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Resolution Required for up to 64x46" Prints

prosigner

prosigner

New Member
Hey everyone,

Now obviously this is going to vary on a case by case basis for every photo, but if I was looking to having our images available up to 64"x46" what would be a general rule of thumb for resolution required?

So, with my calculations a 64x46" photo would require roughly a 264MP photo with resizing to achieve 300dpi. So if I had a photo at around 8000x6500, that would be around 50MP, requiring roughly an upscale by a factor of five?

Not being familiar with photo resizing techniques in photoshop and/or photo resizing software, I was wondering if this is an unrealistic expectation for photos that will generally be intended for close(r) viewing experiences.

Thanks so much, I really appreciate all the help on this forum. :thankyou:
 
O

OlsonSigns601

New Member
I generally go 150dpi but I know others who go 72dpi on something that size. But I guess its also who is your client and is and how long you can wait for the image to load and then rip.
 
bob

bob

It's better to have two hands than one glove.
prosigner said:
Hey everyone,

Now obviously this is going to vary on a case by case basis for every photo, but if I was looking to having our images available up to 64"x46" what would be a general rule of thumb for resolution required?

So, with my calculations a 64x46" photo would require roughly a 264MP photo with resizing to achieve 300dpi. So if I had a photo at around 8000x6500, that would be around 50MP, requiring roughly an upscale by a factor of five?

Not being familiar with photo resizing techniques in photoshop and/or photo resizing software, I was wondering if this is an unrealistic expectation for photos that will generally be intended for close(r) viewing experiences.

Thanks so much, I really appreciate all the help on this forum. :thankyou:
Click to expand...

If you're printing at 720dpi, and if you're not you should be, then a 300ppi image not only is overkill, it can be counter-productive.

You should try to print at least 4 times the image resolution. This gives you a 4x4dpi area for each image pixel, yielding 4^16 possible colors for each image pixel, assuming a CMYK printer. This is sufficient to hit pretty much any color of which the printer and, more importantly, the dither algorithm in your RIP is capable.
 
prosigner

prosigner

New Member
Sorry I meant to say "without resizing" it would require a 264MP to achieve 300dpi at that size.

I should clarify that we are wanting to secure images for us to showcase and people to buy from us, so that is why I am looking into what a good resolution would be to aim for in the case of up close viewing.

General consensus I'm getting is around 100-150 would be a safe bet.

Bob I am sorry but I am little unfamiliar with how the RIP works yet, so your saying that if I select 720dpi output on the printer RIP (Versaworks in our case), I should be fine with a 100-150dpi image in that case? Our printer is going to be able to print at a maximum 1,440dpi. However, I was under the impression we wouldn't be using near that capacity?

Thanks for the help everyone. :)
 
rjssigns

rjssigns

Active Member
When I buy stock images I always get them at the highest res possible. Gives me "cushion" for manipulation. If you buy at 72dpi and need more you are stuck.
I just bought a 300dpi file that was 11" x 17" and up res'ed it to fit a 96" x 196" area. EPS file was under 75 megs.

For offset or digital presses the new standard is 375lpi(lines per inch)
 
W

WI

New Member
100dpi is a good number for just about any situation, close viewing included. If it's fifteen feet up a wall, you can easily get away with 50dpi. There are a whole lot of billboards out there printed at 25dpi. If the viewer isn't going to be able to walk up and look at this thing from two feet away, you probably don't need tons of resolution, so bear that in mind, too.

PS- Most of the rotten expansion noise from blowing up photos that are just a little bit too small can be scrubbed out of an image in Photoshop by adding a 3% Gaussian Blur and a 3% Noise filter (in that order) once you've gotten your image big enough. Gives you some really fine graininess up close that looks much more organic and real than fuzzy stair steps.
 
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prosigner

prosigner

New Member
Ah, jawhawksigns - I see where I have made the confusion.

So basically what I can tell from everyone's advice that 150dpi would be the max I would need and 100 would be a safe bet and for up to 64x46" a 6400x6400 roughly would be good enough for close viewing experiences.

My mistake before I believe was that I would input that 150 PPI photo into my RIP software which could output up to 1440 DPI on my printer? Is that the right distinction? Would I ever print less than the maximum DPI that the printer has the potential for?

Thanks so much!
 
bob

bob

It's better to have two hands than one glove.
prosigner said:
...Would I ever print less than the maximum DPI that the printer has the potential for?
Click to expand...

That would depend very much on the maximum resolution of your printer.

Regardless of what resolution your printer might be capable unless you have some real good reason for printing at a higher resolution, printing at more than 720dpi is a waste of time and ink.
 
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