BIG prints

[Jus7 A Phas3]

So as some of you may know I am shooting for a local skate shop, they want pictures to go on their four windows adversting the skateshop and when its going to open and all that jazz. Im planing to take a picture of someone skating and photoshop coming soon on the picture but now to what i really need to know. One window is 6 feet wide by 8 feet tall, with my D80 10.2 mp camera how will it come out if i print a picture that big, will it look very grainy or will it come out crisp and clear if i print it out at kinkos lets say. Also they were talking about possably having one huge picture covering all four winds so thats 24 by 8 how would that come out?

Thanks.

 

[Mary-Beth]

You will get really biiiig dots, Jus.
This is the megapixel print chart showing you what size prints you can make from what size image files in true photo quality (300dpi):

For your big size prints you can possibly go down to 150dpi, or even 100dpi. But it won't be pretty.

 

[K8-90]

Yeah, as they will be posters, you don't need to print them at 300dpi, as they will be seen from afar. But even your one-window option is going to be pushing it!

Maybe you could try using multiple shots per poster - probably four per poster. Then you would have decent photo quality.

I printed a 5MP image on vinyl, at 2x3 feet. It looks good from a few feet away, but any closer and you'll see that the pixels are like 5x5mm!

 

[RacePhoto]

Just an outside idea, and I've done it before with four and six photos.

If you have some photo merge software, or panorama software, take four photos, two bottom and two top for example, with the edges overlapping about 1/3rd.

Merge them all into one giant image.

Best to keep the aperture the same on all of the shots and let the shutter speed compensate for exposure. Also if they can all be at least f/5.6 that helps, so they are the same depth.

With panorama software, you make two images into one, top and bottom, for example, then the right side, top and bottom, then merge the two resulting images as a two image panorama.

If you know someone who has AutoPano Pro, take six photos, three top and three bottom. It will merge them into one and you'll have a image that's roughly five times larger than the biggest single image your camera can take.

Site has a slick demo, and I've seen the software run, it does what it says it does, just like the demo, including stitching and color compensation. $145 (99 Euro) is the list, you may be able to find it for less.

This doesn't help you if it's action shots that you are doing. But good luck.

 

[Bifurcator]

Jus7 A Phas3 Wrote:
So as some of you may know I am shooting for a local skate shop, they want pictures to go on their four windows adversting the skateshop and when its going to open and all that jazz. Im planing to take a picture of someone skating and photoshop coming soon on the picture...

Sounds like fun!


but now to what i really need to know. One window is 6 feet wide by 8 feet tall, with my D80 10.2 mp camera how will it come out if i print a picture that big,

Great! Awesome even! But not sitting on the table 20 inches away. By the time you get back far enough to see the whole thing as "a picture" you will NOT see ANY pixelation! None.


Will it look very grainy

Depends on the contrast of the grain in the original photo. If that looked really grainy then so will the poster.


will it come out crisp and clear if i print it out at kinkos lets say.

Yes, probably. But every kinkos has a little different gear. You should find out what gear they have and then research that. For example if they're printing it with a Fiery you will need to tone down the blues a bit and color balance for it. Reds come out different too. Ask the kinkos print guy (not the desk clerk tho).


Also they were talking about possably having one huge picture covering all four winds so thats 24 by 8 how would that come out?

Pretty much the same deal! By the time you're back far enough to see it as an image it'll look awesome! If you want a little more res out of it get Genuine Fractal or AlienSkin Blow Up and increase it 200 to 300 percent.


Thanks.

No problem.
There's some more information here as well: http://thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125847&page=2



--
EDIT:

You can also vectorize the data and get a little artsy with it too ya know. That would probably be better for a skate shop anyway.

 

[deanimator]

It´s quite simple with Posteriza
http://www.posteriza.com/es/index.php?lang=en_US

Import your picture, and set the size of the output. It repopulates the pixels and looks pretty good. I´ve made one 1.5 x 2.0 meters (multiple A4 pages) and couldn´t see any pixels. The same file output can be given to a printshop to make posters as large as you want.

 

[Village Idiot]

Kinkos = negatory.

Print with a real company that does this stuff day in day out. Check out some place likw whcc.com. I had an 8mp file edited to their standards and it ended up being about 1mb. It was printed off at 30"x45" and it looked amazing. Even close up, it wasn't grainy or anything, just make sure the original photo is sharp and have it printed by a pro lab. It'll probably cost you $60-$70, but it will look amazing.

 

[Big Mike]

I agree with V.I. Find a good printer, who does this type of thing, and ask them what they would need from you to make a large print or window covering etc.

 

[deanimator]

or if you wanna get wild, try The Rasterbator

 

[Fox Paw]

Digression: that chart and similar things I've read puzzle me. When I used a camera with 7-something resolution, I made lots of blowups of 18X24 and some at 20X24 that looked very good. Maybe my standards just aren't very exacting.

 

[*Mike*]

The chart makes things seem a lot more concrete than they actually are... Take using 300dpi for prints. Millers prints at 250. Simply Canvas, I believe asks for 150 DPI (possibly lower, I'm drawing a blank now.)

The lab, the media, the original file... There are a lot of variables in how well a print will turn out at any size.

Use a good lab. (Kinkos?! Seriously?) If you have to, use GF or BlowUp. Then remember viewing distance, and start with a great shot.

Good luck!

 

[Bifurcator]

I dunno.. that's three thumbs down now for poor little Kinkos. Why? Maybe every one is different or something but here in Japan the "policies" surrounding customer satisfaction are actually better than any other print studio I've used. I've used kind of allot too. Often they put YOU in control of the printing if you seem to know what you're doing. They allow multiple test strips for free on large scale print jobs where studios allow zero or maybe one. And for one-offs of poster sized stuff they're about 1/3 the price. The equipment they use is often the same equipment found in a ritzy print shop and sometimes better even.

I dunno, a print shop IMO is only as good as the guys running it.

My last two jobs I had them do: The printing and binding of a one-off (prototype?) 312 page color-on-every-page book on Houdini (the 3D software), and a 1080mm X 760mm poster which won the poster contest for the annual Nagoya City Festival and ended up in every subway station, magazine, newspaper, and poster billboard in the prefecture (think "State" or large county for Americans). I was very satisfied with both the first time through and the way they brought me the customer, into the process not only did I learn a few things but I had some personal control in the printing process.

I understand how they might catch a reputation - their shop layout and store-front look more like a 7-11 or other dime-store rather than a print shop - especially a ritzy one! But sitting here in Japan as I am and having used two different Kinkos locations for large scale jobs many times in the past I would have to disagree with those assertions. Maybe the USA or Europe is a different case - I dunno.

 

[Jus7 A Phas3]

Thanks for all your help guys, They want the pictures in black and white because color ink it so expincive, 6ft by 8ft in color is $174 where in B&W its $36. HUGE diffrence as you can see lol. Also good point Bifurcator about the when they get far enough back to tell you wont even see the pixels, I'll check out those progams and links you guys should me and then think about what I want to do.