Large Prints.

I've been looking at printing some larger prints and I'm not really sure where I should be going. I'm currently using the Nikon D50, 6 megapixels. I've printed 11x14's that look great, but how much bigger can I go? Where is the best place to order them from?

Thanks for your help and suggestions.

K

I can't recommend anybody. I've had such bad luck that I decided to do the printing myself in order to have complete control. The best results I had for colour prints was with MPEX.com, which is run by Mid-west Photo Exchange. A very reputable photography store in Columbus Ohio. However, my last order from them, which cost me over $150 USD, was a complete disaster and that experience finally drove me to do the printing myself. In any case, you are at the mercy of the lab technician and what he/she thinks your photograph ought to look like. And in my experience, it doesn't matter if you use the ICC profiles the printer provides you or if check off a statement on the form telling them not to modify your files - you are still at their mercy.

As far as how large you can print. It's all a matter of personal taste and expectations. I have encountered many photographers (digital users, in particular) that are quite sensitive to this subject and I'm hesitant to give my opinion on what can or cannot be realized given the equipment. It is very likely that our expectations and benchmarks for print quality differ. I really don't know what you would be satisfied with. What I suggest you do is to print at largest size that you would want. If you are satisfied with it, than that's great. If not, then try printing at smaller sizes until you are satisfied. This may be expensive to do. A less expensive alternative is to crop a few sections from the photograph and print them at the size they would be in the final print. Then, make your judgment based on those enlarged crops. Take viewing distance into consideration when looking at the prints.

I would suggest that you if visit a local printer to ask for samples of their work. Ask them to print you proofs so you can make any necessary changes before printing the final image.

From a technical standpoint, a digital file from a 6MP camera will print a 6.5x10" print without any need for enlargement on a 300dpi industry-standard printer. If you want a larger print then the digital file must be enlarged either by the photo editing software or by the printer driver. For example, if you were to double the dimensions of the print to 13x20, you would actually need to quadruple the size of the digital file. In this case, for every authentic pixel in the image captured by your camera, 3 contrived pixels are generated by the computer using some sort of extrapolation scheme.

Anyway, I offered no suggestions on where you should go or how large a print you can make but I hope this is was helpful nevertheless.

To get results that you will be happy with it will probably have less to do with who does it and more to do with how you prepare the file. Nobody that I know of in town, except maybe companies that print posters, will take your image and scale it up to a larger size for you.

I have a 20x30" photo on my wall that was taken with a 4.1 MP camera and looks great as long as you don't get too close (within about a foot). I know the photographer gave it to a professional lab to do, though. It was for a show in the Contact photo festival in Toronto a few years back.

Lately I have been doing prints in the darkroom at 11x14" and have been very happy with the results. I don't think I'm going to go any bigger in the short term for my own work.

Thanks for the help....and confusion! lol. I think for now I'll just stick with the 11x14's....

11x14 is a really nice size.

That it is.

Are you going to enter any here?

Ahh...something yes, again what size....not sure. I'm trying to remember what other people did last year....I only did 8x10s.

Um.... Well, this reply is so late it's probably not helpful for your original purpose but hopefully it helps in the future.

First off... Nando nailed it when he mentioned "viewing distance". No one is going to look at a print bigger than 11x14 any closer than a foot or two away. (well, photographers might)
If it's going to be a large print hung in a large room with something keeping the viewer from going right up to the print,(couch, chair, hung over fireplace...) you might be fine with going bigger. Those massive billboards in cities have golfball sized pixels showing.
That said, if you're entering it in a contest, that may be a different story.
I think that Nando's solution about having crops printed would definitely give you a good idea of how messy the image might look up close.

As for printers, if you're looking for professional quality archival printing, I don't think I would go anywhere in town. I think that the best printer I've found here in town is Custom Color Photo, but I have had a few small issues from her print jobs.
If I had to suggest a printer for gallery quality prints, I'd recommend Proulx Bros. in Ottawa. They're far and away the best I've ever seen. They can also do archival lightjet prints on actual color photo paper.

Between myself and the dozens of photographers I know that use them, no one has ever had any issue at all. Perfect color, contrast and cleanliness.

Hope that helps.

Thank you guys for all you help! I'm looking back and trying to figure out more specifics re which lens, etc. The frustrating part is that it seems every time I change a lens, even if everything has been clean prior, and it's 'optimum' lens changing conditions I get spots. Keeps making me wonder if I'm doing something wrong!? (Or it could just be my shitty luck...lol.)

neon beer signs
Bullion Bars