Digital photos, how big?

Tim M · 14 November 2006, 14:04

I discovered last week that the uni has an inkjet printer that prints up to A0 size. I intend to abuse my status as a student and use it to print some massive boaty posters for my house.
My question is, how big can i go before they look rubbish? Most of my photos are 2mp, so what does that translate to in actual paper size? Im assuming if I print a 2mp photo in an A0 sized piece of paper it'll come out very pixalated....
Thanks!

Millermob · 14 November 2006, 14:18

I was told that a 2MP camera pic would fill a 19" pc screen before it started to pixilate, if thats any help.

Freddie

Andy Moore · 14 November 2006, 15:20

Does this help:

http://design215.com/toolbox/megapixels.php

Looks like a hugh lot of mega-pixel power is required for true photo quality at AO, given its dimensions of 46.81 x 33.11 inches!

codprawn · 14 November 2006, 16:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim M

I discovered last week that the uni has an inkjet printer that prints up to A0 size. I intend to abuse my status as a student and use it to print some massive boaty posters for my house.
My question is, how big can i go before they look rubbish? Most of my photos are 2mp, so what does that translate to in actual paper size? Im assuming if I print a 2mp photo in an A0 sized piece of paper it'll come out very pixalated....
Thanks!

Are your photos 2mp or do you mean each file is 2mb in size???

Tim M · 14 November 2006, 16:42

My photos are 2 magapixels.

Poly · 14 November 2006, 18:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim M

My photos are 2 magapixels.

then you'll need to get a new camera if you want to print big pics. "normal" prints (e.g. 6x4)will probably be OK but even at A4 sort of size you are likely to be looking a bit crap.

Andy Moore · 14 November 2006, 18:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim M

I intend to abuse my status as a student and use it to print some massive boaty posters for my house.

Thinking about it, your average poster isn't what one would call 'hi res'. Its big and colourful and hides a damp patch. So you should be able to go larger than for handheld viewing as you will be sticking 'em on a wall.

Try and see how big you can resonably go...

codprawn · 14 November 2006, 21:59

A lot depends on the camera - a lot of people are conned by the whole megapixel thing - some companies are pushing their chips to give higher megapixels but they create more noise.

I used to have a fuji finepix 2mp camera - it was brilliant and it had a 6x optical zoom lens. Sold it to a mate of mine and it still gives better results than many 5mp cameras. He has printed A4 no probs so the best thing is give it a go. A lot of posters etc you buy aren't that great close up anyway!!!

Mark Halliday · 15 November 2006, 10:56

Tim
I have a 42" (show off) HP 800 ink jet printer and I have printed a 2Mb .jpg photo at A1 without too much pixilating.
What is most important is the paper you use. Heavy coated paper will give average results, which are fine if not looked at too closely.
Hi Gloss photo paper is the dogs bits, but v £££££ at around £120.00 for a 30m roll.
You will need to set the printer to highest quality "for images" setting. The printer "bleeds" the pixels to give a less blocky print.

Also worth remembering is that most ink jet inks are not UV stable so don't expect your picture to last more than 3 years indoors, out of direct sunlight.

{Edit}
What sort of files are your pics? There is a lot more info in a 2Mb .jpg than a 2Mb .bmp. Also the amount of compression will affect the output.

Andy Moore · 15 November 2006, 11:05

If one used an image editing programme to apply a minor blur, would that help 'hide' the pixelating?

codprawn · 15 November 2006, 11:31

Yes the printer also makes a huge difference - some of the thermal wax printers were only about 300dpi but becuase of the bleeding/blurring they gave much nicer images than 1600dpi inkjets.

BogMonster · 15 November 2006, 20:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polwart

then you'll need to get a new camera if you want to print big pics. "normal" prints (e.g. 6x4)will probably be OK but even at A4 sort of size you are likely to be looking a bit crap.

I agree. My first Olympus was a 2mp and it is mostly OK at A4 size but on some details images you do notice pixelation. I moved on to a compact 4mp which though higher resolution is actually not really any better in terms of image quality, so earlier in the year I got a 9mp Fuji 9500 and that is brilliant because you can crop loads out of the picture and still end up with a 2-4mp image

Poly · 15 November 2006, 21:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Halliday

I have printed a 2Mb .jpg photo at A1 without too much pixilating.There is a lot more info in a 2Mb .jpg than a 2Mb .bmp. Also the amount of compression will affect the output.

Yes but his images are 2 megaPIXELS not 2 megaBYTES

BogMonster · 15 November 2006, 21:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polwart

Yes but his images are 2 megaPIXELS not 2 megaBYTES

9 megapixel image from my Fuji is about 2.2MB in normal mode and 4.5 in high quality JPG mode so a 2MB file must be quite a high res image

Mark Halliday · 16 November 2006, 09:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polwart

Yes but his images are 2 megaPIXELS not 2 megaBYTES

OK you are spot on. I need to go and see my Optition again, or so he keeps telling me.

Tim
email me a pic and I will play with it for you. Delivery via Church?

jyasaki · 17 November 2006, 18:48

Don't think I've ever shot 2Mp. My 5Mp enlarges to 16x20 with no degradation. Don't recall going larger.

Large images are typically meant to be viewed from a distance. You my get away with a less-than-photographic-quality image. Pick a quarter of your image and print it at the size you want, and see what happens.

If you do much image manipulation, you should open the jpg, edit, save in a lossless format, re-open and edit, etc. and then, if desired, save the final back to jpg. Jpg images lose information every time they're saved (nature of the beast.) The fewer jpg saves the better.

jky

Stoo · 17 November 2006, 20:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polwart

then you'll need to get a new camera if you want to print big pics. "normal" prints (e.g. 6x4)will probably be OK but even at A4 sort of size you are likely to be looking a bit crap.

Agreed. Remember that 'pooter screens are typically 72 dpi resolution. Inkjet printers are consderably finer resolution. I don't imagine your camera can shoot RAW images, but if so, then do so. Thee contain the greatest amount of data. Jpegs are compressed files and the image suffers accordingly....

The best thing to do is try it and experiment. The nice thing with a poster is that one looks at them from a distance, so they are perhaps a titch more forgiving...