Photo enlargement problems ....

In preparing for a Photo contest, I'd like to present a 36X20 print on Aluminum ... I have a 12 MP camera - how much enlarging can something like this stand without losing a ton of sharpness?

Bay photo wants close to $100 for just a print - was going to see what it looked like on paper before I invested in Metal, but that's a lot just for a test run...

tks,

ottor wrote in post #12137776
In preparing for a Photo contest, I'd like to present a 36X20 print on Aluminum ... I have a 12 MP camera - how much enlarging can something like this stand without losing a ton of sharpness?

Bay photo wants close to $100 for just a print - was going to see what it looked like on paper before I invested in Metal, but that's a lot just for a test run...

tks,

#1. Larger prints are view from further away. This makes it more difficult in seeing any deficiencies in the print. Like noise, pixelation, etc.

#2. I know a 8x10" print is easily doable with a 3MP picture. Which works out to 37.5KP per square inch. Your image, at 36x20, equals 720 square inches. A 12MP picture file works out to 16.7KP per square inch. I'd say you might be pushing it.

#3. You are printing on Aluminum. I have never worked with it before. But I would think that it's resolving power is not as great a paper. In essence, it lends a certain look and feel to the image. A 12MP image might work out okay at that size given the medium.

#4. Get the original image upscaled before printing it. There are some really powerful scaling plugins for Adobe Photoshop, etc that will do the image justice.

#5. Get a sample print done on a smaller piece of Aluminum with the same DPI as your intended image. Don't forget to view it from about 4 feet away. If it looks good then go with it.

AbPho wrote in post #12138113
#1. Larger prints are view from further away. This makes it more difficult in seeing any deficiencies in the print. Like noise, pixelation, etc.

#2. I know a 8x10" print is easily doable with a 3MP picture. Which works out to 37.5KP per square inch. Your image, at 36x20, equals 720 square inches. A 12MP picture file works out to 16.7KP per square inch. I'd say you might be pushing it.

#3. You are printing on Aluminum. I have never worked with it before. But I would think that it's resolving power is not as great a paper. In essence, it lends a certain look and feel to the image. A 12MP image might work out okay at that size given the medium.

#4. Get the original image upscaled before printing it. There are some really powerful scaling plugins for Adobe Photoshop, etc that will do the image justice.

#5. Get a sample print done on a smaller piece of Aluminum with the same DPI as your intended image. Don't forget to view it from about 4 feet away. If it looks good then go with it.

Appreciate the help...... I forgot to mention that the size is 4247x2854 if that makes any diff...

$100 for a "print" just to enter a photo contest seems a bit extreme. I hope you have plans to use this aluminum "print" after the contest.