Printing Service that accepts non 300DPI

[Deleted member 95430]

All the sites I look to print want the the files in 300DPI. Natively this restricts how big an image I can print without using enlarging software or them altering the file if I send a lower res one.

I do not want to print at home so does anyone know any printers that allow you to send different file ppi sizes

Or does it not matter and I wouldnt be able to tell the difference anyway

A use case would be a 26MP file from a fuji at 40 *32 inches lets say which id be hanging over the fireplace

 

[ecoleman]

You mean PPI not DPI. DPI is a printer resolution.

When you are sending a digital file PPI means nothing. You can not send a file with x number of PPI.
Your just sending them an image of X by Y pixels.

 

[Harlequin565]

Do you use Lightroom? The quickest and least hassle would likely be to (for any image) set up an Export rule that includes the below settings (example is for a 15x12 inch print)

Lightroom auto-upscales the image to give it enough pixels to meet the 300ppi for the given print size.



For a print that big, 300ppi is overkill unless viewers are going to get their nose up against the paper. Print companies often ask for 300ppi (and freely interchange dpi for ppi) to prevent someone sending in a cropped snap from their 2007 iPhone that they want blowing up to A2. When it looks rubbish they complain, hence the companies putting warnings on upload web pages.

It's unusual for them to prevent you uploading smaller resolutions, but quite normal to see a warning.

Whether you can tell the difference will depend on your eyesight. I read an article stating that the human eye can not discern anything better than about 800dpi at 4 inches. But as you get further from the image, your ability to resolve drops quite dramatically. 300dpi is roughly "indiscernable" at the standard "reading" distance of 12" in print, whereas a cinema screen has about 7ppi IIRC.

I did a big pano print that ended up being about 90ppi and it looked fine to me. But my eyesight isn't the greatest! I've done A4 test prints at 300, 150 and 75 and was unable to tell the difference too. Your mileage will (of course) vary. My suggestion would be to get a smaller (cheaper) print done at the same resolution (or get a 6x4 or A4 section of your larger print) and see if it's good enough. Just remember that the viewing distance makes quite a difference. At 6ft (a standard telly distance) the human eye can't resolve better than about 50ppi - and that's with 20/20 vision.

 

[Deleted member 95430]

Ah yes always get those the wrong way round

So am I safe to assume if i order a size larger than 300dpi would allow (in terms of pixels) would they just print at smaller dpi?

 

[Deleted member 95430]

Do you use Lightroom? The quickest and least hassle would likely be to (for any image) set up an Export rule that includes the below settings (example is for a 15x12 inch print)

Lightroom auto-upscales the image to give it enough pixels to meet the 300ppi for the given print size.

View attachment 381988

For a print that big, 300ppi is overkill unless viewers are going to get their nose up against the paper. Print companies often ask for 300ppi (and freely interchange dpi for ppi) to prevent someone sending in a cropped snap from their 2007 iPhone that they want blowing up to A2. When it looks rubbish they complain, hence the companies putting warnings on upload web pages.

It's unusual for them to prevent you uploading smaller resolutions, but quite normal to see a warning.

Whether you can tell the difference will depend on your eyesight. I read an article stating that the human eye can not discern anything better than about 800dpi at 4 inches. But as you get further from the image, your ability to resolve drops quite dramatically. 300dpi is roughly "indiscernable" at the standard "reading" distance of 12" in print, whereas a cinema screen has about 7ppi IIRC.

I did a big pano print that ended up being about 90ppi and it looked fine to me. But my eyesight isn't the greatest! I've done A4 test prints at 300, 150 and 75 and was unable to tell the difference too. Your mileage will (of course) vary. My suggestion would be to get a smaller (cheaper) print done at the same resolution (or get a 6x4 or A4 section of your larger print) and see if it's good enough. Just remember that the viewing distance makes quite a difference. At 6ft (a standard telly distance) the human eye can't resolve better than about 50ppi.

I use capture one so assume can do the same.

So for a print that big I would send in say a file at 200 dpi , accept the warning and let their printer take care of the rest. They wont have to upscale

 

[Harlequin565]

Ah yes always get those the wrong way round

So am I safe to assume if i order a size larger than 300dpi would allow (in terms of pixels) would they just print at smaller dpi?

You'd need to check their smallprint (or ring them) but I assume they'd just print at the resolution you sent. If you sent them a 6000x4000 Fuji file and asked for it at 40x20 inches, you'd get 200 ppi (which would be fine probably). I doubt they'd upscale it without asking you.