ashfaque
Learning
Hello everyone,
A friend of mine wants to print some of my LX5 photos. He wants to put them on the walls of his house. I'd be grateful if you advise me on the followings:
Ashfaque
A friend of mine wants to print some of my LX5 photos. He wants to put them on the walls of his house. I'd be grateful if you advise me on the followings:
- what is the maximum size I can get from an LX5 image.
- some places for print and bind - I'm in Nottingham, UK.
- I guess I'll have to use 100% JPG conversion (without compression) whilst Lightroom conversion. Am I correct? FYI, they are a mixture of B&W and colour - please see my gallery.
- I'd be grateful if you can pick 5-10 pictures from there meant for his house wall. I asked him which ones he likes, - he then requested me to pick the bests. But I like most of them apart from those early green ones (in the gallery.
- what else should I be doing?
Ashfaque
ashfaque
Learning
anyone, please.
Sparrow
Veteran
1) sorry, no idea, depends on your standards
2) and 3) try this place, http://www.proamimaging.com/ , but you do need to do your own pre-press
4) I'm with your friend, the choice is up to you I think
2) and 3) try this place, http://www.proamimaging.com/ , but you do need to do your own pre-press
4) I'm with your friend, the choice is up to you I think
NLewis
Established
Hi,
If your shots are at the base ISO, then you can probably go up to about 11x14 with the LX5. It depends on your standards. I have a 20x24 pic from a similar PS camera (S90), but that particular photo does not demand high resolution. If your shots are well above the base ISO, ISO400 perhaps, then maybe stick with around 8x10. Above ISO400 I probably wouldn't bother, or go with about 5x7 if you must.
However, if the basic file quality is good (low ISO), then you can theoretically make even very large prints like 24x36. The print will be rather soft if you look at it closely, but usually you view prints of this size from a distance so it evens out.
Use jpegs, it's fine.
I use an online pro-quality photo printing service, specifically Adoramapix.com in the U.S. The quality is very high, and the price is reasonable. Look for something in the U.K. as shipping for big prints can add up.
Making prints is not expensive. A 12x18 costs about $5.50 and an 8x10 costs about $1.25. A huge 20x30 is $18.00. Make a few and see how they look, you can always tweak it and order more.
Remember that the dimensions of the print will probably not match the aspect ratio of your picture. You will have to either crop the picture or crop the print, literally cutting off the blank bits, or at least covering them with the frame mat. If you crop the print, you might need a custom cut mat. I think the LX5 has a 4:3 ratio, so you might look at sizes like 9x12 that are in this ratio. I usually crop the picture in Aperture, and render a jpeg of the correct dimensions. If you are using a mat, you probably also want a 1/4" blank border around the edges.
Be sure to buy a frame as well. A frame in a standardized size is not expensive -- $30-$60 for a 12x18, maybe $15 for an 8x10.
By the way, you can get printing on BW paper these days, which might be good for your BW shots.
If your shots are at the base ISO, then you can probably go up to about 11x14 with the LX5. It depends on your standards. I have a 20x24 pic from a similar PS camera (S90), but that particular photo does not demand high resolution. If your shots are well above the base ISO, ISO400 perhaps, then maybe stick with around 8x10. Above ISO400 I probably wouldn't bother, or go with about 5x7 if you must.
However, if the basic file quality is good (low ISO), then you can theoretically make even very large prints like 24x36. The print will be rather soft if you look at it closely, but usually you view prints of this size from a distance so it evens out.
Use jpegs, it's fine.
I use an online pro-quality photo printing service, specifically Adoramapix.com in the U.S. The quality is very high, and the price is reasonable. Look for something in the U.K. as shipping for big prints can add up.
Making prints is not expensive. A 12x18 costs about $5.50 and an 8x10 costs about $1.25. A huge 20x30 is $18.00. Make a few and see how they look, you can always tweak it and order more.
Remember that the dimensions of the print will probably not match the aspect ratio of your picture. You will have to either crop the picture or crop the print, literally cutting off the blank bits, or at least covering them with the frame mat. If you crop the print, you might need a custom cut mat. I think the LX5 has a 4:3 ratio, so you might look at sizes like 9x12 that are in this ratio. I usually crop the picture in Aperture, and render a jpeg of the correct dimensions. If you are using a mat, you probably also want a 1/4" blank border around the edges.
Be sure to buy a frame as well. A frame in a standardized size is not expensive -- $30-$60 for a 12x18, maybe $15 for an 8x10.
By the way, you can get printing on BW paper these days, which might be good for your BW shots.
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Jamie123
Veteran
The Print Space seems like a good place in the UK. I haven't tried them but their prices seem quite good (£10 for a 11x14 C-Print seems reasonable).
ashfaque
Learning
Thanks a lot everyone. I've sent him 100% jpg of 6 files [4 of them are here]:
http://forums.dpreview.com/galleries/9522249668/photos/690374/p1000561-edit
http://forums.dpreview.com/galleries/9522249668/photos/1130118/p1000239-edit-edit
http://forums.dpreview.com/galleries/9522249668/photos/627797/a-calm-afternoon
http://forums.dpreview.com/galleries/9522249668/photos/1133701/autumn-sepia
I'll forward him those website addresses.
