Life Size Photo?

dahn8

First, sorry if this is in the wrong section of the forum; mods you can move it where ever it needs to go.

Anyways, I have a couple who want a lifesize cardboard cutout of them to flank the wedding guest table.

Is that possible? If so, how would the quality be like and how would I go about taking / post-processing the photo to be so large?

I'm assuming I'm gonna have to send it to a printer of some sort after I blow up the photo large enough.

If it helps to know, I have a D700 with 24-70 and 70-200 f/2.8 lenses.

Thanks!

heatherfeather

Well you could do a wallhog...

And if your are a smugger you can get %15 off your order.
(discount code: kUlzR6)

Art Scott

more importantly than the cam and lenses................What processing software do you have access to??
My suggestion shoot a very tight shot of subject (lowest native ISO and proper exposure) and process......if using photoshop then under image
and image size, change the dpi to 300-400 (you want the size to be as near 8x10 as possible....
also the only box that should be ticked is the constrain proportions box) after processing (all but sharpening) run
thru Genuine Fractals to just a bit over the actual size and then sharpen and send to printer..........Doing this will give you an excellent
quality image to work with.......The files will get huge............

As to who to use for card board cut outs I have no clue......but Google might have answer for you.........

dahn8

Thanks! Yeah, I thought i mentioned but i guess i left out that i have Photoshop.

I remember making a poster before and enlarged it in increments of 110%. I guess i'll just have to do that for a very long time I'm not sure if it will happen or not but i'll let you guys know how it turns out if it does

Sam

There are several companies on the internet that can do this. In general
(many times) you will be better off sending them an original ( non up-resed file).

If you choose to up-res using Photoshop and have a Version CS3 or higher you don't need to do it in 10% steps.

The really critical issue is getting a clean sharp capture.

Sam

Art Scott

dahn8 wrote: »

Thanks! Yeah, I thought i mentioned but i guess i left out that i have Photoshop.

I remember making a poster before and enlarged it in increments of 110%. I guess i'll just have to do that for a very long time I'm not sure if it will happen or not but i'll let you guys know how it turns out if it does

GF will do 1K times better than incrementally uprezing in PS.....if you download their trial version you can save upto like 20 files......GF's trail is a fully functional working copy of the software and you can uprez and if you do not save the file after inspection it does not take off for the uprez...it only deducts the saved files.......I had the trial version of GF4 for 2 yrs before I used all the uprezes and forgot about it until I got an email from OnOne giving me a SUPER deal to upgrade from 3 to GF5.5 and i jumped on it.........then remembered I had a trial of GF4 to finish using before installing the upgrade......now since it is a one step uprez (either by percentages or by actual dimension (I do dimensions in inches) )...I uprez nearly all of my work to the max that will still upload to Smugmug.......

GF is still the best uprezing software on the market...or so the graphic arts and various photo mags say..as it still is winning all the awards for uprezing software..........

donek

I use an old free version of knesen Imagener to enlarge photos and sometimes artwork when printing on Snowboards. Digital dye sublimation can be pretty forgiving though and 96dpi is the highest resolution I need to go. It's unlikely you will be more capable of preparing your image for a print of that size than the guy actually doing the printing. He will know what is possible much better than you. I'd suggest that you deliver the sharpest image possible (without using unsharp mask or other sharpening techniques). Color correct it and deliver a hard copy proof and let the printer take care of it. If he's got a large format printer, he's undoubtedly got software for enlarging images.

dahn8

Art Scott wrote: »

GF is still the best uprezing software on the market...or so the graphic arts and various photo mags say..as it still is winning all the awards for uprezing software..........

Thanks for the recommendation. Sorry for the newbie questions but what is GF? I did a quick google search and found Genuine Fractals. Is that it?

EDIT--
I just saw your signature... i guess that answered my question Thanks for the rec.... i'm gonna go check it out!

Sam

Yes Genuine Fractals. I have GF and use it when printing to my baby large format printer if I need to increase resolution. While I don't sent a lot out for printing when I have I have sent the original file without up-ressing.

The RIPs available are very good, and the printer will know their equipment.

It would be interesting to do an experiment where an image (or crop) was sent to a printer with and without GF up-ressing.

Sam

cj99si

Fat head.

http://www.fathead.com/

sherijohnson

I would try to figure out who you are going to have make it first and then find out from them what their suggestions are to get the best results.