Ordering Prints online?????

[sarasphotos]

Have a problem....uploaded my pics to Adorama.com and it is saying the qualtiy of a 20x30 will be "fair/poor". It will only let me upload a jpeg not RAW. I have a 10.1 mp nikon d3000. Am I not doing something right??

 

[KmH]

RAW data files cannot be printed.

Most online places can only print from 8-bit depth JPEG files, that are in the sRGB color space but that don't have an embedded ICC profile.

Depending on the image you need at least 2000 pixels x 3000 pixels at 100 ppi to make a 20 x 30 print.

I know Mpix won't print at less than 100 ppi. I don't know about Adorama.

 

[sarasphotos]

it says it is 100 ppi....will it still look good?

 

[Big Mike]

It will likely look OK (provided you started with a good quality image)...but you have to remember that large images are meant to be viewed from an appropriate viewing distance.

So your 20x30 might not be as sharp as an 8x10 printed from the same file...but from a few feet away, you wouldn't be able to tell.

 

[sarasphotos]

ok thanks for the info!!

 

[KmH]

it says it is 100 ppi....will it still look good?

There is only 1 way to find out for sure, order a print.

Are you set up to 'soft proof'?

 

[sarasphotos]

what is soft proof??

 

[HelenOster]

Have a problem....uploaded my pics to Adorama.com and it is saying the qualtiy of a 20x30 will be "fair/poor". It will only let me upload a jpeg not RAW. I have a 10.1 mp nikon d3000. Am I not doing something right??

This is the biggest that camera can shoot, 3,872 x 2,592; when blowing it up to a 20x30 it will be at 100+ PPI, which would bring down the quality just a bit.
Although it will not be that sharp it will still give you a very nice print.

 

[Robin Usagani]

your resolution is about 129 PPI. Is that good enough? Up to you. If you look at it from far, it will look fantastic. If you come closer, you will see the pixelation.

 

[KmH]

what is soft proof??

Soft proofing relies on monitor profiling and color management to produce a fairly accurate representation of how images will look when they are printed.

You can download most print lab's printer ICC profiles, and then in image editing software like Photoshop you can use that data and some settings selections, to see on your monitor a close approximation of what a print from that printer will look like when you get it.

Part of the issue with printing photos at the lower limits of resolution (ppi) is that sharpening looks different on a computer monitor than it does on a print.

A computer monitor is not lighted the same way a print is. We only see a print by reflected light, but that's not how computer monitors work.

Try looking at the photo you want printed at 20x30 on your monitor at full size. You can only see a small portion of it at once. You cannot see all of it at the same time.

 

[sarasphotos]

I have photoshop elements 8, will that work and how?