big prints
I want to make big prints from digital. Does anyone know how many megapixels at the camera end are needed to produce, say, an A1 (about 600x800) print with minimum pixelation??
26.06.05, 12:00
Post 2 of 5
Most printer shops will ask for 300dpi resolution for best results on their printers.
That means that a standard 3008x2000 pixel image from my D70 an be printed at 255x169mm @300dpi.
However, in reality most places can print a 200dpi image with no real loss of quality. So that means 382x254mm from the same D70 image.
If you want bigger, you're going to have to interpolate the image to resize it. Or.... stitch several images together to make a larger single image.
I do this often with my panoramas. I just made one that is 9071x2870 pixels, or.. 768x243mm @300dpi.
So to answer your question, to print 800x600mm @300dpi you need an image of 9449x7087pixels or 67mp..
@200dpi, you'll need 30mp
Of course, printing huge posters from standard digtial images is possible, but "pixelation" is relative. Does a poster need to have the photo quality of a 10x15cm print? Not always as they're often viewed from greater distances.
That means that a standard 3008x2000 pixel image from my D70 an be printed at 255x169mm @300dpi.
However, in reality most places can print a 200dpi image with no real loss of quality. So that means 382x254mm from the same D70 image.
If you want bigger, you're going to have to interpolate the image to resize it. Or.... stitch several images together to make a larger single image.
I do this often with my panoramas. I just made one that is 9071x2870 pixels, or.. 768x243mm @300dpi.
So to answer your question, to print 800x600mm @300dpi you need an image of 9449x7087pixels or 67mp..
@200dpi, you'll need 30mp
Of course, printing huge posters from standard digtial images is possible, but "pixelation" is relative. Does a poster need to have the photo quality of a 10x15cm print? Not always as they're often viewed from greater distances.
26.06.05, 19:08
Post 3 of 5
Rob is right - the larger the image the further the optimal viewing distance is ... when did you last go right up to a billboard and see how you can clearly put your finger on the dots that make up the image ... secondly you can always increase the size of the image using bi-cubic resampling - however you need to increase the image size to the required one in increments of approx. 10% ... this will give the best result rather than going straight to the right size in one step. I just printed a 30" x 20" (inch) image which I resampled to size in one step ... ok it looked a bit dodgy up close but at a reasonable viewing distance of 2 metres it was fine .. that was from a Canon 300d 6mp camera shot in best jpg mode ...
Thanx folks. I'm now happy to aim for a 8mp camera such as the Canon 20D. This should give me a good pixel count for larger prints.
29.06.05, 16:44
Post 5 of 5
what about the 350d ... 8mp and in a couple of areas it out performs the 20d for a lot less money ... around £550 or less !!!! at some reliable but cheap sites (without a lense).
Post Edited (15:45h)
Post Edited (15:45h)