Buying/using JPG files for printing

[Colin]

Ok, so this may be an elementary question, so bear with me.

My new (and first) printer arrives next week, so I'm getting a few things planned for promoting it a bit. I want to do the tailgate of my truck (12.5" x 54") with a print, and the left ~50% portion will be a JPG image that I buy from iStock, the right side will simply be my logo and some other text.

Now I know that the image quality of raster images goes downhill quickly if one attempts to enlarge them, so what size (in pixels) do I need for a really nice print for that 12.5" x 27" photo?

I'm looking at one file right now that says it is 4256 x 2832 pixels (300dpi) and it says that it is 9.4" x 14.2"

So after a little cropping, if I enlarge & print that to fit the 12.5" height of my tailgate, will the PQ be much lower? (I plan on printing this one at 1440).


Thanks

 

[Malkin]

It will be just fine.

Are you familiar with the difference in DPI versus PPI?

As long as you print it at 75 - 100 PPI it will look great. So 4256 pixels ÷ 100PPI would be 42.56 inches.

 

[Colin]

Sure.........Dots per square inch vs Pixels per square inch.

Because the files coast more the bigger they are, what would be the smallest file size (in pixels) that I could use for that particular print?

 

[Malkin]

for 27" I would get one around 2700 pixels wide (roughly). Of course that assumes that you are not cropping down the width (only the height).

 

[Colin]

Thanks.


http://www.andrewdaceyphotography.com/articles/dpi/

 

[anothersign]

Do you use illustrator? invest in genuine fractuals....enables you to enlarge photos without distortion...

 

[Colin]

Do you use illustrator? invest in genuine fractuals....enables you to enlarge photos without distortion...

You must mean "Genuine Fractals". Thanks, I'll look into that. I have Illy but don't use it except to open newer EPS and Illy files.

 

[signswi]

Why would you use illustrator with genuine fractals (which by the way is being renamed)? That's...bizarre. Don't bring raster art into a vector program (that has crappy color management) only to upscale it with another raster plugin, that's just weird.

I always buy the highest res available, never know when the client might want that art on a larger project later plus I'm just a quality whore like that. We do use Genuine Fractals when necessary but try not to go above 400% enlargement unless the viewing distance makes it irrelevant.

 

[wetgravy]

The proper application of clipping high res bitmaps into vector paths can do wonders. As far as printing goes ... bitmaps still print pretty well at 200 dpi ... 300 is better though. if you do need to increase the size of the graphics (i.e. making a 10" x 10" graphic into a 30" x 30" still make sure you keep the graphics at 200-300 dpi. helps the printer soften the chunkiness that will develope on lo-res printing.)