Question:
How much can I blow up a photo that is 5184x3456 pixels, 360 pixels per inch?
AMT
2011-06-07 23:51:58 UTC
This is simply going to be a large piece of wall art so it needs to maintain the quality when viewing from close up. 3' x 5' is what the enlarged print would need to be. Is there a way to manipulate the photo in photoshop to allow it to go larger without loss of quality? Thanks in advance.
Seven answers:
screwdriver
2011-06-08 03:42:32 UTC
You really don't need 360 PPI, PPI is the screen/file resolution the printer will be using DPI which is totally different.



There is a formula I use regularly for poster and canvas prints which is 1Mb of file size for every Inch of canvas on the longest side, this will give a file that will match what the printer needs. Any more than this will just be dumped by the printer diver. Any more than this will give a poorer image as PS will have to 'extrapolate' more to fill the file. I do it this way which guarantees the minimum of extrapolation.



In PS go to New, in the dialogue box make your units Inches and enter your 60 X 48, in the Resolution box enter the value that gives just over a 60Mb file which is 86. Press OK. You now have a canvas the print size you want at the resolution the printer needs.



With your new canvas on the screen at the resolution and size you need go into Bridge and Highlight the image you want, go to File>Place and PS will plop the image onto the canvas plumb centre, it will look small it will already have the Transform Tool selected. Holding down the Shift Key (to maintain Aspect Ratio) drag the corner 'anchor points' to fit your canvas, you can even use this to crop at this stage, you can move the image around by left clicking and dragging. It won't look good, hit the Enter Key and PS will do the 'interpolation', it will look a lot better.



You can inspect what will be laid down by the printer by double clicking the Zoom Tool (the magnifying glass icon) this will give you a 100% view, you can also use the 'Print Size' view which will be slightly smaller.



Now is the time to apply any sharpening, save the file, this is the file you take to your print house.



If you have your resolution at 360ppi it will make a massive 1.04Gb file, the point being that the printer driver will dump all but 60Mb of this (assuming the printer is using 300DPI or thereabouts), but PS will have to add loads of pixels to 'pad out' the file so there will be loads more 'invented' pixels.



I routinely print this size until recently from a 10Mp camera, the amount of detail is very good, a head in the distance just a few mm in size on the print will have shading and be recognisable. There are limits, but 5ft X 4ft isn't quite it.



I have printed billboard size pictures from my Pentax 645D with it's 40Mp sensor using this same technique.



The caveat to all this is that you image needs to be technically perfect, blown out to white or blocked out to black pixels which you would not notice on an A4 print will be amplified by the size and stick out like a sore thumb. It also tests the resolving power of your lenses, at this size any minor fault is amplified.



Chris
2016-02-29 01:13:47 UTC
You can't add more pixels. What is happening is this: Photo that is 1024 pixels wide displayed or printed at 96 DPI will be 10.66 inches wide. The same photo with the same number of pixels displayed or printed at 300 DPI will be 3.41 inches wide. So, as you can see, the more dense (more dots per inch) you display or print a photo, the smaller it will be. If you print with fewer dots per inch, it may begin to look grainy where you can see the individual dots or pixels. A standard computer monitor displays images at 96 DPI or pixels per inch.
Sopheap
2011-06-08 01:15:39 UTC
5184x3456px at 360 PPI = 14.4 x 9.6 inches = 1.2 x 0.8 feet



So to print at 3ft 4 x 5ft, the number of pixels per inch is only 86, and you'll need the 4 inches cropped to get 3ft x 5ft.



86 pixels per inch isn't good for up close. It should be at least 200. No, there's no known photo manipulation technique to extrapolate more details.
joedlh
2011-06-08 06:00:31 UTC
How close up are you talking about? A 3x5 foot print is normally going to be viewed from several feet away. The only people who look at them close up are curmudgeonly pixel-peepers. There's no pleasing them any way. I have an 8 megapixel shot from a Canon 20D blown up to 3x5 feet and on display in an aquarium. When viewed from the expected distance it looks just fine. So blow your shot up as large as you want.
2011-06-07 23:57:59 UTC
You can easily make a 3'X5' print on canvas without having to do any type of manipulation.



If you want to print on a glossier paper, you might want to look at getting a program like Genuine Fractals or BlowUp to increase resolution with minimal loss to image quality.
?
2017-02-11 00:35:56 UTC
1
Picture Taker
2011-06-08 03:51:49 UTC
Go here are read how to do a test using your image to see how it will look if you blow it up to 3' x 5'.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/2203190524/


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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