How big of a print can I make?

[bridgesro]

Sorry if I posted this in the wrong area. I want to make a couple prints of my photos out, but I'm not sure how big of a photo I can print out. The dimensions of the photos are 4000 x 2649.

Thanks!

[Sweetlifephoto]

I have printed 40"x60" from that size file. That is big enough to print as large as you want. If you are going that big you might need to resample in PS when you increase the dimensions.

[Jonbar18]

Technically, you could make a 10000000" x 10000000". It'll just look like shit (not to mention cost a king's ransom). The main factor is DPI (dots per inch), which is basically a measure of resolution. Most people recommend 300 DPI, meaning you would print a picture where each inch has 300 dots (in this example ~ 13x9)
Then again, 300 isn't always required/recommended. Billboards have huge images, so they are printed at way lower resolutions (say something like 60 DPI), but because it is viewed from a distance, it still looks fine.

[ccting]

I think if your camera is 1.5 crop factor camera, then divide the dimension with the crop factor.

I believe the 4000/1.5 x 2649/1.5 (resolution / (crop factor X DPI))

4000/1.5/600 X 2649/1.5/600 = 4.4X 2.94 (fine print)
4000/1.5/200 X 2649/1.5/200 = 13.3 X 8.83 (ok quality print)

Sweetlifephoto is a phtographer, i am sure he has the 35mm camera... I am using D5100 with smaller sensor with 1.5 crop, therefore you need to consider the crop factor for print.
Some compact camera has high resolution but with small sensor, so you need to consider the crop factor.. With same resolution, their image may not as clear as those with bigger sensor.

I believe you need to take the distance between the picture and viewers too.. so.. you just get the right print size by ignoring this factor. You can have10000000" x 10000000" print size if the viewers are looking at your picture from the moon, with nice quality.. ;D.

Fine/ok print size X 57.3 X distance in feet
-----------------------------------------------------
Angular size (<25 degree)

Given angular size = 20 degree and distance between subject viewer = 10000000 feet
Assumption: within 25 angular size, and light travels without problem via air, smoke, or any medium that disrupts viewing, or even better for assumption that the earth is flat

print size = (4000/1.5/200)* 57.3*1000000/20 X (2649/1.5/200)* 57.3*10000000 feet /20

= ... X ... (calculate yourself)

it is same for very large advertisement TV. You go extremely near and you see all the "DOT" with poor quality. But when you are far, you can't see the "DOT" with much better quality. You should know your eyes have zoom limitation and for far things you use Gestalt theory - principle of promixity & Prägnanz.. unless you use zoom lenses,, that is different story ;D

And , if you see earth from moon, beautiful print.. but when you move nearer to earth, you see many ugly surfaces...

Therefore, distance also affects the DPI too.

New DPI = DPI /(57.3 X distance in feet X Angular size). For example: 600 dpi / (57.3 X 10000000 X 20)
= hahhaa..

At this stage you need to evaluate viewers' eyes capability in S/M 10/20/30/40/50/60. So get the average MTF curve of your target viewers' eyes...

Just my opinion and i never print pictures LOL

There are so many confounding factors (occupation - artist, engineer, etc) ... who knows... A professional photographer may think the print is NOT OK, but for ok for an old retired teacher. Then to simplify it, use questionnaires. Have different size of print, take survey from your target viewers.

Finally i suggest you read the Academic Journal of Perceptual Science..

To conclude:
a) The more distance between viewer and print, the larger you can print
b) The more distance, the less DPI required
c) I think you should not ignore the camera crop factor. Resolution alone does not guarantee the perceptual quality.
d) You should not ignore confounding factors (e.g. target client's occupation, etc), client's quality requirement, intention of print (Do you want client to see holistically or scan through?)
e) Available technology, costs, and ROI


"I print virtually in my mind"

[IABoomer]

No, you don't have to take the crop factor into consideration. You've got 12 million pixels of information, regardless of the sensor size.

I've printed a 20x30" from my 12MP D5000 and it's fantastic. The other thing to consider is, as you print larger, you typically view it from farther away, so the loss of detail may not be as significant as you think.

I'd say you'd probably want to stay equal to or higher than 100 pixels per inch, or 40 x 26 or smaller.

[Madog]

Originally Posted by IABoomer

No, you don't have to take the crop factor into consideration. You've got 12 million pixels of information, regardless of the sensor size.

I've printed a 20x30" from my 12MP D5000 and it's fantastic. The other thing to consider is, as you print larger, you typically view it from farther away, so the loss of detail may not be as significant as you think.

I'd say you'd probably want to stay equal to or higher than 100 pixels per inch, or 40 x 26 or smaller.

+1
I've had acceptable 16x20 prints from a 3mpix cam viewed from 4' away right around 100 dpi.
Printing > Which Resolution? > Long Answer > 1 - Print Size & Viewing Distance The print size/ quality/ viewing distance thing explained differently, with a chart if you're not down with all the math.

[bridgesro]

Can't say I understand all the technical aspects of things, but I kind of got the pixels and DPI bit. Is there a way to find/change the DPI of a photo? I'd like to make an 11 x 14 print out of the photo if possible. I shoot with a D5100, and the normal photo dimensions are larger, but for some reason the program I used to touch up the photos shrunk them without me knowing it o.O

[Jonbar18]

Originally Posted by bridgesro

Can't say I understand all the technical aspects of things, but I kind of got the pixels and DPI bit. Is there a way to find/change the DPI of a photo? I'd like to make an 11 x 14 print out of the photo if possible. I shoot with a D5100, and the normal photo dimensions are larger, but for some reason the program I used to touch up the photos shrunk them without me knowing it o.O

a) the DPI isn't something you change (although most softwares do let you change it, which is really stupid because it doesn't actually do anything). Its the ratio of sizeixels, so it is only set when you actually print the picture

b) 11x14 should be fine easily. Its a little less than 300 DPI (~280DPIx 240), but even then, that should make a perfectly fine image. Unless you are a pixel peeper and like to see everything from 3 inches away, and check every single pixel for sharpness, you're fine. Although you might have a problem printing that exact size, because its not the native aspect ratio (height:width)

[kirbinster]

I've printed 20" x 30" with images that I have partially cropped from my D5000 and D300 and they have come out great.

[bridgesro]

Thanks for the answers everyone! 20+ inches is quite out there for me right now, but knowing I could do that if I wanted to is a load off my mind, lol!