How to Enlarge shutterstock images for large wall murals

[KaranGrewal]

Our Client has bought supersize images ( 18.7MB ) size 23.38583 x 17.3228 @ 300DPI from shutterstock and want us to print wall murals for their office walls. When we blowup the images its becoming really pixalated. wall size is 270" w x 113". viewing distance will be 3 -4 ft. Is there any photo enhancing software we need to buy ? or if you have any photoshop tricks that can work. please help setting up these images for production. we will print these wall murals on Roland XR-640. we are using colorgate rip software.

 

[klmjff]

Those images aren't going to work at that size unfortunately and there is nothing Photoshop can do to help either.

The client should have consulted with you before he spent money on these images.

You will need much higher rez images to make this wall look presentable.

We print Dreamscape murals all the time and good resolution is key!

 

[KaranGrewal]

Those images aren't going to work at that size unfortunately and there is nothing Photoshop can do to help either.

The client should have consulted with you before he spent money on these images.

You will need much higher rez images to make this wall look presentable.

We print Dreamscape murals all the time and good resolution is key!

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Please recommend where I can purchase higher rez images that can work for large wall murals.

 

[Solventinkjet]

That is probably the worst image you could use for those walls. If you run the numbers, you can blow the image up to 270" x about 200" proportionally. This gives you about 26 DPI as a result which is essentially garbage. Then you will have to chop 87" off the height or distort the image to fit into the smaller areas which will make it look even worse. I would tell them the bad news and recommend either much higher resolution files or files with 72 to 300 dpi that are closer to the size you need for the wall.

 

[rjssigns]

You could try OnOne's Perfect Resize. Starting with a a high pixel density base I've pushed photos 1000%. But you will still have to crop,etc...

In situations like yours I will push the photo as far as software and my talent allows. Then I've generate a background/border to fill in the rest.

I just did this with a memorial sign. Only picture they had was low res from a cheap phone. Used Perfect Resize(400%), added a touch of film grain, and it turned out well.

 

[bob]

Those images aren't going to work at that size unfortunately and there is nothing Photoshop can do to help either.

Not necessarily.

If the image is reasonably crisp any of the proprietary packages that use a spline fit can easily enlarge the image with no pixelization. There may be a bit of pixel bloom along indeterminate edges in the image but they're tiny in proportion to the output. I use PhotoZoom Pro but there are others that do essentially the same thing.

 

[jfiscus]

You could try OnOne's Perfect Resize. Starting with a a high pixel density base I've pushed photos 1000%. But you will still have to crop,etc...

In situations like yours I will push the photo as far as software and my talent allows. Then I've generate a background/border to fill in the rest.

I just did this with a memorial sign. Only picture they had was low res from a cheap phone. Used Perfect Resize(400%), added a touch of film grain, and it turned out well.

I also 2nd OnOne perfect Resize, it "should" make these usable images. I have used ones that bad before when the customer provided them.

 

[KaranGrewal]

Is there any site that sells images for large mural printing or scaling images using photozoom or onone are the only options?

 

[TrustMoore_TN]

Our Client has bought supersize images ( 18.7MB ) size 23.38583 x 17.3228 @ 300DPI from shutterstock and want us to print wall murals for their office walls. When we blowup the images its becoming really pixalated. wall size is 270" w x 113". viewing distance will be 3 -4 ft. Is there any photo enhancing software we need to buy ? or if you have any photoshop tricks that can work. please help setting up these images for production. we will print these wall murals on Roland XR-640. we are using colorgate rip software.

What I've found is that it depends on the image how well it will look at a lower PPI. For instance, if its a distance shot, like a landscape with no close up detail, I can start with a large high resolution file that turns out beautiful at 60-72 ppi at full scale up to around 8' x 12'. If there is close up detail in the image, it doesn't turn out as well.

We recently did a makeover on our graphics department and put up alot of 8'x8' murals and 4'x8' graphics with images I found on http://all-free-download.com/free-photos/ . I did searches for High Resolution, High Definition, High Def and spent alot of time wandering through the results and got some amazing images that scaled up great. Granted, at the size your talking about printing, even these may not work. Sounds like a photographer would need a terapixel camera to get a photograph that would scale that size. http://www.gigamacro.com/terapixel/

I would see if you could talk your client into Illustrations instead of a single photograph, or even do multiple smaller images. You have to remember also that with an image that large, and a viewing distance that small, they won't be able to tell what they're looking at until they are able to stand way back from it, and I would imagine this is in an enclosed area like a hallway since the viewing distance is so small. If you find a source for big images like that let me know... I'd be interested in checking it out for our clients that have 8' x 40+' tradeshow backwalls. Good Luck

 

[klmjff]

Not necessarily.

