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10-31-2017, 01:48 PM   #16
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QuoteOriginally posted by TonyW Quote
Be aware if you send a file with lower than the printers declared PPI you may not get optimal results as the printer is going to upsample to what it needs regardless of what you send!

When sending an image file to a printer the print driver will create its own proprietary bitmap before printing starts. If the PPI (not DPI) of the image is not at the expected print driver resolution (300/600 ppi Canon/HP or 360/720 ppi Epson) for the required print size the printer will upsample via the driver. Then there is a good chance of seeing jaggies around certain areas (diagonals and circles). The visibility being dependent on image content.

The cause of this is the print driver upsampling to the printers expected ppi resolution and the fact that the driver upsampling algorithms designed for speed and will be based on nearest neighbour. So what you are seeing are nearest neighbour interpolation artefacts.

The processing algorithms in LR and PS are much better for handling enlargement and reduction than nearest neighbour so it is better to upsample via these applications than leave the print driver to do the upsampling. This way you can be sure your data is being treated the best way.

So to be clear on this subject even if you send a file with 95 ppi to a Canon/HP printer it will be upsampled prior to printing to 300 ppi by the usually inferior algorithms of the print driver. Send the file via Adobe or something like Qimage to upsample to 300 will yield the optimal data for the printer

Tony knows what he says! I suspect that he has plenty of experience printing large.

I have a 24 inch wide Epson printer. Print on 100 foot rolls. I do exactly what Tony says.

The question that I have is this... Let's say that I want to print wider than my 24" printer can do. Then I need to send it out for printing (e.g. White House, White Wall, etc.). I have no idea what printers they use, or what their printers' native driver resolution is. Why don't these third party printers publish this critical information on their websites?

10-31-2017, 02:35 PM   #17
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QuoteOriginally posted by Fenwoodian Quote
...The question that I have is this... Let's say that I want to print wider than my 24" printer can do. Then I need to send it out for printing (e.g. White House, White Wall, etc.). I have no idea what printers they use, or what their printers' native driver resolution is. Why don't these third party printers publish this critical information on their websites?
If they are advertising themselves as a professional lab or service they should be quoting the printers native resolution (and if they are really good explain a benefit of the fine 600 or 720 ppi workflow for those native files with enough pixels). Or worst case scenario answering the question direct "what printer are you using and what ppi do you require for this printer"

They should also offer the ICC profiles for the paper types they print on and encourage users to download and use Soft Proofing and embedding the profile with the image already sampled to the required ppi.

Why they do not publish the information I would not want to say, but they should give the information freely and honestly to those that ask.

I think that this is a reasonable approach to the matter
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10-31-2017, 03:34 PM   #18
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QuoteOriginally posted by Fenwoodian Quote
Why don't these third party printers publish this critical information on their websites?
For the consumer, knowing what they are printing with would be a big help in choosing labs/printers. I think they avoid listing their equipment in part because:

a) Trade secrets. If one printer lists they use an Epson P8000 and another uses an Epson P10000, the former may lose business.
b) Too many variables. For example, if they listed that resolution is optimized at 300 dpi, someone may take a low res jpeg and try to upscale it to 300 dpi and the results look horrible. The consumer then blames the printer saying they did what the site said to do.
c) Special profiles. The best printers usually tweak and calibrate constantly and do not wish to share with their competition the details.
d) Itʻs the operator; not the machine. You can get great prints from a skilled technician on mediocre hardware and mediocre results with a button pusher on top gear.

Most pros that I know that go to the top printers have a relationship with management and the employees. Itʻs not like Shutterfly or Snapfish or Costco where you just upload and order. Iʻm the yearbook advisor and I will travel over 7600 miles round trip from Honolulu to Winnipeg for color and gray scale calibration and a press check to ensure with my images finalized on LR CC and their PC prepress software, German-made Manroland Press, Italian paper, US made ink, by Canadian pressmen, that we are getting the color balance, density, contrast, etc, within acceptable limits.
10-31-2017, 07:24 PM   #19
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Your own experience is going to be much more important than any amount of theory on this.

My suggestion: Make some big prints of various files, and see what you like.

11-01-2017, 02:06 AM   #20
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The OP seemed to be concerned with maintaining as much IQ as possible, at least that my take on his first post.

The suggestion of making some prints is fine and pretty good for the lab owner as well :-). Could be an expensive endeavour though!

What has been submitted so far is actually fact which can be corroborated with real world evidence. It only falls into the realms of theory when the data tested is not of the best quality.

So hands up anyone who has never produced, printed or liked an image of less than stellar IQ - my hands firmly in pockets :-)

Last edited by TonyW; 11-01-2017 at 02:35 AM.
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