What's a good size print for hanging on the wall?

schumionbike · Jan 20, 2010

Hi everyone,

I want have one of photo enlarge for one of my friend, something big enough that he could put on his wall and view from a distant. My D40 only have 6 megapixel so I did not not feel comfortable printing a 16x24, so I was thinking a 12x18 would be enough for a wall photo? Thanks everyone. I did the calculation, and the 12x18 would be like a 22 in flatscreen TV while 16x24 would be about a 28 incher....now, I have no idea what that look like

Thanks everyone!

Overread · Jan 20, 2010

Best thing to do is have one printed off and see for yourself - so much is highly dependant on the shot itself, the lens, lighting and overall capture rather than just the number of pixies that are on the sensor.

Prints are not normally too clostly to have done if you use online or local labs to print them off - I would personally print off a few postcard sized versions first to make sure that colours and brightness of the shot are what I desire (if you use the same lab over and over whilst also using a decent screen and a calibration setup like a spyder you should have reliable results each time - otherwise its trial and error time).

patrickt · Jan 20, 2010

It rather depends on the dimensions of the room and the likely viewing distance.

NateS · Jan 20, 2010

You can easily print 16x24. I have one on my office wall that I'm looking at right now that is a 16x24 print I shot with a 6mp D70s. There isn't a pixel in sight,,,,even if I put my nose right up to the print. I'm confident that I could go to a 20x30 with that print and still be exceptional quality.

I would print a 16x20 or 16x24 and matte it up to a slightly larger frame.

Big Mike · Jan 20, 2010

You can make large prints with your 6MP camera.
Just remember a few things.

Viewing distance: Larger images aren't meant to be viewed up close, so they don't have to be as sharp/detailed. Think of a billboard, they actually look like crap when you are up close, but from 100 feet away, they look great.

Also remember that when you enlarge an image, you enlarge the deficiencies as well. So if the shot isn't nice and sharp, that may show more in the enlargement. If it's not perfectly in focus, that will show as well. This is one reason why it's good to use a tripod & a remote release when taking shots that may get blown up.

As for what size, that depends on the room, the space on the wall etc. It might look stupid to have a tiny print on a big empty wall....and even 8x10 might be tiny in this scenario. Remember that you can make a photo feel bigger by putting a matte around it and framing it.

But sometimes you just have to go big.
Here is a 50" x 30" of mine that hangs in my livingroom. Printed on Canvas and wrapped on a 2" frame. Shot with an 8MP camera.