image you are 'inventing' pixels. The software has to stretch the image out and then fill the resulting gaps by guessing the hue and tone of the pixels that would have been in between had you shot the original at the up-rezed size.
There are a couple of things to bear in mind when going as big as you are talking about from a 6MP image. First an image that is 5x7 feet won't be viewed from close up so fine detail isn't needed unless your customer is expecting something he can still see detail standing 2 feet in front of it. He needs to understand in advance that close up it is going to look "soft". Second, the finest detail that the average eye can see is about 1/100th of an inch so you should try to lower the output pixels per inch to get as much of the increased size as possible before up-sizing. We normally print around 240-300 ppi but you should set the ppi (with resample turned off) to 120-150 ppi and click OK. 120 would be better for a low detail image and 150 for a highly detailed image. You should see the print dimensions increase as you type in the new ppi number. It won't be anywhere near 5x7 feet but it will be bigger. Now you can turn resample back on and type into the document height and width boxes the print size you want to do the actual up-rez. By changing the output ppi first however you will be 'inventing' fewer pixels and the end result should look better.
Posted by Bill Maile on October 30, 2012 at 11:08 AM
Excellent points Jim and thanks for the catch on the new version--THAT, ReSize is the one my printer is currently using.
You bring out excellent points about viewing from close-up and at a normal distance. That is one thing many folks forget. My project is for a very large facility, and thankfully my client understands the concept.
Still ReSize works well. Don't throw the idea out the window Buck--I can show you a sample or two.
Discussion
3 repliesI have up-rezzed files in Photoshop before to get a higher dpi requested by a printer, but I'm not sure how effective it is, and I've never had one printed this large.
Any advice to make this 6MP image suitable for printing BIG?
One thing I just read about in PC World is a free program downloadable, called SmillaEnlarger. Have not tried it or seen any results but it also sounds remarkable.
There are a couple of things to bear in mind when going as big as you are talking about from a 6MP image. First an image that is 5x7 feet won't be viewed from close up so fine detail isn't needed unless your customer is expecting something he can still see detail standing 2 feet in front of it. He needs to understand in advance that close up it is going to look "soft". Second, the finest detail that the average eye can see is about 1/100th of an inch so you should try to lower the output pixels per inch to get as much of the increased size as possible before up-sizing. We normally print around 240-300 ppi but you should set the ppi (with resample turned off) to 120-150 ppi and click OK. 120 would be better for a low detail image and 150 for a highly detailed image. You should see the print dimensions increase as you type in the new ppi number. It won't be anywhere near 5x7 feet but it will be bigger. Now you can turn resample back on and type into the document height and width boxes the print size you want to do the actual up-rez. By changing the output ppi first however you will be 'inventing' fewer pixels and the end result should look better.
You bring out excellent points about viewing from close-up and at a normal distance. That is one thing many folks forget. My project is for a very large facility, and thankfully my client understands the concept.
Still ReSize works well. Don't throw the idea out the window Buck--I can show you a sample or two.