How low can you go?

[David Paterson]

The PP on this image turned accidentally into an exercise in how few pixels can still make a decent print. I cropped the image, then I cropped again . .  and again - finally I was left with just over 10% of the original pixels (it had been a 207mb file, D800). I interpolated upwards to 33mb in Photoshop, and printed the file 20" (50cm) long. at 180ppi. The result is splendid - sharp and detailed, and with no obvious clues that it was printed from such a tiny fragment of the original file.

I don't particularly like the OOF components of the foreground, but I think I can live with them; further cropping make the image very unbalanced.

[Frank Fremerey]

I have a sports shot here. Baseball Pitch. One Megapixels and it printed well on an Epson with 1 Meter on
the long side. 1000 pixels per meter!

[Bjørn Rørslett]

I once made an 8 by 4 m print from a cropped D1X file. Thus starting with about 5 MPix. Took me nearly a day to prepare the print file, though, but the results were fantastic.

[ColinM]

Would you say that provide the content engages the eye of the viewer, they are much less likely to be distracted by other aspects of image quality?

[BW]

Would you say that provide the content engages the eye of the viewer, they are much less likely to be distracted by other aspects of image quality?

I agree! There is more to a picture than image quality. Content is king!

[David Paterson]

Thanks for all your comments, everyone.

This is not the first time I have posted about this property of modern sensors, and it is interesting that Frank and Bjørn have already had similar - but more extreme - experiences. My impression is that a frequently-quoted "rule" - to print at 300 or even 360dpi if you want quality prints - is greatly exaggerated. I print at anywhere between 180 and 450ppi without a qualm,and will go as low as 150 if really necessary.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

It's not just about the actual dpi number related to the original file, more like the treatment you give the file to arrive at a final print size. Ask your printer or client what dpi number is required and process the file accordingly. Don't forget the colour profile to be used as well.

[Frank Fremerey]

It also depends on the printing technique.

Ink yet dots overlay more than laser dots on a photo paper. So my experience is that Epson laser prints tend to
show aliasing effects much later than Durst prints (lambda, theta).

Less pixels with the Epson.
More fine details with the Durst.