Printing a photo

[elster]

I have been emailed a photo of a friend flying for last time.

It is 215kb as a .jpg, would this be able to increase to a large size so I could print it and frame it?

If so what kind of size?

Edited by elster on Tuesday 6th January 19:04

[moleamol]

215k is not a lot of information stored. It depends on a number of factors such as how it has been saved etc etc. How many pixels in the picture? How big do you want it?

[V8mate]

A .jpg is a compressed image, so won't appreciate being enlarged very much at all without significant loss of clarity.

Sorry

[elster]

moleamol said:

215k is not a lot of information stored. It depends on a number of factors such as how it has been saved etc etc. How many pixels in the picture? How big do you want it?

Well was hoping to put it on wall at airfield so a reasonable size.

Has been emailed to me by someone who I can't seem to get in touch with anymore.

How can I see the quality?

[moleamol]

elster said:

moleamol said:

215k is not a lot of information stored. It depends on a number of factors such as how it has been saved etc etc. How many pixels in the picture? How big do you want it?

Well was hoping to put it on wall at airfield so a reasonable size.

Has been emailed to me by someone who I can't seem to get in touch with anymore.

How can I see the quality?

Right click on the icon for it and then go to properties. Ideally you need the original but let's not give up yet, there are possible ways around getting something half decent.

[TWSTEEL]

You could always enlarge it and print it onto heavily textured paper and maybe play around with the colours and sharpness a bit to produce an impressionist type print. If nicely framed with decent quality mounting card these can look quite effective.

[Silver993tt]

elster said:

moleamol said:

215k is not a lot of information stored. It depends on a number of factors such as how it has been saved etc etc. How many pixels in the picture? How big do you want it?

Well was hoping to put it on wall at airfield so a reasonable size.

Has been emailed to me by someone who I can't seem to get in touch with anymore.

How can I see the quality?

If you try and enlarge it using one of a number of programs, Adobe Photoshop for example, you will see if the quality deteriorates. Ideally, you need the file in .gif or .tiff format in order not to lose detail as you enlarge the photo.

[Bee_Jay]

Need to know the dimensions of it i.e. 1000x2000 pixels, viewing properties of the file in windows will tell you this, you may need to click on 'advanced'

At that size, doesn't sound like a whole lot of quality. Size you can blow up to depends on the distance it will be viewed from...

Best to get this moved to the photography forum.

ROADRUNNER3 (Tim) runs a business printing things big, so may be able to give you an idea of how big it will go with reasonable quality.

[VxDuncan]

The size of the file says nothing of the resolution. It might be okay, might not. And the fact that it's compressed doesn't simply mean it can't be printed! Try and find the resoultion of the image (in Windows right click the file and it should be under properties). That will give a better idea. Depending on the level of compression it could be easily big engouh to print quite large, or not. In the case of jpg's a large resolution file at high level of compression will look / print far better than a low resolution file that's hardly compressed, for the same file size.
Also depends on the subject - jpgs are great for subtle changes in colour and tone (such as skies, skin tones), but not so good for something with lots of edges (such as roof tiles, scales etc).


For small prints work on 300dpi (typical magazine print res), so sivide the pixel dimensions by 300 to give you the size in inches at 300dpi. You can normally get away with 200dpi for less critical things and lower resolutions for larger prints (as you will be further away).

Hope that helps a bit!

[miniman]

Depends how big you want it and what software you have access to. I would recommend contacting Tim @ Fluid Images (www.fluid-images.co.uk) (or via his profile) as he is a top chap and has the kind of kit that would make the most of what you have. He can also make you a bloody superb canvas print of it too.

[VxDuncan]

Silver993tt said:

elster said:

moleamol said:

215k is not a lot of information stored. It depends on a number of factors such as how it has been saved etc etc. How many pixels in the picture? How big do you want it?

Well was hoping to put it on wall at airfield so a reasonable size.

Has been emailed to me by someone who I can't seem to get in touch with anymore.

How can I see the quality?

If you try and enlarge it using one of a number of programs, Adobe Photoshop for example, you will see if the quality deteriorates. Ideally, you need the file in .gif or .tiff format in order not to lose detail as you enlarge the photo.

