I have a panoramic photo that I took with my phone that is 8926×1793 pixels (according to my phone). I’d like to get it, and probably some others, printed out to go on the wall.

1) How big can I go whilst keeping a decent resolution? From a quick Google, it seems that 300dpi is a good level to aim at, so basic maths gives me [8926/300] x [1793/300] = 29″ x 6″. Does that sound right? I assume if I go bigger it’ll start looking blurry?

2) Any recommendations for online outfits who are good for this sort of thing?

the prob there is that 1793 is very few pixels at all, but yes, your maths is right

Thanks. Yeah, I realise that. I think the number might be slightly bigger on the original, that figure is from the Google Photos backup which is a slightly lower resolution.

You need to factor in viewing distance. 300dpi would look fine in a photo album. If it’s going on a wall and people will be a metre away or more you could get away with 200 dpi or maybe even less.

The enlargement function in photoshop is excellent for smoothing out images instead of making them blocky. 1793 is easily enough vertical pixels with a decent enlargement! (I used to use Genuine Fractals filter but the built-in enlargement in Photoshop is a decent substitute now).

Also, printing onto canvas as opposed to photo paper will hide a multitude of sins due to the rougher finish of the material.

for a photo you’ll get away with 240dpi, could probably go a bit lower to 180.

tbh it really depends on how far away typical viewing will be.

300 dpi is magazine quality, ie you are reading it a foot or so away from your eyes so it needs to be that high res. a photo when you are looking at it from distance can be lower res..

though if people are likely to walk and view it closely, probably best sticking to 240/300 dpi.

Enlarging is alright in photoshop, if the source image is good, but I wouldn’t use it beyond 140%. use bicubic smoother for a photo. Plugins may work better but I’ve never had call to use any, so can’t recommend..

Big photos?

Thanks for the answers.

If I want to enlarge it, am I best doing it myself and then sending it to be printed, or will somewhere online do it all for me?

I don’t have Photoshop BTW.

I doubt any of the big online photo printers would get involved in sorting your artwork out, so either find someone smaller (local) or do it yourself!

Experiment with small segments of the picture on your home printer. Then you can instruct somebody to do it at the resolution you choose or go all David Hockney and make a patchwork.

What size are you hoping to printed it out at? Send it to me (email in profile) and i’ll scale it up for you (Not only do i have photoshop – i do this sort of thing for a living)

Post it up here, let the Singletrack photoshop experts sort it for you. 😆

Find a local Giclee printer, send them the file and get them to print it at whatever size they think it’ll blow up to.

Prints aren’t too expensive, I get a lot blown up for a photographer client of mine – £30ish for professionally printed on proper paper.

The limiting factor will be the quality of image rather than the number of pixels if it’s taken on a phone.

That’s good to know James….. 🙂

If you need any photography printing Steve give me a shout, we have 2 very good fine art printers locally.

Euro – thanks for the offer, I’ve mailed you with the photos for embiggening.

For all you other Photoshop comedians, go for it (assuming this link works)

That’ll be a no then. How do I link to Google photos?

These guys are good when it comes to print options and sizes and analysis of the image for suitability.

http://www.supersizeprint.co.uk/

Incoming Simon! (via mailbigfile – might take 5-10 mins as the files are pretty hefty)

I’ve made them both 150x30cm which might be a bit large but then the output quality will look better if they are reduced slightly. One image was much larger than the other so the smaller one will look more ‘touched’. I’ve sent .tif files for giving to your printer of choice and .jpg for you to view.

p.s. Hope you don’t mind but i altered the colour of both a touch as they were a bit red heavy (sorry – can’y help it 😀 )

Cheers

Marty

edit…make that about an hour or so my broadband is playing silly buggers atm

Wicked, thanks very much. I’ll take a look when I get home.

@Euro – I’ve read that making images bigger is best done in 2 or more steps rather than all at once. Can you comment on that?