Canon 40D and print size

[Jabulani Jonny]

Hey guys,
Quick question here. I've never been one to do large prints from my 10mp Canon 40D. However, I am putting together a Gallery Wrap for a silent auction and I'm looking to print a 16x20 print.

To get the correct dimensions I open the RAW file in Lightroom, edit and crop to an 8x10 dimension (not size!). All it does is shave off the left and right edges to give it the proper proportions for a 16x20 (or 8x10). When I export the photo the size is 3240x2492, proper dimensions for a 16x20. However, when I pull up in PS to drop it into the gallery wrap template, my image size in inches is only roughly 12x10. Wouldn't the pixel size above be plenty large enough for a 16x20? Does it have something to do with the resolution I'm exporting with from Lightroom? For example, I used a resolution of 250 since that's the resolution the Gallery Wrap template uses. I guess if I use a resolution of 300 that the image might be larger, but I may be confused.

In this case, when I exported the file to PS, I actually had to upsize to get the 16x20 size that I needed at 250 resolution. It was still very sharp and looks good to me so upsizing didn't seem to be too detremental.

Any thoughts on this? I guess I was thinking that 10 megapixels should be able to pump out a 16x20 with no upsizing needed, but I may not be taking resolution into consideration.

Okay...go...

Thx. Jonathan

[OsmosisStudios]

Depends on what DPI your file is set to when you copy it and what DPI the canvas is set to. If the canvas has a higher DPI than your file, then it'll appear smaller.

[fletch]

The first thing is that the 10mp file will definately be big enough. I've printed from my 10mp Olympus up to 36" wide on canvas.

As OS said its down to DPI. You don't need a 250ppi file to print at the size you want but if you have to submit your image in template you may need to jump though some hoops to get it to fit. The easiest way will be to just send the original file to the printers and let them deal with it. If that isn't an option you need to reduce the PPI setting in your file until it does fit OK into the template.

[Jabulani Jonny]

hmmmm...I understand DPI as it relates to printing, and I guess resolution would be the same right; or is DPI and PPI not the same scale? The template for the gallery wrap was a photoshop template with a resolution of 250 PPI. When I exported my photo from LR I also gave it a resolution of 250. However, that's when I needed to upsize. I'll have to fiddle around with it some more.

[dcclark]

Are you required to set the DPI in software? Most places I know of which do gallery wraps simply ask for the largest file you can send them (largest = most pixels), in the correct crop ratio (8:10, in your case). You may want to ask -- the template may simply have been set that way by default, and could be ignored.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by dcclark

Are you required to set the DPI in software? Most places I know of which do gallery wraps simply ask for the largest file you can send them (largest = most pixels), in the correct crop ratio (8:10, in your case). You may want to ask -- the template may simply have been set that way by default, and could be ignored.

I do with my printer. he specifices 300DPI documents. It's fine for print vector work (like my letterhead, business cards, etc) because I can always jsut make it bigger, but with photos it does lead to a few issues when I start printing big.

[fletch]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

I do with my printer. he specifices 300DPI documents.

Time to get a new printer. Any profesional print service worth its salt should be able to cope with images of any size (within limits) and be able to do any re-sizing them selves. If you want to stay with him despite this and intend to print biger than your camera's native resolution then a copy of Genuine Fractals may be required.

[prrs4me]

Not sure if this is what you are looking for but for a wrap you need about 2" on each side to wrap around the frame. So the total size has to be something like 24x20 to allow for the wrap. That's if it is a 2" wrap. The other size is usually 1 1/2" and you would add that on to each side.