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I am looking for recommendations for printing 4' x 8' (vendors)
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Jan 24, 2019 17:15:23   #
a6k Loc: Detroit & Sanibel
 
My landlord here in Florida is decorating the walls of the house with some of my photos of local birds. He could get better pics but mine are free. Win-win since I'm flattered.

But he also has a painting (landscape subject) that is portrait mode 4' wide and 8' high that he wants to replace with one of my bird pics. Aside from the questionable idea, my problem is to find him a reasonably priced shop to print one of my images that big. A follow-on problem is to decide on the medium. He started by wanting canvas but I think the canvas is not a good surface for a bird picture because I think it would not handle details like feathers or eyes very well. I have no experience in this, just an initial perception, having seen some canvas prints of landscapes and such.

I found some of my pics that are in portrait mode, taken with my a6500 and SEL70-200 lens, 4000 x 6000 PX which are probably good enough if printed at 150 DPI and "upsized" a bit (less than 2x) in Capture One. I suppose I could use lower DPI to avoid the upsizing but my experience with Capture One suggests the approach I'm using. It's hard to predict the viewing distance. Retina monitors have resolution in the same ballpark. I don't need any help with the math, just with the medium and the vendor.

I have been looking all over the internet and there are very few shops that make prints that large and I have no idea which of them might do a good job. So far I've seen prices that are over $500. But I've seen canvas prices about half that much. Final cost including framing would be the consideration.

Any "Hoggers" with relevant experience - please contribute your knowledge and advice. Thanks.

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Jan 24, 2019 17:35:15   #
pquiggle Loc: Monterey Bay California
 
Try Bay Photo Lab (www.bayphoto.com). They are local to where I live. I have used them for many years when I was shooting film and they did an outstanding job. I have not used them for inkjet prints but have heard they do excellent work. I did not see a listing for that exact size but sizes approximately that start at $200.

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Jan 24, 2019 18:20:21   #
Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI
 
Contact a local sign shop that specializes in large format printing and tell them what you’d like.

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Jan 24, 2019 18:34:02   #
Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx
 
Up sampling is not going to get you where you want to go. You are going to want to get the resolution up by stitching photos together. https://havecamerawilltravel.com/photographer/panorama-stitching-best-apps/

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Jan 24, 2019 18:54:12   #
Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI
 
What’s the viewing distance going to be?

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Jan 25, 2019 05:43:53   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
a6k wrote:
My landlord here in Florida is decorating the walls of the house with some of my photos of local birds. He could get better pics but mine are free. Win-win since I'm flattered.

But he also has a painting (landscape subject) that is portrait mode 4' wide and 8' high that he wants to replace with one of my bird pics. Aside from the questionable idea, my problem is to find him a reasonably priced shop to print one of my images that big. A follow-on problem is to decide on the medium. He started by wanting canvas but I think the canvas is not a good surface for a bird picture because I think it would not handle details like feathers or eyes very well. I have no experience in this, just an initial perception, having seen some canvas prints of landscapes and such.

I found some of my pics that are in portrait mode, taken with my a6500 and SEL70-200 lens, 4000 x 6000 PX which are probably good enough if printed at 150 DPI and "upsized" a bit (less than 2x) in Capture One. I suppose I could use lower DPI to avoid the upsizing but my experience with Capture One suggests the approach I'm using. It's hard to predict the viewing distance. Retina monitors have resolution in the same ballpark. I don't need any help with the math, just with the medium and the vendor.

I have been looking all over the internet and there are very few shops that make prints that large and I have no idea which of them might do a good job. So far I've seen prices that are over $500. But I've seen canvas prices about half that much. Final cost including framing would be the consideration.

Any "Hoggers" with relevant experience - please contribute your knowledge and advice. Thanks.
My landlord here in Florida is decorating the wall... (show quote)


Viewing distance is the most important component in this question.

http://www.photokaboom.com/photography/learn/printing/resolution/1_which_resolution_print_size_viewing_distance.htm

with 4000x6000 - you should have no issues with sharpness and detail printing at 65 ppi. A print that is 48x96 will have an average viewing distance of 13 ft, and with even 30 ppi you will never see the fine detail you see on your computer display. 65ppi is more than twice that.

Do not obsess over ppi for this - your 4000x6000 image has more than enough pixels to look good. At 65 ppi, you're image will look fine as close as 4.5 ft.

