TheDman Loc: USA

The word gay had a very distinct meaning for a couple hundred years too, but it's different now. I'm just telling you what is, and Google supports me.

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

So you're resolving a resolution revolution? 8-)

Jim Bob

Your response is paternalistic at best, suggesting the op doesn't have enough sense to ask exactly what he wishes. Guess you support the paternalistic response to inquiries. I do not.

CatMarley Loc: North Carolina

PC racism intrudes on every aspect of life now, - even photography, and personally I am SOOOOO tired of it!

Delderby Loc: Derby UK

I believe discrimination and racism are different abominations

Terrym9 Loc: Hillsboro, Oregon

Great links Jerry thanks!

dickwilber Loc: Indiana (currently)

I can view a mountain from twelve miles away and see that it is beautiful. I can then drive onto that mountain, and it is still beautiful. And I can pick a leaf from a tree on that mountain and marvel at the veining, but there is no way that was visible from twelve miles away.

The same thing is true in a photograph. The information just isn't there!

Conversely, it is unfair to print an image at 20" x 30" and then expect there to be great detail when viewing it from three inches with a magnifier. The information just isn't there!

To the OP's original question, there is no practical limit, if the finished product is viewed from an appropriate distance.

BullMoose Loc: Southwest Michigan

How did this turn into 5 pages? The original question was "how big"?
The only response here that even started to answer that question, paraphrased was, "as big as you want to". I think we all get into that mode of bigger is better. A bad small print, when printed bigger, doesn't make it better. Just makes it big and bad.

CatMarley Loc: North Carolina

Two sides of the same coin. If you use the word - even in its true general sense you stand accused of the other.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

OK, let's follow this theme and get it moved to the attic. I really have only one comment on the subject. Racism is a subset of discrimination.

CatMarley Loc: North Carolina

Only if it is racial discrimination. To discriminate is to recognize critical differences. It is necessary to survival. If your distant ancestors were unable to discriminate a lion from a deer, you would not exist. Resolution in optics is that power of an instrument to focus an image such that very fine detail can be discriminated. The fact that the word has been corrupted in modern usage to denote some social disorder is irrelevant to its broader meaning. The modern practice of quarantining large parts of the English language by corrupting their meanings, is stunting our vocabularies. - All part of the general dumbing down of society!

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

I am taking this to PM so we can return to the original topic. No offense intended toward anyone.

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

Thank you. It's been interesting but way off topic.

jcboy3

First, your results will greatly depend upon the quality of the image. Sharp, low noise, good exposure. These all contribute to the quality of an enlargement. If you are using quality lenses, if you are using small apertures, if you are using a tripod.

Second, most printers operate in the 300 dpi range. So your 4000 x 6000 pixel image will print at 12 x 20" without resizing. If you print larger, then the image will be resized.

Resizing can be accomplished by the printer software, but that is the lowest quality approach. Printer and software quality will determine image quality. So it depends upon what printer you are using.

Resizing can also be accomplished by image editing software, but general purpose programs are not really good at this. Even Photoshop has limitations.

Finally, resizing can be accomplished by special purpose software. These programs use special algorithms to enlarge images while preserving sharpness; and they can be very effective. I am familiar with Perfect Resize; there are others. I can say that you can obtain very sharp results with prints as large as 32" x 48" (from full frame images). But you can even print wall size with good results (but you can't stick your face in the print and expect to see 1:1 sharpness). And these programs will tile the image files so you can print out the enlargement on several smaller sheets (and then cut and join).

Best results come with a single sheet, however, so we are talking about very large (and expensive) printers. These printers are available at commercial printers, but if you want to control the process then you will want your own.

Of course, the photographers I know that print large use larger format sensors. The lower noise of larger sensors makes better image quality, and thus better quality enlargements.

So the answer of "it depends" is definitely true. But if you have a good quality 24mp image, my experience says you can enlarge to 32" x 48" and be extremely satisfied. But you will need to use resizing software and a very good printer.

Delderby Loc: Derby UK

When discussing quality and print size, if we print to album size (reading distance) and if those prints are considered to be of acceptable quality, would not larger prints generally appear to be of similar quality at greater (comfortable) viewing distances? If that is so, are there general rules on what would be considered "comfortable viewing distance" for given print sizes? For example, and for me, a good reading distance pic would be 5x7 (album size?) max 11x8 (A4). But I don't hang my pics - however, I do leave albums lying around. But what if I did wish to hang a couple? What size would be best to view from 4 ft? :-)