d100 printing

[LekicINC 0]

Can the d100 and its 6.1 mp have good quality prints at 20 by 24. the orginal files are in raw, so as much information as possible will be on them. Just want to make sure its not a lost cause before I start. Thanks

[jimbo1946 0]

Can the d100 and its 6.1 mp have good quality prints at 20 by 24. the orginal files are in raw, so as much information as possible will be on them. Just want to make sure its not a lost cause before I start. Thanks

 

The simple answer is... maybe. The D100 image is 3008 x 2000 pixels. If you divide 3008 pixels by 24 inches, you would be printing 125 pixels per inch on the long side. 125 pixels per inch is a little low for a good sharp print. 175 pixels per inch would give a pretty good print, but you could only make a print about 17 inches wide.

 

Photoshop has some capability to add pixels and upsize an image. In some cases, this can allow you to make a much bigger print that is acceptably sharp.

 

But you also have to consider the viewing distance. A print that would look soft with your nose almost touching it may look fine from 2-3 feet away, which would be a reasonable viewing distance for a 24-inch-wide print.

 

You mentioned wanting to get a 24" x 20" print. That size of a print would have an aspect ratio (width divided by height) of 1.20, whereas the format of a D100 image gives an aspect ratio of 1.50. So you'll either have to crop from the sides or have borders in the print. Cropping from the sides would reduce the pixels from 3008 to 2400, which would reduce your number of pixels per inch.

 

I hope I didn't sound too confusing.

[LekicINC 0]

Not confusing at all. Very well articulated and extremely helpful. I knew I was going to have to crop, and it was going to end up somewhere in 125 ppi range. Cropped it ended up being like 96, so I made the images a little smaller printed out for the client. (18"). I think they look pretty good, not as good as I hoped but acceptable. Thanks for your help.

 

The simple answer is... maybe. The D100 image is 3008 x 2000 pixels. If you divide 3008 pixels by 24 inches, you would be printing 125 pixels per inch on the long side. 125 pixels per inch is a little low for a good sharp print. 175 pixels per inch would give a pretty good print, but you could only make a print about 17 inches wide.

 

Photoshop has some capability to add pixels and upsize an image. In some cases, this can allow you to make a much bigger print that is acceptably sharp.

 

But you also have to consider the viewing distance. A print that would look soft with your nose almost touching it may look fine from 2-3 feet away, which would be a reasonable viewing distance for a 24-inch-wide print.

 

You mentioned wanting to get a 24" x 20" print. That size of a print would have an aspect ratio (width divided by height) of 1.20, whereas the format of a D100 image gives an aspect ratio of 1.50. So you'll either have to crop from the sides or have borders in the print. Cropping from the sides would reduce the pixels from 3008 to 2400, which would reduce your number of pixels per inch.

 

I hope I didn't sound too confusing.