i am working with slides at the moment and want to blow them up to make large prints. obviously there are problems with pixel quality etc. wjat are the best methods to use when trying to complete this process? all help will be appreciated. ty
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how to create large prints from small slides?
- Thread starter helsinkilegend
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well what do you class as a large print. But generally scanning negs by a dedicated negative scanner rather than a flatbed with film attachment gives the best results in my view. I also would not scan below 2500dpi, realistically I would be looking at 3000+ for anything above A3 to allow for cropping etc when using a 35mm negative.
if these are photographic slides, you can just take them to a print-house and get them enlarged photographically. that will yield the best results. no need to convert them to pixels unless you want to play with the image.
large prints
if you do opt to scan them, I agree with the first poster: a dedicated film scanner will yield better results than a flatbed.
In any case, what you want to do is figure out the resolution you will need to scan the image(s) at to yield your size. A resolution of 240-300dpi is best; however, once you get into oversize posters and/or billboard sizes, because they are being viewed at longer distances, the dpi can be as low as 100 to 150 in most cases. If you are going to have them printed professionally, and not do them yourself, the printer should be able to tell you the resolution that their plotter prints at.
Anyways, an example would be that you want to print a 18" x 24" size of an image. To get an acceptable printout at that size, you would need a minimum of 4,320dpi x 5,760dpi (at 240dpi) or 5,400dpi x 7,200dpi (at 300dpi). Also, you need to make sure that the scanner can handle those resolutions natively and not through interpolation, which just adds pixels.
if you do opt to scan them, I agree with the first poster: a dedicated film scanner will yield better results than a flatbed.
In any case, what you want to do is figure out the resolution you will need to scan the image(s) at to yield your size. A resolution of 240-300dpi is best; however, once you get into oversize posters and/or billboard sizes, because they are being viewed at longer distances, the dpi can be as low as 100 to 150 in most cases. If you are going to have them printed professionally, and not do them yourself, the printer should be able to tell you the resolution that their plotter prints at.
Anyways, an example would be that you want to print a 18" x 24" size of an image. To get an acceptable printout at that size, you would need a minimum of 4,320dpi x 5,760dpi (at 240dpi) or 5,400dpi x 7,200dpi (at 300dpi). Also, you need to make sure that the scanner can handle those resolutions natively and not through interpolation, which just adds pixels.