DON'T use a .gif file. Only supports 256 colours so forget it for any photos, ever. (save it for vector graphics).

In your application (large wall print) 72dpi is normal - can probably get away with 60 dpi if is really large (ie 3m across).

[markoos]

I do some image manipulation/restoration etc. If you like I could take a look at it, see what size it could be upped to before it starts to break up.

[elster]

Bee_Jay said:

Need to know the dimensions of it i.e. 1000x2000 pixels, viewing properties of the file in windows will tell you this, you may need to click on 'advanced'

At that size, doesn't sound like a whole lot of quality. Size you can blow up to depends on the distance it will be viewed from...

Best to get this moved to the photography forum.

ROADRUNNER3 (Tim) runs a business printing things big, so may be able to give you an idea of how big it will go with reasonable quality.

Sorry never been in photography. Didn't know.

I can't seem to check out the size of it. I'm on a dumb windows PC. Can't seem to find out how to check size.

[moleamol]

elster said:

Bee_Jay said:

Need to know the dimensions of it i.e. 1000x2000 pixels, viewing properties of the file in windows will tell you this, you may need to click on 'advanced'

At that size, doesn't sound like a whole lot of quality. Size you can blow up to depends on the distance it will be viewed from...

Best to get this moved to the photography forum.

ROADRUNNER3 (Tim) runs a business printing things big, so may be able to give you an idea of how big it will go with reasonable quality.

Sorry never been in photography. Didn't know.

I can't seem to check out the size of it. I'm on a dumb windows PC. Can't seem to find out how to check size.

Right click, properties and then the summary tab.

[elster]

markoos said:

I do some image manipulation/restoration etc. If you like I could take a look at it, see what size it could be upped to before it starts to break up.

Cheers

here i have uploaded the pic

http://www.wikiupload.com/download_page.php?id=865...

[moleamol]

elster said:

markoos said:

I do some image manipulation/restoration etc. If you like I could take a look at it, see what size it could be upped to before it starts to break up.

Cheers

here i have uploaded the pic

http://www.wikiupload.com/download_page.php?id=865...

Markoos should be able to get that to a decent size I would think, it's a lot better than the 210kb suggests.

[elster]

moleamol said:

elster said:

Bee_Jay said:

Need to know the dimensions of it i.e. 1000x2000 pixels, viewing properties of the file in windows will tell you this, you may need to click on 'advanced'

At that size, doesn't sound like a whole lot of quality. Size you can blow up to depends on the distance it will be viewed from...

Best to get this moved to the photography forum.

ROADRUNNER3 (Tim) runs a business printing things big, so may be able to give you an idea of how big it will go with reasonable quality.

Sorry never been in photography. Didn't know.

I can't seem to check out the size of it. I'm on a dumb windows PC. Can't seem to find out how to check size.

Right click, properties and then the summary tab.

Ah here we are

width - 1024
height - 575
resolution - 72 dpi
bit depth - 24

[moleamol]

elster said:

moleamol said:

elster said:

Bee_Jay said:

Need to know the dimensions of it i.e. 1000x2000 pixels, viewing properties of the file in windows will tell you this, you may need to click on 'advanced'

At that size, doesn't sound like a whole lot of quality. Size you can blow up to depends on the distance it will be viewed from...

Best to get this moved to the photography forum.

ROADRUNNER3 (Tim) runs a business printing things big, so may be able to give you an idea of how big it will go with reasonable quality.

Sorry never been in photography. Didn't know.

I can't seem to check out the size of it. I'm on a dumb windows PC. Can't seem to find out how to check size.

Right click, properties and then the summary tab.

Ah here we are

width - 1024
height - 575
resolution - 72 dpi
bit depth - 24

I'm looking at it on a 19" monitor and it looks pretty good at full size. I reckon someone will be able to get a decent A4ish print out of it. Beyond that my graphics ability gives way to my computer knowledge.

[Bee_Jay]

I reckon you could get that up to A0 with some decent image interpolating software like Genuine Fractals.

As I said before, ask Tim at Fluid - he has a copy of the software...

[markoos]

Okay, I'll give it a whirl - but no promises!