Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Please use "Quote Reply" so we know to whom you are responding.

Naptown Gaijin

Please use the "quote reply" option vice the "reply" or "quick reply" options when you respond to people. It helps us keep track of the conversations.
Thanks and good luck in your efforts.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

ProPhoto has a huge gamut, but is not suitable for printing, since most labs are standardized to sRGB/8 bit/jpeg, and ProPhoto often has colors that are outside the gamut of most paper/printer capability.

There will be no benefit at all to sending them a tiff file, since their raster image processor will reduce it to sRGB/8 bit/jpeg for printing on their equipment.

There are some labs that use a wide format Roland printer with a wide gamut inkset like Symphonic Ultra Max Extended Gamut or a current substitute, and can print 90% or more of AdobeRGB, and are set up to do custom printing.

You might want to try Millers Photolab. It's the custom end of MPix.

DebAnn Loc: Toronto

There are various ways to get an acceptably sharp print. Depends what you begin with. For instance. I have a shot of 5 boys which was scanned from an old negative. It was in the neighborhood of 8x10" size. I wanted to print it at 16x20 so I used the ON1 resize feature to make it poster size. I had to put a black border around it just to make the aspect ratio work. The printed result at 25.9 MB, done by a top photo printing lab, is really great.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

I use Bay Photo, they turn out very high quality prints. They provide information on their website about what they require for the file. It might help you to begin to read up on this subject, not just ask questions here, as there are things you could learn from a little bit of study about what can be a complex subject. A lab will accept a TIFF file, but most of them actually prefer a JPEG file. They want the JPEG file in sRGB, at least that has been my experience. This format will allow them to print your image accurately. As you use LR you can instruct the program to export your file at a size consistent with your desired print size and at 300 ppi - pixels per inch - and send that file to the printer who will be able to provide you with a quality print. For example, if you want a print that is 20 x 40, you multiply the 300 by the size, so 20 x 300 = 6000 pixels and 40 x 300 = 12000 pixels. You would then tell LR in the export dialog, using a JPEG format, to export that size print and whatever size the file turns out to be won't matter, as it will be correct for printing at 300 ppi. It's a learning process. Check out the printers that people have recommended, read their information, and trust in their knowledge.

papakatz45 Loc: South Florida-West Palm Beach

Obviously he expects more than you can add.

natureslight Loc: Winona, Minnesota

Thank you

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Okay, ex-lab manager here. Here's my take:

Labs are going to want JPEG in sRGB because their silver halide papers and printers cannot display all the colors in sRGB, let alone Adobe RGB.

Now, if you're working with a lab that does very high end photographic inkjet printing, using something like an Epson P-series printer with Ultrachrome HD pigmented inks, then a 16-bit TIFF in Adobe RGB might be desirable and acceptable! Using that will reveal some subtlety that a silver halide print will not and cannot display.

ProPhoto RGB is an ADJUSTMENT or CONNECTION or WORKING color space, meant for use as an intermediary between raw conversion and final output. It is best used as the native color space of your post-processing application. It retains all the color data you converted, until you make the final conversion to sRGB, Adobe RGB, or a directly-connected printer driver's paper+ink+printer model profile.

Find a good professional color lab or service bureau that does high end inkjet printing. GO VISIT THEM if possible, or call them and have a conversation. Find out what works best for them. They know. Better labs will give you a test image, a test print of that image, and a printer profile you can use in your post-processing software as a "printer simulation profile" or "proofing profile." They'll explain how to use it.

Be sure you calibrate and profile your monitor with a hardware and software solution from X-Rite or Datacolor. A $150 to $250 calibration/profiling kit can save you lots of money in remakes and avoid frustration. As big prints are expensive, you don't want to chase your tail with color adjustments. Calibrating and profiling and soft proofing will let you see on your monitor MOST of what you will get on paper.

If you USE the Adobe RGB color space, please be sure your monitor is capable of displaying the full Adobe RGB gamut. (Okay, 95% or more of it will do.)

Good luck! And go read the threads in the Printers and Color Printing Forum:

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/s-120-1.html

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

Looks like the the knowledgeable replies you’ve received here pretty much verify what the labs were trying to tell you.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

My 20.2 mp Canon 7D Mark II produces 25-30 mb raw files and 20+ mb jpeg files. Surprised your jpegs are so small. You apparently have selected a setting which downsizes them even if you don't understand what that setting is.

natureslight Loc: Winona, Minnesota

That's why I'm posting here. Trying to learn.

stanikon Loc: Deep in the Heart of Texas

When replying to a specific post, it is helpful if you click on "Quote Reply" and then type your response. That way everyone, including the targeted poster, knows exactly which post is the subject of your response. Just a suggestion...take it or leave it as you wish.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

Let me ask you a simple question. Can your eyes see millions of colors, perhaps trillions of them? Of course not. The reason why you have been recommended to use JPEG and sRGB is because that is the printing standard in the world. True, some labs will print TIFF but that is not a common practice. Do not even dream there is a lab in this country that will print RAW data in the ProFoto color space or Adobe RGB for the same matter.

Be confident that if you have a good JPEG file in the sRGB color space and your camera has at least 12 Mp. that you will be able to make a 20x30 inch enlargement with no sweat.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

I think part of his concerns were based on the small 5mb jpegs he was creating from 23 mb raw files. That's an issue he should be addressing, learning how to export to high-resolution jpegs.