Printing a Panorama

[Filter]

Hi all. I'm looking to print out one of the pano's I took while on hol's. The pano enlarges well & I would rather it bigger than smaller. I will be getting a print place to do this but I'm wondering do I tell them what size I want or do they tell me. Sorry if this sounds silly.

Filter.

[Mark L]

When you say what size are you referring to the print or file size you give to them to print?

[Filter]

Hi Mark L, the file size is 7.3 mb. I guess what I'm looking for is the biggest printable size before quality is compromised, Should I give them the file & ask for the best result??

[wayn0i]

I normally run with 250dpi and divide the length and width by 250 for every inch. So if my image is 3000 x 2000 (@250dpi) then I would print it 12" x 8" . I have heard of people printing at 200 / 200dpi which would obviously create a larger print.. I hope that makes sense

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[Filter]

Well I'm feeling fairly silly atm, not much of this advice is clicking for me . I want to get some depth out of this pano to capture some of the town detail say 30 or 40 cm high. What length will that give me & will that be printable?

http://www.ausphotography.net.au/for...he-Nut-Stanley

[tduell]

If your file is 7.3MB, either your pano isn't very large or have you saved it with low jpeg compression?
What we need from you is the size in pixels of your pano...have a look at it in an image viewer and get the image detail.
As was suggested earlier, your print needs to done at a resolution of at least 120ppi (pixels per inch), and maybe higher.
So, get the image size, divide the width and length pixels by 120 and that gives you the maximum print size, in inches.
I'll leave as an exercise for the reader to convert that into cm.

Cheers,
Terry

[Filter]

Here is a snap of some properties, I think what is confusing me is I can increase the size to 70% on the viewer & it still looks clear, maybe this doesn't relate to a printable version.

If your file is 7.3MB, either your pano isn't very large or have you saved it with low jpeg compression?

I have a 33mb version but it did not stitch as well in CS6 as this one.

[tduell]

Here is a snap of some properties, I think what is confusing me is I can increase the size to 70% on the viewer & it still looks clear, maybe this doesn't relate to a printable version.
I have a 33mb version but it did not stitch as well in CS6 as this one.

Your image data says it is 18627 x 3618 pixels, hence if printed at 240 ppi, your print would be 77" x 15" (195 cm x 38 cm).
If printed at 120 ppi (the min print resolution to use) your print would be 155" x 30" (393 cm x 76 cm).
It does seem like you shouldn't have a problem getting a decent big print.
Did you shoot in raw format?
If yes, I would be saving my shots out of your raw processor as 16 bit tiff, and stitching those, and presenting the final pano as a 16 bit tiff for printing...not 75% JPEG quality. The 16 bit tiff will maintain a greater dynamic range. The printing process may not use all the dynamic range but best not to reduce your quality where you don't have to.


Cheers,
Terry

[Filter]

Thanks for doing the math for me Terry, I have the raw files albeit they are medium size. I'll give the .tiff a crack.

The .tiff file ended up being 18616 x 3657 @ 511 mb, couldn't fit too many of these on the puta...lol

[ameerat42]

+1 on the NOT 75% image quality.

Unless you know what working with a 16-bit tiff means, then even an 8-bit tiff or a HIGHEST quality jpeg would be OK to print.
That image has pretty good tonal range (and colors to my eyes), so it's just a matter of making sure it is saved at high quality.

For a "large print", do not re-size an original image to make it smaller and do not compress a jpeg too much (I really mean "at all").
Save jpegs that you want to print at the maximum quality level. That means least compression, and that means least butchering of image quality.

(Apologies if you feel like having a good lie down and a Bex)
Am.

[John King]

Gidday Filter

Agree with others, don't give the printer a 75% JPEG!

Find out what file type, bit depth and colour space the printer requires. Many have very specific requirements, and it costs a fortune if you want anything else ...

Before sending anything to the printer, up-res your file to the exact physical size you require, then print an A4 crop on whatever printer you have available to you. Even a (relatively) cheap Canon multifunction printer will give you a good idea of how it will turn out.

I print my own for a number of reasons.

When I print a normal image at A2 size, the TIFF-16 is between 200-250 MB ...

If the resolution is not high enough, print on canvas - it hides a multitude of sins .