A3 and A4 Prints

I want to crop my image into three seperate images and then order either A3 or A4 prints online for each section, so when on the wall three images will make up one large image.

 

My problem is that when I do this the individual images are to small either height or width for the sizes I require.

 

Any idea what the total image size of the original image should be before cropping?

 

I did find somewhere that said A3/A4 prints should be a minimum of 2480 x 3508 but that would mean my original image would have to be a total size of 7440 x 3508 which is way larger than I have.

 

Any suggestions for a possible solution please?

The minimum requirement you dug out is for prints viewed at arms length / reading distance. If you block viewers' access to the prints with a grand piano placed in front of the wall they are hanging on, you can ignore the rule.

Any idea what the total image size of the original image should be before cropping?

4961x7440 if you want to print at 300 dpi. - Sounds like panorama stitching or upgrading to digital medium format.

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Side note / warning: it is industry standard to generate borderless images by cutting them out of a slightly larger sheet of paper. - Consequence: you have to bleed each image you are ordering on all 4 sides and it is unlikely they'll fit absolutely exact.

" then order either A3 or A4 prints..."

 

- Which is it? A3 or A4? There's a difference of 40% in height and width between the two.

 

A4 prints will give you a final print approximately 11.7" high, while A3 prints are 16.5" high.

 

Also, what proportion is the final image to be? E.g. 3:2 from a 35mm frame, 4:3, or what.

 

It's worth remembering that pixels have no size. They're virtual, and can be printed or displayed at any scale. I've seen stunning mural-sized prints produced from 8 megapixel compact digital cameras. If the picture is good enough nobody really cares too much about the print quality. They'll step back and admire it.

 

Anyway, you just need to ignore the silly 300 pixel per inch "rule", because whatever image you want printing will already have a fixed pixel count if from a digital camera. No amount of re-sizing will add any more detail to that image.

 

Read up on what your printing service requires. I'm sure they'll be geared up to produce almost any size of print from any image file you care to send them. Most likely all you need to do is crop the image into 3 sections (with overlap) and send the 3 crops off to be printed at your desired size. Leave the print service to do any upscaling that's necessary.

I'm sorry, Jochen, but the appropriate viewing distance for painting and photos is 1 to 1.5 times the diagonal of the work... unless you are a photographer, then the viewing distance is the length of the photographers nose. Just kiddin, but love it when folks are looking a a 17x22 a nose length away. Perhaps an extension of pixel peeping to prints.