It seems printing is more expensive in UK than NA as well.
Cheers
http://forums.dpreview.com/galleries/9522249668/photos/690374/p1000561-edit
http://forums.dpreview.com/galleries/9522249668/photos/1130118/p1000239-edit-edit
http://forums.dpreview.com/galleries/9522249668/photos/627797/a-calm-afternoon
http://forums.dpreview.com/galleries/9522249668/photos/1133701/autumn-sepia
I'll forward him those website addresses.
It seems printing is more expensive in UK than NA as well.
Cheers
Last edited:
Sparrow
Veteran
a 11x14 at Proam is £0.97 hardly expensive, I can vouch for the quality, it's perfect as long as you do the pre-press properly
ashfaque
Learning
Thanks Stewart. I'll use Proimaging for myself later. But my friend is not very keen on computer stuffs. Regardless I'll tell him about them. It's up to him how/where he prints.
I'll use Proimaging for myself later. But my friend is not very keen on computer stuffs. Regardless I'll tell him about them. It's up to him how/where he prints.
ampguy
Veteran
I like the b/w toned one of the lone duck on the pond.
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kuzano
Veteran
It's a function of the Megapixels and the math....
It's a function of the Megapixels and the math....
It appears your camera takes 10.1 Mp images at it's highest resolution. None of the images on your gallery show up as 10 Mp, even when shown at "large".
Hoping you shot the pictures originally at the camera's highest resolution, and presuming you still have the originals in your computer (or still on the memory card), for the largest print size work with the images you have at maximum resolution-10.1 Mp.
The 10.1 Mp image should be 3648x2736(10M). The largest size I saw on your gallery was 1600x1000 approx. So you won't get a very large print using your gallery prints. Likewise, sending your friend a link to the gallery prints won't give him what he needs to print large.
Now, using a simple starting math, and assuming you have not cropped your images very much and they are still near 3648x2736, you can determine a rough calculation to arrive at print size. Printing from reasonable to very good resolution, calculating anywhere from (my low) 250 to 300 PPI (pixels per inch). Most photo quality printers will top out at a bit over 300 PPI and a higher PPI is wasting ink.
So to use the basic size math on your images, 3600 divided by 300 is 12 inches in width. 2700 divided by 300 is 9 inches.
So, a basic starting point using that formula is a picture 9X12 inches.
I want to mention at this point that this is only a very rough starting point. Many manipulations, such as setting the printer for 250PPI, changing resolution of the image or others can be done during the printing process.
I agree with those who say you should easily be able to print to 11X14 (even bigger) with the images from your camera, but you need to work with the largest image the camera will shoot.
I have printed routinely up to 13X19 (my printer max) with images starting at 8 Mp. However, the manipulations alter the final quality of the image.
It sounds like you are going to use a printing service, so the biggest question they will ask if you ask for a large print sized at 11X14 is, how many megapixels is the image you are sending.
It's a function of the Megapixels and the math....
It appears your camera takes 10.1 Mp images at it's highest resolution. None of the images on your gallery show up as 10 Mp, even when shown at "large".
Hoping you shot the pictures originally at the camera's highest resolution, and presuming you still have the originals in your computer (or still on the memory card), for the largest print size work with the images you have at maximum resolution-10.1 Mp.
The 10.1 Mp image should be 3648x2736(10M). The largest size I saw on your gallery was 1600x1000 approx. So you won't get a very large print using your gallery prints. Likewise, sending your friend a link to the gallery prints won't give him what he needs to print large.
Now, using a simple starting math, and assuming you have not cropped your images very much and they are still near 3648x2736, you can determine a rough calculation to arrive at print size. Printing from reasonable to very good resolution, calculating anywhere from (my low) 250 to 300 PPI (pixels per inch). Most photo quality printers will top out at a bit over 300 PPI and a higher PPI is wasting ink.
So to use the basic size math on your images, 3600 divided by 300 is 12 inches in width. 2700 divided by 300 is 9 inches.
So, a basic starting point using that formula is a picture 9X12 inches.
I want to mention at this point that this is only a very rough starting point. Many manipulations, such as setting the printer for 250PPI, changing resolution of the image or others can be done during the printing process.
I agree with those who say you should easily be able to print to 11X14 (even bigger) with the images from your camera, but you need to work with the largest image the camera will shoot.
I have printed routinely up to 13X19 (my printer max) with images starting at 8 Mp. However, the manipulations alter the final quality of the image.
It sounds like you are going to use a printing service, so the biggest question they will ask if you ask for a large print sized at 11X14 is, how many megapixels is the image you are sending.
ashfaque
Learning
Thanks a lot for your detailed post, Kuzano. I think I kept the original (.jpg) file private. The one I sent him are the 0% compression file, from 6.75 MB (2736x2736) to 9.23 MB (3776x2520). They vary both in sizes and dimensions quite a lot because I used various aspect ratios available in LX5. Thank you again.