If the image is reasonably crisp any of the proprietary packages that use a spline fit can easily enlarge the image with no pixelization. There may be a bit of pixel bloom along indeterminate edges in the image but they're tiny in proportion to the output. I use PhotoZoom Pro but there are others that do essentially the same thing.

I agree that there is software out there that can vastly improve image quality, but these specific sizes? Cmon, get real.

Why give the guy false hope?

I'm not sure where to get super high rez images online(google images maybe at the highest resolution?).

We take all of our pics here with super dooper cameras.

Good luck to you in your quest.

 

[KaranGrewal]

I m Curious how companies who sell large wall murals online setting up files for production and they are also using shutterstock images. here are few links. http://www.muralsyourway.com/, http://www.decomurale.ca/?lang=en

 

[0igo]

Our Client has bought supersize images ( 18.7MB ) size 23.38583 x 17.3228 @ 300DPI from shutterstock and want us to print wall murals for their office walls. When we blowup the images its becoming really pixalated. wall size is 270" w x 113". viewing distance will be 3 -4 ft. Is there any photo enhancing software we need to buy ? or if you have any photoshop tricks that can work. please help setting up these images for production. we will print these wall murals on Roland XR-640. we are using colorgate rip software.

you NEED this program called PhotoZoom Pro i have version 6. works like a freakin charm!

 

[gregwallace]

Does photozoom pro or perfect resize keep the elements in the foreground from going "soft". Its easy to avoid pixels but i want to avoid the pixels without everything getting blurry. Our guidelines are to keep everything 72dpi or higher. So if your image is 24" at 300dpi you can enlarge to a little over 96".

 

[bob]

Does photozoom pro or perfect resize keep the elements in the foreground from going "soft". Its easy to avoid pixels but i want to avoid the pixels without everything getting blurry. Our guidelines are to keep everything 72dpi or higher. So if your image is 24" at 300dpi you can enlarge to a little over 96".

If you view the resultant image from a distance proportional to the enlargement it looks pretty much the same. I.e. if you hold an 8"x10" image say 24" in front of your eyes and you enlarge that image x10 [area wise this would be 100X larger than the original] then view the enlarged image from 240" they should look the same.

Bye the bye, printing an image at anything more than 150dpi with a printer running at 720dpi can often be counterproductive and most always is futile.

 

[SightLine]

Another vote for Perfect Resize (Photozoom Pro is also excellent). Plenty of times over the years we have done enlargements as big as you are wanting with source images even smaller than you are starting with.

That being said - GIGO..... garbage in - garbage out. Just like requesting vector artwork from someone who sends you a low res jpg and they just place the jpg image in a container like an eps, pdf, ai, etc file. Just because you make a crappy file into what at first might seem a better option its still just the same crappy file. Photographers selling their photos on sites like iStock, Shutterstock, etc are encouraged to offer that "huge" high quality file size. As an example, nothing really prevents them from taking their original 12mb image and simply scaling it just using the most basic image size with resample in Photoshop to boost the resolution and size and then offering it up on the stock site as though the huge size is the native resolution of the image when in reality all they did was a crappy artificial enlargement. In those cases you are better off with the original native resolution 12mb (and lower cost) image and enlarging it yourself.... Unfortunately one cannot always tell or know what the original native resolution of the stock image they are wanting to buy is so it can certainly be hit and miss. I'd say that the majority of photographers that have tons of photos for sale on the stock sites are at best "semi-pro" with excellent dslr cameras and not very many with $25k plus medium format Hasselblad (and other top brand/model) are probably selling their photos on stock sites.

 

[T_K]

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Please recommend where I can purchase higher rez images that can work for large wall murals.

Hire a photographer. Tell them your specific needs. Have them compile the photos that meet those needs.

OR...

Use vector art only.

The problem with using stock images is that most photographers do not create photos for purposes like the wall mural. You can play around with photoshop effects to make the images "artistically blurry", but you can't eliminate the pixels.

 

[KaranGrewal]

Hire a photographer. Tell them your specific needs. Have them compile the photos that meet those needs.

OR...

Use vector art only.

The problem with using stock images is that most photographers do not create photos for purposes like the wall mural. You can play around with photoshop effects to make the images "artistically blurry", but you can't eliminate the pixels.

We are located here in Alberta Canada, and client want picture of Golden gate bridge in boardroom.

 

[klmjff]

Google it

 

[iraney]

I use Alien skin blowup it works great with a wall that big you could get away with 100dpi

 

[bigben]

We are located here in Alberta Canada, and client want picture of Golden gate bridge in boardroom.

Go with a vector image of the bridge and dress it up from there with the colors they want. We do lot of murals and we always push the vector route and sell it as ''one of a kind''. It a great upsell if you're a good designer.