OK, question...

Has anyone here ever had any printing done in the 24"x 36" or larger realm?

If you have actually printed at that size or larger, I am wondering about your source file size (MB), pixel dimensions and DPI.

I have read a bunch on the internet, so I understand the concepts, but I am looking for REAL WORLD experiences anyone may have had.

Thanks,

 

I don't print at home. And when I want to see how big an image will print, I upload it to AdoramaPix. And go through the motions to have them print it. It will tell you if it's a big enough file and if you have enough dpi to print that big. It will also show you if the image needs to be cropped to fit the size you want to print.

I have used Blowup and Perfect Rezise to make images larger to print. The largest I've had them print for me is 18x24.

 

I have done several. And, I will say this is the realm where the sharpness of your original shot is paramount. I've had a couple that looked great on computer screen but when printed that large its kinda ehhh. And this was due to some camera shake that resulted in a small deviation in sharpness that is pronounced when printed large.

You should zoom in and inspect every area of your image for this in order to make a final assessment of whether it's going to be sharp on a large print.

That's my advice on the matter.

 

Regarding your other questions, for 24x36 I've been at least 4368 pixels wide on the long end. Save at highest JPG quality on Photoshop. The file size is trivial since that depends on the subject matter, ISO, and other factors. I've done some at 72 dpi and 300 dpi - the 72 was early on. Around 2009 or so I switched my LR export setting to 300 dpi full-time, so I wouldn't have to deal with that issue anymore and technically speaking anything I produce will be ready for printing.

 

When I was in school and would use the photography departments systems to print large format they would have us keep everything at 350dpi and export it in tiff format right before printing.

 

Thanks. I am going to print some tests at Costco at increasing sizes to see where it loses quality.

 

OK, had the print I wanted printed at costco at 20x30. The image was not a 2x3 format so I put it on a 20x30 canvas in Photoshop and let white fill the top and bottom. It scaled up fine to that size with virtually no loss of image quality (exported and printed @ 300dpi).

Only one are showed ANY artifacting and only on very close inspection.

One thing worth mentioning regarding Costco: Their online ordering system for in-store pickup defaults to "color correction", which absolutely destroyed the color in the print (it was an Epson large format printer). I was pretty upset, since it would have been nice to have a 20x30 of the print in addition to the larger print I plan to make. I re-printed the image at Costco at 8x12 withOUT color correction (on a Noristu) and it looks (color wise) identical to my monitor, so I am good to go w/o color correction i think.

Next up, find a large frame and order it on metallic paper from Bay and have it mounted on foam core.

 

You can turn off color correction in your main settings, so it doesn't have to be ticked on each image.

I love their Fuji printers!

 

thanks, will have to do that. My monitor is not calibrated but the uncorrected print is 99.9% like what I see on screen, and the corrected version looks like they used an instagram "horror" filter to print it. Granted, they were printed on two different printers, but still...

I don't know if my Costco has a Fuji printer. All I saw was the Noristu and the Epson. I am sure it was there, but I didn't see it.

 

I just had a couple shots printed at Costco. Hopefully I'm not doomed by color correction. Didn't even notice it.

 

Noristu, is a Fuji printer.


Let me rephrase that, they have a partnership to do retail processing.

 

Ah, thanks. Didn't know that.

here is a picture of the print of the picture at 8x12 from the Noritsu: