Large Prints
by Mark ~ April 18th, 2008. Filed under: Inkjet printing, art, business, landscape, nature photography, prints, processing, technique.As much as I agree with much of Brooks Jensen’s commentary on print size, I can’t deny there is some unmatched excitement when seeing some of your images printed very large. By large, I am referring to 20×30, 24×36, 30×45 (inches) and up.
Now and then, I get requests for prints at these sizes. In fact I just delivered a job for an art consultant client requiring three 30×45 prints for a corporate headquarters. Sometimes big open spaces require something big to fill them. More often than not, particularly for places like hospitals and offices – they want prints of these sizes.
Of course, big prints mean some pretty big file sizes. The image here was enlarged to 30×44 inches at 200 dpi, which resulted in a 233 MB files size. Even with decent cable internet, it takes awhile to upload this file to a lab. Processing is pretty much the same as you would with smaller print files, except you have to keep in mind that every bit of that image is going to be magnified a lot more than you are used to. So you have to be meticulous about dust spots or the slightest flaws – reviewing every inch at 100% magnification. The image has to be very sharp in its native state, otherwise focus errors become exaggerated. It also helps to have some computer horsepower in processing these large files.
Sharpening is also important because you are likely interpolating your file up from something that is much smaller in its native state. You are going to see some loss of sharpness, but much of that can be recovered through careful use of the tools available these days. Much more than many people think actually. I have become a fan of using PixelGenius’s Photokit Sharpener because of the various staging methods it offers and tools that really overcome interpolation induced softness. I will even add grain from time to time to give digital enlargements a more ‘natural’ feel.
So what if you are unsure if your image will look ok when blown up this big? An easy way to check is to enlarge it to the size you want, sharpen – and then crop out a section for output on whatever size inkjet printer you might have. It will give you a good idea if too much detail is lost, or if you are over or under sharpening.
Having accurate profiles from the lab you are sending to, and a calibrated monitor are absolutely critical if you are ‘pre-flighting’ the file yourself. Some labs will offer you some savings if you work up the entire file yourself (“pre-flight”) and all they have to do is print it. But in this case, mistakes are very expensive. Many of course will color correct, upsize, and sharpen the file for you for a premium, but you relinquish a bit of control. Most will offer you proofs upon request.
Getting the prints at your door is the moment of truth. If you did most of the work yourself, you have a hundred questions in your head. Did I color correct and saturate enough, sharpen enough, went too large?, etc, etc. I’ll be the first to admit that handling prints at these size can be quite stressful because they are extremely delicate. Usually they are shipped rolled at these sizes because shipping cost and packaging is quite ridiculous to ship them flat.
You need a very big, clean open space to unroll them to take a look. Cotton gloves are a must – and you must remember to never pick a print up by anything other than opposite corners. Doing otherwise will give you a nice crease to an expensive piece of work. I don’t like lifting them at all unless absolutely necessary. But I will unroll of course to check the print over and sign it. Rolling them back up is also a very delicate process to make sure edges don’t leave marks on the face of the print.
When everything goes right, you end up with some large pieces that have impact and draw a lot of attention. When I go to art shows, I see quite a few photographers offering these huge prints these days – big 40×60’s. I can only imagine the amount of work that goes into transporting them safely.
I think the people that usually buy these sizes have particular spaces in mind for them. Large great rooms, conference rooms, large hallways, waiting rooms all typically have large open walls. A small piece of art can simply be overpowered by the huge amount of space surrounding it.
While I don’t think a photograph has to be printed large to have a significant response from the viewer, in some situations, it is needed just to be noticed.
April 18th, 2008 at
Very good post, Mark. I like this side of the argument as well. You’ve given me quite a bit of insight as two the ‘dark side’ of large prints. The care and feeding of such prints seems to be quite heavy in some regards.
I think that I’ll stick with some smaller prints, those that are less than 20 x 30, more than likely less than 17 x 22.
Back in the film days, if you had a image to print that large and it wasn’t sharp enough, well, too bad. Now, there are all sorts of tools available to increase apparent sharpness. Digital has made things more flexible, but certainly, it seems, a bit more complex at the same time. Sharpening seems to be a whole other technique to learn. There are so many ways to do it.
April 18th, 2008 at
I listened to Brook’s podcast as well. But I didn’t like how he made it sound like some absolute rule: small prints good, big prints bad. While I agree that there’s something special about small prints, some photos really want to be printed large.
Besides, business-wise, I’d much rather sell a few large prints, than a score of small ones.
