Large billboard sized photo

[jennie_lee]

<p>Will using the Raw format setting on my Nikon d70 allow me to take an image at 300dpi and sized at 96"x96"? How can I achieve a capture a large image for use on an 8' x 8' banner graphic?</p>

[nickc1]

<p>The d70 has a maximum resolution of 3008x2000 so the largest print at 300 dpi would be about 10"x6½"<br /><br />But do you need 300dpi? - The screen I am looking at now has a resolution of about 100dpi and that is fine.<br /><br />The further away from an image you view it, the lower resolution you need - if you look at a bit of billboard poster in your hand it is so coarse a resolution you cannot make out the picture but you see fine on the hoarding.<br /><br />As an example have a look at the 'Strand' cigarette adverts by Bert Hardy here:-<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thephotographersgallery.org.uk/berthardy">http://www.thephotographersgallery.org.uk/berthardy</a><br /><br />They were blown up to 48sheet poster size (20' x 10') from a single 35mm frame taken on fast (Ilford HP3 400ASA) film - but on the wall they looked fine - I know that is not digital, but you are definitely not talking high resolution!<br /><br />Why not take an image of the sort of thing you want to blow up to 8'x8' and blow just a tiny part up using the magnification you will need and see what it looks like?<br /><br />Nick</p>

[leicaglow]

I think you need around 240 pixels, depending on the printer. When I size huge prints

I have been using Topaz Simplify, eliminating detail, at least to the grain/pixel level. I

cant get into specifics due to time, but you could also rasterize the image and resize

it to almost any dimemsion.

[dave_redmann]

<p>As a practical matter, discuss this with the lab that is printing it, and ask them for their suggestions. They can probably work with you to deliver an acceptable product a lot better than we can.</p>

<p>[Also, the "large format" forum is for large format cameras--typically using film of 4x5 inches or larger. Next time you will probably get more answers to this sort of question in the digital darkroom forum.]</p>

<p>Anyway, what you need for an 8 ft x 8 ft banner depends a ton on how close the viewers will be and what are their personal standards of detail and sharpness. If this is going to be a billboard-type use and nobody will get closer than 20 feet away, your D70 may do just fine, even though it can only supply about 21 ppi at that size. (Using raw instead of JPEG has little to do with the resolution, although it can allow you to make a somewhat better image overall.)</p>

<p>On the other hand, even a medium format camera with an 80 megapixel digital back will only give you enough for about 80 ppi when printed that large; it may look good, if you don't get too close and/or aren't too demanding; but we're talking $50,000 of camera equipment. If you want something that has the potential to capture an image that will really look sharp and detailed when printed that large and viewed up close, then you really need an 8x10-inch (or larger, film) view camera, a very good lens, and very good technique.</p>

<p> </p>

[Frank Petronio]

I used to work in advertising and (ten years ago) the larger outdoor billboards were printed at 11 dots per

inch, so a 44' long billboard required 44' x 12 (inches) x 11 (dpi) = 5808 "dots". Optimally you want two

pixels for a printed dot, so 11615 pixels would be ideal. That's assuming you would be using the single

image across the entire width, which usually isn't the case.

 

Most digital files "print up" just fine and a D70 file would be plenty of information in normal circumstances.

It's a fallacy that people believe billboards, bus wraps, and other large graphics need to be super high-

resolution when in fact, they look pretty horrible up close.

 

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, before the D70 came out (ca. 2004) the mosts popular professional

Kodak digital cameras that cost over $28K were the same resolution as the D70. People used those files

for everything and they usually looked great.