Prepping Large Prints???

kwilton

Hi all,

I am planning to order 9 of the 30x45" prints in box frames that EZ Prints offers for a client that lives out of state and am a bit befuddled at the best way to prep my files. Most printers I have used for large format printing here where I live require that you do your own up-res'ing, noise reduction and sharpening corrections, unless you pay for custom hand correction. I did all these things, as well as considerable work with color, exposure, and even added back some minimal noise texture, spending hours to get the files looking their best. The files I then tried to upload were well over the 24MB limit that Smugmug has for supported files. When I asked customer support about this, they told me to go back and upload the files in the resolution they were out of camera...this requires me going back to the source files and completely re-editing them. I am willing to do this, but am concerned about making sure it is done correctly. I am especially concerned about how noise reduction and sharpening is handled, since I shot these files RAW. My understanding is that noise correction and sharpening should be the final step, after the file is converted to the resolution you want to print at...should I do my noise correction, sharpening and texture adding of the lower resolution files and just pray that EZ Print's up-res'ing doesn't mess it up? Help!!

Thanks,

Kari

Andy

Kari, link me to a representative file and I'll tell you what to do. Thanks.

kwilton

re: prepping large prints
Here's the full photo:
http://wiltonevents.smugmug.com/Pers/hawaii/14854066_ZoL9Y#1133892570_hLHCL-A-LB

Here's a full-res detail, after noise reduction, sharpening, and a bit of grain was added back:
http://wiltonevents.smugmug.com/Pers/hawaii/14854066_ZoL9Y#1133891981_bH8gi-A-LB

SteveM

kwilton wrote: »

Here's the full photo:
http://wiltonevents.smugmug.com/Pers/hawaii/14854066_ZoL9Y#1133892570_hLHCL-A-LB

Here's a full-res detail, after noise reduction, sharpening, and a bit of grain was added back:
http://wiltonevents.smugmug.com/Pers/hawaii/14854066_ZoL9Y#1133891981_bH8gi-A-LB

Hi Kari,

I'm Steve, one of the image specialists here at SmugMug. Andy asked me to have a look at your file and weigh in.

We do recommend that you upload as-close-to out of camera resolution as possible. Both of our labs use extremely sophisticated algorithms that most consumer or pro level software cannot match.

Looking at the file you have uploaded, SmugMug resized it to 48MP, and it should print fine as-is. I would still very highly recommend ordering one regular paper test print, even if it's a bit smaller than your final 9 print sizes, shipped to you to be sure this is how you want your artistic intention represented.

kwilton

Thanks, Steve. That helps. However, I'd like to know for my future endeavors, what my workflow approach should be for large prints like this. Should I noise reduce and sharpen my files at the in-camera resolution (before EZ prints up-res'es it to print?) or should I leave them unsharpened?

SteveM wrote: »

Hi Kari,

I'm Steve, one of the image specialists here at SmugMug. Andy asked me to have a look at your file and weigh in.

We do recommend that you upload as-close-to out of camera resolution as possible. Both of our labs use extremely sophisticated algorithms that most consumer or pro level software cannot match.

Looking at the file you have uploaded, SmugMug resized it to 48MP, and it should print fine as-is. I would still very highly recommend ordering one regular paper test print, even if it's a bit smaller than your final 9 print sizes, shipped to you to be sure this is how you want your artistic intention represented.

SteveM

Either should print great, however, for the larger format prints, if you want ultimate control over sharpening, stick with editing larger sizes closer to actual print size. 48MP (SmugMug's limit) is plenty for any print size.