Best way to enlarge digital files to print

I have a question I want to ask and get everyones workflow. What is

your preferred method of enlarging a digital file for print? I just

shot fall portraits at my church several weeks ago, using a D70 and

18-55mm lens. I would like to enlarge a few of them and have them

printed, and would like to try several methods to see what yields

the best results. I have Photoshop 6. Thanks in advance for your

input.

 

Duane<div></div>

Lynn,

 

Thanks for the response. Here's some more info: The files are jpeg, 3008x2000, 17.3 mb. I will be uploading them to print at a company such as Mpix. I want to see what size I can print and still get nice results, maybe an 11x14. I just want to see what the camera is capable of. I appreciate your input.

 

Duane

The typical photo class digital printer; aka LightJet, Frontier, Noritsu, Durst Lambda, are going to have no problems interpolating the files to required size. This is what Mpix will be using.

 

I have yet to see a Photoshop plug-in that does a significantly better job at upscaling digital capture than the hardware used on these type of printers. Film scans are another thing.

 

The only advice I can give is if you are going 10x15 or bigger to be very generous with USM ahead of time. A soft 6mp digital image from a dSLR will look REALLY soft when printed on a Frontier/LightJet when you start exceeding the files native 300dpi. Just make sure the original file is sharp and the resulting 8x12 should look spectacular. The posted example looks perfect for what makes an ideal print from an Mpix type lab.

I don't have a lot of experience with this personally, however I have read some articles about this issue. My first recommendation is to shoot in RAW. After that when you pull them into Photoshop there are options on the import window where you can choose the image size. If you increase the size, the image is "interpolated". There are other ways to do it, but this is the easiest.

 

I read a review some time ago about the quality differences in interpolation methods. I don't recall all of the programs they reviewed, but I think the winner of their roundup was a program called "Capture One".

 

Good luck (I hope this helps)

Spline 2 from Shortcut Software is leading method of making large files for print. It also includes Cubic method for comparison.

I appreciate everyones's answers,

 

Thanks,Duane

I shoot everything in the RAW mode, convert the image using Photoshop CS RAW converter, output a 16 bit file with Adobe RGB profile, make all adjustments in the 16 bit mode. What I do to make a print depends on the Photofinisher. The Professional Photofinisher I use wants a TIF file at 300dpi using the Adobe RGB profile. If I want a snapshot, I have it printed on a Fuji Frontier printer and it requires either TIF or JPG, 300dpi, sRGB profile. I crop the image to the final print size using the Photoshop CS crop tool at 300dpi, convert to the proper profile (sRGB or Adobe RGB), convert to an 8 bit file, and save either TIF or JPG.

Fred Miranda sells a plugin that resizes photos. You might give that a try. (It is cheap. I also like his sharpening plugin.)

Hi Duane,

 

I've just asked a similar question and have yet to come up with an solution. Any luck? I'm shooting a D70, fine-L and get 3008x2000 files.