Printing 12x8s

[kipper]

I think it was discussed before about printing and what the recommended DPI is for a 12x8. I think somebody mentioned 200DPI is recommended, so that means your image should be 2400x1600 pixels. What I want to know, has anybody successfull printed a 12x8 with only 100DPI so an image of 1200x800?

It's just I've got an image that is 1200x800, can't really get anything more out of it without losing subject size in the frame. Wondered if anybody has had much success with low DPI for prints. I guess I could just suck it and see. The other question I guess, is the print labs shouldn't have any problem printing a low DPI image for the size of the print?

[KerryPierce]

I've seen reports where people were happy with prints that were less than 150dpi. If you've got a photo that is special to you, perhaps you'll be quite satisfied with it as it is.

Is it costly to have it printed to see if it meets your needs? Have you tried to uprez the file a little?

[kipper]

Nah I haven't tried to push the image up. If any body has some techniques for doing this I'd appreciate it. I know somebody posted a program that seemed to do wonders with increasing the resolution.

Printing cost for $12x8 is $4AU so about $3US

[MHD]

I had a few 8x12s done by teds the other day to compare them to the pro labs (visionn graphics) came up very well... quite happy with the quality!

Teds 8x12: 3.95

Vison graphics ~6 (from memory)

[kipper]

Yeah I use Teds, my $4 guess was a rough stab from the last one I got done there.

[Alex]

Darryl,

Not sure if you use Scott Kelbys' "Photoshop for Photographers" but he details a trick you can use re-smapling up without loosing quality. You have to re-sample 10 % at a time and it is crazy but it works. If you want I can post that section out of the book for you.

Alex

[redline]

i think most labs want 200dpi for standard photos to 400dpi for metal or high detail like writing.
i think with teds the images are compressed before there're sent off to be processed online but they still look pretty good and reliable with a good turnaround time.

- sent prints online 2:30am
- receive a wake-up call saying they're completed 10:30am

not to bad the other place i go to i have to send cds to and its about a 2-day turnaround plus 10$ shipping.

[Nnnnsic]

200dpi seems to be a good standard for printing photos.

That said, I've talked to at least one printing facility that said 72dpi for A1/B1+ prints is absolutely fine, mostly because you don't go all the close to the prints in the first place to notice the possible pixelation.

[kipper]

Well I just took a suck it and see approach and got some photos which were 1200x800 (96DPI) printed at 12x8 and they came up not too bad. One I was quite happy with, the other I wasn't so impressed. Also I've noticed the colors are very off to as I see them on my screen, something I haven't really noticed when getting people printed. These were bird photos that I were getting printed. The blues looked desaturated on my screen, and a section that was grey on my screen comes out blue in the printed photo. Yellows were also more orange. The funny thing is that when I view them at work on various monitors, we have a 21inch exactly the same as my home one, plus LCDs and the colors look the same. What color profile should I be converting my images to before printing?

Anyway I'm going to retry this photo next week but resampling the image upto 2400x1600. What programs do you guys recommend to resample?
I'm looking at Genuine Fractals 4.0, but what are some of the others that are good?