WAL
19th of August 2004 (Thu), 09:52
Hi there,
I am a total "newbie" as regards digital photography.
I recently acquired a Canon 310D Digital Rebel camera. Having printed a few shots off on to A4 photoglossy paper using a cheap and fairly low-resolution inkjet printer, I was really pleased with the results.
I took the file to be processed and printed and now want to blow up one of the shots to A3 size, or ideally A2 poster size.
Given the cost involved in enlarging the shot to such a large size, I wanted to ensure that the file I supplied would provide the highest resolution. I was informed that because the file had been saved as a JPEG, since it was only 455kb, it was actually very small and was unlikely to produce a great result when blown up, since JPEG is a compressed format.
I was told that if I saved the image as a TIFF, or a Bitmap, since these aren’t compressed files, I can obtain the maximum detail and generate the biggest file size possible for burning to a CD and then blowing up. When I saved it as a Bitmap, the file was a rather “fatter” 8.3 Megabytes.
At the original shoot, I had the camera set to record the files as JPEGs, and after downloading the shots on to the PC, cleaning them up and saving as JPEGS, I cleared the memory card to shoot more pictures.
Five questions arise from this:
1. If I shoot images with the camera set to produce “RAW” files in future, will this be the best option for quality - especially where I intend to blow images up at a later date? I can’t believe that this is always a great choice, as it obviously restricts shooting - since the camera’s card will obviously store fewer pictures.
2. Now that I have saved the JPEG images on the PC and deleted the originals from the camera, which is the better format to convert them to for burning on to a CD, so that they can be blown up cleanly - TIFF or Bitmap?
3. When I converted the JPEG file on the CD to a Bitmap, the file was obviously much bigger. I therefore suspect that the file has simply been uncompressed. However, when the camera records the JPEG image (and when I convert it to a Bitmap, or TIFF) is this a lossless process?
4. With the “Rebel” What is the maximum size I can blow up the images to, before the quality notably degrades?
5. In most "photo-cleaning" software (I am using Paintshop) there are facilities to add “sharpness” to the picture. While this seems to improve the image on the computer screen and tightens the lines on shots printed on the inkjet printer, how does this effect an enlargement that is professionally printed?
Thanks in advance for your assistance.
Regards
WAL
I am a total "newbie" as regards digital photography.
I recently acquired a Canon 310D Digital Rebel camera. Having printed a few shots off on to A4 photoglossy paper using a cheap and fairly low-resolution inkjet printer, I was really pleased with the results.
I took the file to be processed and printed and now want to blow up one of the shots to A3 size, or ideally A2 poster size.
Given the cost involved in enlarging the shot to such a large size, I wanted to ensure that the file I supplied would provide the highest resolution. I was informed that because the file had been saved as a JPEG, since it was only 455kb, it was actually very small and was unlikely to produce a great result when blown up, since JPEG is a compressed format.
I was told that if I saved the image as a TIFF, or a Bitmap, since these aren’t compressed files, I can obtain the maximum detail and generate the biggest file size possible for burning to a CD and then blowing up. When I saved it as a Bitmap, the file was a rather “fatter” 8.3 Megabytes.
At the original shoot, I had the camera set to record the files as JPEGs, and after downloading the shots on to the PC, cleaning them up and saving as JPEGS, I cleared the memory card to shoot more pictures.
Five questions arise from this:
1. If I shoot images with the camera set to produce “RAW” files in future, will this be the best option for quality - especially where I intend to blow images up at a later date? I can’t believe that this is always a great choice, as it obviously restricts shooting - since the camera’s card will obviously store fewer pictures.
2. Now that I have saved the JPEG images on the PC and deleted the originals from the camera, which is the better format to convert them to for burning on to a CD, so that they can be blown up cleanly - TIFF or Bitmap?
3. When I converted the JPEG file on the CD to a Bitmap, the file was obviously much bigger. I therefore suspect that the file has simply been uncompressed. However, when the camera records the JPEG image (and when I convert it to a Bitmap, or TIFF) is this a lossless process?
4. With the “Rebel” What is the maximum size I can blow up the images to, before the quality notably degrades?
5. In most "photo-cleaning" software (I am using Paintshop) there are facilities to add “sharpness” to the picture. While this seems to improve the image on the computer screen and tightens the lines on shots printed on the inkjet printer, how does this effect an enlargement that is professionally printed?
Thanks in advance for your assistance.
Regards
WAL