Resampling is NOT going to add detail that is not there to begin with. It will slightly improve noise and ant-aliasing, and add back a little microcontrast, but most large image print labs will have a hardware RIP (raster image processor) which will likely outperform anything you can do with software on your computer.

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Jan 25, 2019 07:49:43   #
jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY
 
Ask Hvytoys -

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-575238-1.html

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Jan 25, 2019 09:10:43   #
awis01
 
If you don't think you can get a suitable print that large how about a bunch of smaller prints that would cover the area?

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Jan 25, 2019 10:29:52   #
Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI
 
I’ve printed larger with lower resolution files before for my work (I’m a graphic designer). But I did do a bunch of tests (full size small samples 11x17) and hung them on the wall and stood back at the minimum viewing distance before sending to the sign fabricator. You’ll want to use a program like photoshop to uprez the image size to its final dimension based on the printer requirements. The file size will likely be quite large.

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Jan 25, 2019 10:33:30   #
mickmates
 
I used a company in Ft Lauderdale named Expose Yourself. Good quality and nice to deal with. The phone number is 954-935-5990. Good luck!

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Jan 25, 2019 11:24:23   #
jayluber Loc: Phoenix, AZ
 
Maybe consider printing on metal?

prolabdigital.com does prints that large and larger. They do excellent work.

Nevada Art Printers
Whitewall
BumbleJax
Laserlightprints
and try metalmouthprints.com talk with Ben.

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Jan 25, 2019 11:33:10   #
rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona
 
When it comes to large, or any sized, prints and good quality, throwing in the term reasonable tends to negate any quality suggestions that could be made. That said, I'll suggest Tempe Imaging Center. They are part of Tempe Camera and do excellent work.
--Bob
a6k wrote:
My landlord here in Florida is decorating the walls of the house with some of my photos of local birds. He could get better pics but mine are free. Win-win since I'm flattered.

But he also has a painting (landscape subject) that is portrait mode 4' wide and 8' high that he wants to replace with one of my bird pics. Aside from the questionable idea, my problem is to find him a reasonably priced shop to print one of my images that big. A follow-on problem is to decide on the medium. He started by wanting canvas but I think the canvas is not a good surface for a bird picture because I think it would not handle details like feathers or eyes very well. I have no experience in this, just an initial perception, having seen some canvas prints of landscapes and such.

I found some of my pics that are in portrait mode, taken with my a6500 and SEL70-200 lens, 4000 x 6000 PX which are probably good enough if printed at 150 DPI and "upsized" a bit (less than 2x) in Capture One. I suppose I could use lower DPI to avoid the upsizing but my experience with Capture One suggests the approach I'm using. It's hard to predict the viewing distance. Retina monitors have resolution in the same ballpark. I don't need any help with the math, just with the medium and the vendor.

I have been looking all over the internet and there are very few shops that make prints that large and I have no idea which of them might do a good job. So far I've seen prices that are over $500. But I've seen canvas prices about half that much. Final cost including framing would be the consideration.

Any "Hoggers" with relevant experience - please contribute your knowledge and advice. Thanks.
My landlord here in Florida is decorating the wall... (show quote)

Reply
Jan 25, 2019 12:20:47   #
brettmilden
 
My son chase@eideticcreations.com produces prints up to 54" x whatever length on vinyl and other materials. He has put prints on backer board, alumi core, cars, boats, planes etc. Can also laminate for outdoor use. You can order print in whatever size then apply to your wall. Trim excess.

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Jan 25, 2019 16:09:25   #
Joe 88
 
Try Vistaprint.com for banners.

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Jan 25, 2019 17:57:20   #
a6k Loc: Detroit & Sanibel
 
Cdouthitt wrote:
What’s the viewing distance going to be?


from my original post: It's hard to predict the viewing distance.

Consequently, I want to use the highest practical resolution.

With no upsizing it would be 83. With just enough upsizing for 150 it's still under 2X which I've found is quite good with CaptureOne.

My thinking is that more is better so long as it can be done by the post processing SW. Beyond a certain point, more is useless but below a certain point, more would have been better.

Why 150? A 4K monitor at 27" is about 160 if I recall correctly. So called retina screens work OK at 150 more or less.

It's a SWAG.

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