Enlargement Question

[dukhnt]

I was asked this weekend if it was possible to blow up a picture to a size of lets say 5 feet by 7 feet and have it still look like a good picture. I would assume no, but you never know with the way technology is nowadays. Anyone have any insight to this. Thanks.

[Steve Foss]

dukhnt, Jim Brandenburg has a shot in his Ely gallery nearly that size that was taken several years ago with a 5 Mp early-generation digital body.

It's gorgeous, and I've seen others like it, proof it can be done.

There are labs that specialize in extra-large prints, and there are several programs (Genuine Fractals is one) that perform that task well.

The best bet is to do a Google search to find labs that do that type of work and contact them directly. Most pro labs, when making a huge enlargement, want the original untouched file so they can do the interpolation (adding pixels) work themselves. Each of those specialty labs may have slightly different software or techniques and other equipment, so it's best if they do it all.

They are used to working with pro photographers with high standards and will be able to tell you just how large it can go. West Coast Imaging and H&H Color Lab are two of the good ones.

It'll be expensive.

Also worth noting, the larger the image is, the farther away a person will stand to view it, so the lower the resolution required to make it look "good" from that distance. As a general rule, images with broad sweeps of color and bold compositional elements can go bigger than shots full of small detail such as tree branches and leaves. The images with all that detail "fall apart" faster upon interpolation.

[dukhnt]

I figured if it could be done that is would be quite spendy. Thanks for all the info Steve.

[Moose]

dukhnt,

Winkflash will do posters up to 44"x66" for $70.00. I'm not sure of the addition of the pixels Steve was talking about but when you upload your photo it tells you if you have enough pixel for that specific size. They offer several sizes smaller and they use Fugi prograde paper for their standard prints. Just another option