Canvas Prints - Couple of Questions

[AdamR]

I am planning on doing a large canvas print on my wall and have found some confusion. (before I go on I am planning on using the sponsors and am happy with their tests).

The photo I have was taken on the 1ds, an 11mp full frame image done taken with mirror lock up etc. Upon talking to the guy he suggested the image doestn have enough pixels to blow up to the size I want. Essentially suggesting that at 100d/p Id be limited to 40inches.

What I wanna know is, what can I do to ensure a large print will come out well. Does extrapolation improve this chance.

If the answer is no, then I am confused in his logic that effectively for example my s95 with similar mp should be as good at printing large regardless of the sensor size.

Can someone spell it out for me or at least give me their point of views or experience with large canvas prints.

Thanks in advance Adam

[William]

How large, One of my images taken with the 30D 8.2 mp was printed on Canvas at 2mtrs by a 1mtr , It's now hanging on the wall in a Gallery of a Framing shop , BTW the image was at 300 dpi - Bill

[ricktas]

Check out 'Perfect Resize', which used to be called genuine fractals, it is one of the best upsizing software algorithms out there.

[AdamR]

I was planning on printing 200cm by 66cm. William how did you up your resolution to 300dpi and Ricktas does "Perfect Resize" make a big difference as no extra details can be added. Also more importantly for William, did it look like you wanted it to?

Sorry if I sound daft, just a little confused.

[William]

I shoot in RAW and export all my images from Lightroom to PS at 300dpi as a TIFF file , I just set it in the Quality box , It then stays the same when converted to a jpeg for printing , Some people say that 300dpi is over the top , But it works for me , The canvas looks great , Remember your not viewing an image that size from 30cm away , But at a distance , It does look OK close up tho

[AdamR]

Thank you for your help

I shoot RAW as well and work with lightroom. If I export it straight from lightroom to jpeg with the setting of 300dpi how does it know the intended print size? Mine would be 80 inches.

[William]

Hi Adam, Just keep the original file sizes (In pixels from camera) at 300 dpi , Level 12 compression (jpeg), and all I do is tell the Printer what size I want the image at , Let them figure it out , Just tell them you want it at 80 inches on the long side - Bill

[AdamR]

Cheers. Shall look into it. And will also look into Ricks suggestion. If anyone else has anything to add please feel free to give an opinion.

[dulvariprestige]

I'll second perfect resize, it also has a nice setting for gallery wraps, allows you to add a mirrored border to your image, this way you're not losing part of the photo when it's wrapped around the frame.
Download the trial version and see how you go.

[ricktas]

Upsizing in Photoshop:

1. Open your photo
2. Click IMAGE > IMAGE SIZE
3. Now say your photo is 4000 pixels wide and you want to make it 8000 pixels wide
4. First change the pixel width to 6000, and from the drop down menu at the bottom, select Bicubic Sharper (best for reductions)
5. Click OK
6. Go back to IMAGE>IMAGE SIZE
7. set the width to 8000 pixels and from the drop down menu at the bottom, select Bicubic Sharper (best for reductions)
8. Click OK

Now the caveat, I know bicubic sharper says best for reductions, but for some reason (that I haven't really investigated) it works wonder when increasing the size of an image. I got this upsizing method from Scott Kelby.

It may take several tries to work out how many up-size steps you need (you might need to go 5000,6000,7000,8000) to get a good end result. But give it a try, you might just be surprised at the results.

There are numerous ways to increase the pixel dimensions of an image, but you need to do so within reasonable limits. No use trying to grab a phot o off the web that is 800 pixels wide and making it 10,000 pixels wide, it just wont produce a good end result.

Perfect Resize is what I use, but the above method is what I used to do, and if you have PS (or I assume other editing software), and do not want to fork out for some new software, give it a try