Winter project

[Ben Egbert]

My winter project is to go through all my best images and find those that would make a nice 24x36 print. I have already winnowed it down to about 12, and many are not working. I thought I would share the lessons I am learning here.

First off, a 21-22 mpix image is marginal for 24x36 if there is much detail. The pixels per inch are around 150 and I find 200 to be a optimum for good results. This gets worse if cropping is required. So my oldest 21mpix images are from 2007 with the older images non starters.

Most of my existing prints are in a 16x9 aspect ratio and printed at 16.5 x 29 and I normally crop them in ACR so if later want a 2x3 aspect ratio (24x36) I need to start from scratch. That is not a problem because my processing is better now. But many of my favorite images don’t hold up uncropped because of composition.

You may wonder why I am locked into an aspect ratio. The reason is that frames cost an arm and a leg and I have a population of custom frames that are 16x29. I will only get one or two 24x36 frames made but I need to know in advance which sizes I am aiming for.

 

[AlanLichty]

Have you given any consideration to sharpening software to get the details you seek for the 24x36 print size? Topaz AI Clear can do some pretty amazing things for images coming from elderly DSLR specimens.

They also make another module called Gigapixel AI that is supposed to do the same thing while resampling to a larger image for printing. I haven't tried it but if it's anywhere near as good as AI Clear you might be able to get a lot more flexibility out of your desired crops and print sizes while resampling to keep 200dpi for the desired print size.

 

[Ben Egbert]

Thanks Alan for your reply. The uprez factor is why I am including 21MPIX files. I use Qimage at home and it does an excellent job for my 16x29 files. For lagrer I send them to Bay Photo and they do the uprez. If I went beck to any older camera we are talking 40D and a big reduction from 21Mpix.

Not only that, but these older files were with lower quality AF and less sharp lenses. I don't have any pre 2007 I consider 24x36 images for landscape. I have a bunch of 40 D bird photos but I don't print them that large anyway.

 

[JimFox]

Hey Ben, what a fun project. I agree with Alan about trying out the Topaz products for uprezzing photos. From what I have read, they are great.

 

[Ben Egbert]

Actually I am already using topaz clarity but I have not needed uprezing on a 5dsr. Might try it on an older image

 

[AlanLichty]

Clarity will help some but the three modules that will do the most here for good details with enlargement are Sharpen AI, AI Clear, and Gigapixel AI. Topaz gives you a 30 day trail with any of those so you try without buying. The trial license is full access so you can make enlarged trial prints to see how well they work.

 

[Ben Egbert]

I will give it a try on the 2to 3 images that don’t have enough rez

 

[Ben Egbert]

Ok, I tried clarity on a 1DS3 file, it was better. I would need to download gigapixel AI