Camera Settings To Make A Poster Print

I am simply trying to find out how to set my 40D to be able to get 20x0 poster size prints. Can anyone help please?

Wow! Good question, and you will get as many answers as you like!

There is no golden rule for that, you need to know what effect do you want to achieve. For best results on big prints, use the best lens you have got and the lowest ISO possible, that might be one of the rules.

Just a generic answer, but shoot RAW for the size. Other variables would depend on you lens choice, subject matter, available lighting, etc...

Using the camera settings for the file size. I'd like to know what's the best size for me to choose. Small, Medium Large, what? This issue has been haunting me lately.

James,

 

File size settings are about compression, not directly about print size. There is no reason to use anything but the largest available (least amount of compression). Using more compression means throwing information away.

Shoot RAW, as said, and a tripod and remote release will help minimize motion blur which is magnified along with everything else. You may even want to consider composing and then putting up the mirror first.

How do I set the 40D to get this size (2000x3000) for printing posters?. This is the minimum size required by the printer to print poster prints. I can take care of the quality with the other settings mention and suggested.

I think this will make providing an answer easier. These are the settings on a 40D:

Image Type

JPEG, RAW (Canon CR2)

 

File Size

JPEG/Large: Approx. 3.5MB (3,888 x 2,592)

JPEG/Medium: Approx. 2.1MB (2,816 x 1,880)

JPEG/Small: Approx. 1.2MB (1,936 x 1,288)

RAW: Approx. 12.4MB (3,888 x 2,592)

sRAW: Approx. 7.1MB (1,936 x 1,288)

 

Which will help me to make 20x30 size poster prints. Once I find out I can set the camera to that/those settings. Thanks.

You have just answered your question James.

Use biggest size of file that is possible plus shoot in RAW, and your posters will be of best quality possible.

Afetr you select the file size (hopefully the largest possible which is 3,888 by 2,592), you can calculate how many dots per inch (dpi) you will have in your 20 by 30 poster. The answer is approximately 130 dpi for the largest file size.

 

I'm not experienced with poster printing so I'm not sure what would be the recommended dpi. I'd guess it would depend on the distance from which viewers will be looking at the poster, and the amount of detail in your image.

 

Maybe others that have experience with this could recommend a guideline for suggested dpi and you can figure out if you have enough resolution with your camera.

 

In any case, maximum resolution and shooting RAW is always the best you can do.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate all the responses.

Not sure if this is true but my local printing service adviced me to convert the RAW image to TIFF (after my normal postprocessing) for the best prints.

 

Can anyone confirm that?

 

Thanks, Matthijs.

Check your manual, find the pages that tells you the list of available picture dimensions (in Pixels), and select the image size thats going to give you greatest # of Pixels (dots) in both Horizontal and Vertical dimensions. This will give you highest image resolution possible from your camera, and thats going to be important when you print the image at large size.

 

Since TIFF is a widely recognized graphics file type, and is also a loss-less compression type (that means that you do get compression, but you dont lose any of your original image data/quality), I would select TIFF as the picture file type, if possible. Also, many graphics file editing and printing applications will load a TIFF file, but will not load a RAW file w/o you converting it first.

James, I don't think the printer will get freaked out if you exceed his minimum pixel requirements. I suggest shooting in RAW and converting to TIFF. Use a tripod and your best lens. Focus carefully.

 

Matthijs, TIFF images do give the best results for the final image. JPG images are compressed, so that they lose detail and introduce objectionable artifacts, especially when printing large. The only caveat is that the TIFF images should have 8 bit color depth, rather than 16 bit. Not all printers can handle the 16 bit.

Alan, TIFF might be "compressed", by in my view it is not as TIFF takes twice the size of a RAW file (conditional), however it dos not mean that the printing company will accept RAW. Always convert to TIFF for best results.

The "camera settings" aren't going to make much of a difference beyond the fact that you should shoot full size RAW files.

 

If you want a photograph that will hold up at big enlargement sizes critical issues include: use of a tripod, mirror lockup,

good to excellent lenses, careful focus, stopping subject motion unless said motion is part of your concept.

 

Dan

In printing a 20x20"is really a small poster. Folks bring in cellphone images; stuff lifted from the web; slides; gobs of digital images right of the camera . In a recent murder trial set of posters that were only about 20x30 to 30x40" the inputs were from a 1.3 Megapixel camera in jpeg mode. Probably 1 in 1000 posters we print is a raw file input; or shot with a tripod or killer settup. <BR><BR>One should spend more time with a dynamic image with impact that worry about subtle issues of what dpi/ppi; or what pixel helper to use. Typically the folks who worry about theses issues have the worst inputs for posters; the BEST are kids with disposables; and folks who worry about what the image is ABOUT versus settings, upsizng, dpi/ppi.<BR><BR>Its like folks are engrossed in what type or paper color is used with a resume or book; and are braindead in the content, details and drama dept.

Some of the BEST posters I have printed in many thousands were shot with a waterproof disposable camera by a teenage girl on a white water rafting trip; the worst are typically by worry warts engrossed in dpi/ppi upsizing methods.

"Not sure if this is true but my local printing service advised me to convert the RAW image to TIFF (after my normal post processing) for the best prints.

 

Can anyone confirm that?"

 

Yes, that's correct... Use a TIFF file, 16 bit if possible, and don't use any compression on it.

 

Not all printers can handle a big TIFF, so be sure to talk with them first, before walking in the door with a CD.

It really amazes me that some one who has close to professional camera, Eos 40D, but have no clue what

should be the file size setting and other requirements for large prints. Simply put (as repeated by others),

Raw, tripod, L-lens, other requirements depend on shooting situation.

 

James, I strongly suggest before spending thousand plus $ on equipments, buy a $10 basic book of

photography. Read it carefully and try to understand. Things that you do not understand, feel free to shoot

us with questions. Photo.net will help you.... But buying a golden pen, does not make a person a good

writer.

shoot raw do your post processing and save as a tiff...

and don't forget the fundamentals. set your lens to it's optimum aperture for maximum resolution, which is usually

f/5.6 or f/8 for most prime lenses.

How timely :) I have just done some shots for a commercial client. I used my 400D with my 17-40L lens at

apertures between f/8 and f/11 and ISO mostly 100 but never higher than 400 (all on tripod, MLU and remote

release). I occasionally used my 50 f/1.8 for a few shallow DOF-effect shots. I used a handheld light meter and

also bracketed some of the shots with trickier metering. I was a bit concerned that I wouldn't have "enough" MP

to capture the necessary detail...

<p>I shot everything in large JPEG (3,888x2592) like I do for all my jobs. The prints were done by a local

commercial printer whose output was set to 500dpi. I did only minimal Photoshopping (some mild sharpening and

occasionally levels adjustment) and printed straight from JPEG. I collected the 20x30s day before yesterday. They

came out superbly :)

Prime or L lens, tripod, Raw, ISO 100, cable release or timer, f5.6 in Av or Manual mode. Download latest DPP.

Use DPP, Photoshop or DxO to reduce any chromatic aberration present, save as TIFF. (If subject is not moving,

look into using superresolution software like PhotoAcute to get more resolution by shooting more frames of same

thing).

You need to have more info from your printer, Do they print from TIF files? `minimum 2000x3000`=100dpi, Do they prefer a fixed file size at a fixed resolution eg:400dpi, the camera is best at full rez in RAW, the rest is done software as photoshop. One of my outofhouse printers did TIF`s for me till a new operater did not know the printer and converted them to jpeg without saying, I was not happy, so talk to your printer and they should work with you :)