Print size

[Wheels]

Is there a method thats used to determine how big a print can be by the size of the image file?

 

[admirable]

http://www.dscolourlabs.co.uk/digital_photo_printing.cfm

 

[Wheels]

http://www.dscolourlabs.co.uk/digital_photo_printing.cfm

Thanks Jim I have been googling for an hour

 

[snappingsam]

are you talking about the magnification or the ratio (length of sides)

if its the ratio - most dslr are 2:3 - so the long side is 50% longer than the short.

If you are talking about how big you can make it - it depends on what the content of the image is - and the viewing distance - generally the bigger the print - the further away you look at it... so it contains the same amount of info - look at very close and you'll see artifacts etc - so it depends on what the image is - if its a group photo it needs to be looked at closer than say, a seascape....

Now, if you are talking about making a 16x20 from an iphone - or a file that's been downsampled for facebook, it will be small...

A quick guide - you'll not want to go below 100ppi - so a file that is 1000 pixels long you wouldn't want to make bigger than 10" - and ideal is 300ppi - so that same file at best quality will print 3.3" long

If you are printing onto gloss paper it will show the difference quite clearly - onto canvas, not so much...