How big can this print?

[momo3boys]

I have this as my cover image on Facebook and a friend wants a print of it. I wasn't shooting RAW, I was just playing with my settings and trying to work on composition, but she really likes it for above her mantle. How big do you think it would print?

012_edited-1 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Somehow I've forgotten how to post a picture from flickr again...

 

[thereyougo!]

it depends on many factors. Your camera, what resolution it has at the size you have it. If it's 800 at the largest and you've set resolution at 72 ppi you might get a 6 x 4 out of it but can't speak for quality.

 

[thereyougo!]

Your resolution is 300 ppi which is high quality which may affect your maximum size. You may he hampered by your rather strange choice of settings for a bright sunny day: ISO 800 and 1/4000 why? You also appear to have a few dust spots there or are they birds? Am looking from my iPhone.

It won't be big enough from Flickr to print for mantel. You'd need to take your ppi down quite a bit and give a full size Jorge file. Some online printers have software that can tell you how big a picture will print with and without interpolation. I've used www.whitewall.co.uk to print things quality is high but they are pricey. Costs nothing to upload an image and find out sizes though. You will definitely need to give your friend the full size file though

 

[tirediron]

A LOT of sensor dust which will only be the more visible when enlarged.

 

[analog.universe]

Thom Hogan wrote a really concise article about print sizes, worth a read: How Big Can I Print by Thom Hogan

 

[momo3boys]

Your resolution is 300 ppi which is high quality which may affect your maximum size. You may he hampered by your rather strange choice of settings for a bright sunny day: ISO 800 and 1/4000 why? You also appear to have a few dust spots there or are they birds? Am looking from my iPhone.

It won't be big enough from Flickr to print for mantel. You'd need to take your ppi down quite a bit and give a full size Jorge file. Some online printers have software that can tell you how big a picture will print with and without interpolation. I've used www.whitewall.co.uk to print things quality is high but they are pricey. Costs nothing to upload an image and find out sizes though. You will definitely need to give your friend the full size file though

Thanks. honestly I keep forgetting to check my ISO. I'm so used to my old film camera that in the moment I forget its an option. I can edit out the dust spots, or retake it if I get desperate, (the leaves are coming out yet). How do I take my ppi down?

 

[Big Mike]

You can print as large as you can imagine or afford. Think about billboard or images on buses etc. The key factor is image resolution vs viewing distance.

You can blow up a smaller image into a large print, and it will probably look OK, if it's viewed from far enough away. A photo on a mantel will (likely) most often be viewed from across the room, so less resolution may not be too much of a problem, but unfortunately, it will also be look at from closer distances as well....so you don't want to push the envelope too much.

Maybe find out how much space they have on their wall, and talk them into a frame that has a thicker matte. You could print it at 11x14 inches, but put it into a frame that is 16x20 or a little bigger. It will still look like 'wall art', but you won't need as much resolution for the print.

Another option would be to have it printed or mounted on canvas. The texture of the canvas is more forgiving when you have a lack of resolution.

This image is a 50" x 30" gallery wrapped canvas (so the actual size of the image is more like 54 x 34) and it came from a camera that only has 8 mega pixels. Up close, it's not perfect, but from only a few feet away, it looks great...if I do say so myself.

 

[thereyougo!]

You can print as large as you can imagine or afford. Think about billboard or images on buses etc. The key factor is image resolution vs viewing distance.

You can blow up a smaller image into a large print, and it will probably look OK, if it's viewed from far enough away. A photo on a mantel will (likely) most often be viewed from across the room, so less resolution may not be too much of a problem, but unfortunately, it will also be look at from closer distances as well....so you don't want to push the envelope too much.

Maybe find out how much space they have on their wall, and talk them into a frame that has a thicker matte. You could print it at 11x14 inches, but put it into a frame that is 16x20 or a little bigger. It will still look like 'wall art', but you won't need as much resolution for the print.

Another option would be to have it printed or mounted on canvas. The texture of the canvas is more forgiving when you have a lack of resolution.

This image is a 50" x 30" gallery wrapped canvas (so the actual size of the image is more like 54 x 34) and it came from a camera that only has 8 mega pixels. Up close, it's not perfect, but from only a few feet away, it looks great...if I do say so myself.

Nice. But you wouldn't get that from an image that is 1024 x 680 pixels, so OP will definitely need to hand over the full size file. Will need to be edited to remove the dust spots as these will look terrible on a enlarged photo. Canvas may hide some of the issues down to the settings used, noise etc but I don't think it will make the dust any less noticeable.

 

[thereyougo!]

Your resolution is 300 ppi which is high quality which may affect your maximum size. You may he hampered by your rather strange choice of settings for a bright sunny day: ISO 800 and 1/4000 why? You also appear to have a few dust spots there or are they birds? Am looking from my iPhone.

It won't be big enough from Flickr to print for mantel. You'd need to take your ppi down quite a bit and give a full size Jorge file. Some online printers have software that can tell you how big a picture will print with and without interpolation. I've used www.whitewall.co.uk to print things quality is high but they are pricey. Costs nothing to upload an image and find out sizes though. You will definitely need to give your friend the full size file though

Thanks. honestly I keep forgetting to check my ISO. I'm so used to my old film camera that in the moment I forget its an option. I can edit out the dust spots, or retake it if I get desperate, (the leaves are coming out yet). How do I take my ppi down?

You really want your PPI to be high as possible for printing as this effects the finish quality. 300 is generally ideal for most uses. It depends how big you want to print. The larger it's printed the fewer ppi will be used. Supply the 300ppi (full size) file though and if your friend has it commercially printed they will either interpolate or reduce the ppi.