What printer resolution do I need for large prints?

G
Posted By
Gort
Oct 7, 2006
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223
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1
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Though I have had several darkrooms in my life (none at the moment), I’m relatively new to digital photography. I recently scanned a number of my older 5" x 7" prints & after a bit of basic manipulation in PS7 would like to get them printed. They were scanned at 1200 ppi, & resized to 16.25" x 11.75". 4 are grayscale, 1 is RGB. They are .tif files, the grayscales are about 270 meg, the RGB about 600 meg. I am having trouble though finding someone to print these as I would like. There appear to be 2 types of businesses that do this, "photo labs" in places like camera shops & drug stores, none of which I have contacted are able to print at over 300 dpi, some only 72, & commercial places that are not interested in dealing with small quantities. Frankly, I’m not even sure I NEED resolution higher than 300, though these are images I plan to frame for display & which I am proud of, and I want the best image possible. Also, I have read that if the file is 1200 ppi, the printer should be at least twice this, or more. Am I off base on the resolution thing? Any helpful input appreciated.

TIA

Dan
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GE
grey_egg
Oct 11, 2006
In article ,
Dan wrote:

Though I have had several darkrooms in my life (none at the moment), I’m relatively new to digital photography. I recently scanned a number of my older 5" x 7" prints & after a bit of basic manipulation in PS7 would like to get them printed. They were scanned at 1200 ppi, & resized to 16.25" x 11.75". 4 are grayscale, 1 is RGB. They are .tif files, the grayscales are about 270 meg, the RGB about 600 meg. I am having trouble though finding someone to print these as I would like. There appear to be 2 types of businesses that do this, "photo labs" in places like camera shops & drug stores, none of which I have contacted are able to print at over 300 dpi, some only 72, & commercial places that are not interested in dealing with small quantities. Frankly, I’m not even sure I NEED resolution higher than 300, though these are images I plan to frame for display & which I am proud of, and I want the best image possible. Also, I have read that if the file is 1200 ppi, the printer should be at least twice this, or more. Am I off base on the resolution thing? Any helpful input appreciated.

TIA

Dan

I’ll take a stab having worked in a Prolab, most Lambda take 200 or 400 dpi files, most Lightjet I think are like 270, if your giving files more resolute then that the operators are probably downsizing before printing. Fuji frontier typically like 320 dpi.

Most machines only require a set lower res, but make the image appear much more resolute as a result of apparent resolution.
—
Reality-Is finding that perfect picture
and never looking back.

www.gregblankphoto.com

How to Master Sharpening in Photoshop

Give your photos a professional finish with sharpening in Photoshop. Learn to enhance details, create contrast, and prepare your images for print, web, and social media.

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