April 18th, 2008 at
Mark,
This is all well reasoned. And you are right, large prints are tough to deal with at shows. For one there is a smaller market for them I believe, and secondly, they take up a lot of wall space in the booth. They do of course have big impact and can draw viewers into a booth. The issue of weight is becoming less with the increase in canvas-printing not requiring glass. I haven’t gone this route yet. Then there are also all the other issues you mention concerning just getting an image to print well in super large sizes. Another issue is financial investment and loss if such an expensive print were to get damaged. All of this is part of the reason a really large print can cost so much more than simple math would predict.
April 18th, 2008 at
Hey Mark, … you forgot to mention some other important steps when making such large prints for a picky client.
Advil, alcohol, and maybe throw in some hail marys for good measure!
Certainly some wonderful thoughts and ideas you gave in this post. Excellent!
Yes, there is quite a bit to do to ensure such quality.
It is time consuming and scary, but one sure can learn a lot when tackling something so large their first time around. I sure did!
I had a consultant last year that I work with who said that a hotel needed a certain image of mine for a 5×8ft print. It was a “must have” print.
It was from a older 6mp camera/file. Ouch!
I learned a lot from that deal, and working directly with the printer.
They did most of the work, … and it was costly, but the hotel wanted it.
They took the 18mb file, printed a 8×10 from that file, then drum scanned the 8×10 to a 380mb file.
Using some extensive photoshop techniques and other stuff that I had never heard of before, … they made it work.
The client is very happy!
The consultant and I only earned about 50% of what we usually would have brought in, but we really wanted this client/hotel to be happy since they have quite a few hotels around the country.
We gave up part of our earnings to pay the printer extra in hopes that it would lead to more from this client.
It has!
Some of those images do beg to be printed large, and what a education one can get when doing so!!
I must admit to asking this question a lot.
How is it that a 6mp camera produced such wonderful artwork 5-7 years ago, but now those same consultants/designers/printers quickly shy away from them, stating that it is impossible to produce good artwork from those same files?
I don’t know!
And, … I have not tried PixelGenius. May have to give it a try sometime.
Take care buddy, … and great post!
Michael
April 19th, 2008 at
@ Paul – thanks for your input, I was hoping someone who did shows would provide their take.
@ Michael – Yes, I suppose even a 30×45 isn’t all that ‘large’ when you are talkin 5×8 ft! You are lucky you found a hotel that was willing to pay (hopefully well) for something that big. The last request I had for hotel work was a possibility of 200 prints for them – at a whopping $2-5 each. Umm – no thanks. That doesn’t even pay for the Advil, and certainly not the wine!
That’s interesting about the drum scan – I wonder how often that’s done.
April 19th, 2008 at
Mark – just a stupid question – why don’t you send a CD or DVD for files such as this?
And – btw – printing crops of a large print to be in 100% resolution is working perfectly – I can only recommend it.
April 19th, 2008 at
Great article, Mark along with the podcast… lots of food for thought. In looking at the two images that you have used here, I feel that they demand “largeness” as they are landscapes with beautiful detail and broad views.
As you well note, there is a place for both the small and large print. Regardless, I do feel that the art world often dictates the trends and I try to at least be aware of their direction so that I can decide if indeed it fits my overall view of where my work is heading.
April 19th, 2008 at
Great info. I still love your work. Learning alot on my journey and sites like these give me lots of helpful info in reading your posts as well as other photographers comments. Thanks for sharing
April 19th, 2008 at
@ Petra – regarding the CD/DVD – just because it takes longer – days that I didn’t have. I can send a lot of files to upload, then work on other things or simply go to bed.
April 20th, 2008 at
Great post. I was just thinking the other day of when I had a couple of prints blown up to 16×20″ (JUST before the digital age,) & how disappointed I was that the colors seemed so faded. My, how times have changed!
April 22nd, 2008 at
Hey nice post and great information regarding large prints. Thanks for these valuable datas.
April 22nd, 2008 at
Great write up Mark. Reading about picking up a photo from the opposite corners brought back memories… not good ones. I made that mistake once… and only once. Nice write up and a great reminder I need to catch up on Brooks podcasts. Now if only my iTunes would cooperate.
April 25th, 2008 at
Congratulations Mark on a nice sale! Big prints sales are hard to come by…
I’m curious, can you share how this print sale came about. Without disclosing any of your trade secrets, it’s always interesting to hear how a customer finds you and your work…
April 26th, 2008 at
Greg – the last 2 years have really picked up for me in print sales, particularly office and corporate jobs. It is all from net traffic and search engine placement.
April 28th, 2008 at
Mark – thanks for sharing the lead source info. It is advantageous to the larger community to understand where other photographers are getting sales from. Great to hear that all your work around the website is paying off!
May 1st, 2008 at
Beautiful shot!