I'm a Pro, but will it print!

gfw123 · September 3, 2009

I'm a 'pro' smugmug account holder but a rank amateur in every other way. :-)

Thanks so a soft hearted friend and brother I have made over $14 this year from my sales. :-)

I now want to spend all that on a large print for my wall. So, I am here asking if this photo of mine will look good at 30", 40" or maybe even larger?

Here is the link to the photo and I have attached a 100% crop from the center from the original.

http://www.gregorywrightphotography.com/Landscapes/Landscapes-Abstracts-Plants/7827095_2A5xG/1/#510077395_YDPWG-A-LB

I don't know much about sharpening, so I can always go back to the RAW image and try again.

Thanks in advance for any info from real pros,
--greg.

MT Stringer · September 3, 2009

The way your account is set up, looks like 24 x 36 is the largest size available.

Mike

gfw123 wrote:

I'm a 'pro' smugmug account holder but a rank amateur in every other way. :-)

Thanks so a soft hearted friend and brother I have made over $14 this year from my sales. :-)

I now want to spend all that on a large print for my wall. So, I am here asking if this photo of mine will look good at 30", 40" or maybe even larger?

Here is the link to the photo and I have attached a 100% crop from the center from the original.

http://www.gregorywrightphotography.com/Landscapes/Landscapes-Abstracts-Plants/7827095_2A5xG/1/#510077395_YDPWG-A-LB

I don't know much about sharpening, so I can always go back to the RAW image and try again.

Thanks in advance for any info from real pros,
--greg.

Andy · September 3, 2009

Hi Greg, that photo is pretty soft. I wouldn't print it that big, I'm sorry

Pupator · September 3, 2009

Andy wrote:

Hi Greg, that photo is pretty soft. I wouldn't print it that big, I'm sorry

Greg,

Andy is right - that image is way too soft to print big. But, looking through your galleries your photos are plenty sharp to print large, so I'm not sure what you did wrong in your post-processing.

Examples:

gfw123 · September 3, 2009

Pupator wrote:

Greg,

Andy is right - that image is way too soft to print big. But, looking through your galleries your photos are plenty sharp to print large, so I'm not sure what you did wrong in your post-processing.

I am not sure either. But, I have practically no experience at printing or sharpening, so I am still learning. Looking at the raw files in Aperture I see that for most of my uploads I did not sharpen at all. Just kicks I turned on sharpening and uploaded another copy of one of my 'needle' pictures. I think this appears much sharper then my first one. Here is the gallery link and a 100% crop from the middle.

http://www.gregorywrightphotography.com/Landscapes/Landscapes-Abstracts-Plants/7827095_2A5xG/1/#638886914_iJv5q-A-LB

If you look at the X3 version do you see that blue 'box-i-ness' around the top of the needle? That really isn't going to print well is it? Will that show up on paper? Should I export in something besides JPEG? I know I exported at the highest quality.

thanks again for everyone's help.
--greg.

I think I am losing quality on the 100% crops here because of the size limit, I decrease the JPEG quality in order to upload to the forums.

gfw123 · September 3, 2009

I just turned on 'O' on the gallery viewer, so forget about the 100% crops, you can just go look at them.

--greg.

Art Scott · September 3, 2009

gfw123 wrote:

I think I am losing quality on the 100% crops here because of the size limit, I decrease the JPEG quality in order to upload to the forums.

there is absolutely not any reason to change your quality to upload to the forum from your SM site...none.......

If you want to go big on a few prints go get a trial version of Genuine Fractals.....they allow you to uprez and keep approx 20 files.......so pick you 20 best....if you have not done any sharpening yet then run thru GF and go back add a touch of sharpening thru unsharp mask (if you have photoshop.....I am sure other post processing software has something comparable) and make that huge wall print.......the new version can uprez a good file approx 800 to 1000%......my norm is to take my files as close to 8x10 as i can get at 300 to 425dpi and then uprez to 30 x 40 inches or larger if a client wants......I have fantastic pix off an 8mp p/s that spits out 30x 40's just for fun......

Pupator · September 4, 2009

I've printed my images Huge. I've got a 6' long pano on my wall. I've got dozens and dozens of 16x20 prints. I've never had to use any up-rezing software and they look incredible.

My workflow is RAW to 90% quality JPEG in Lightroom. Normal unsharp mask is the only sharpening I've used.

I'm a Pro, but will it print!

Comments