21 Aug How to Prepare Your Photos for Large Format Printing
There are lots of reasons why you might need to have your photos printed in a large format. If you’re an amateur photographer, you might want to enlarge your pictures and frame them before hanging them on your own walls or giving them away as gifts. If you’re a professional photographer, printing your photos in a large format is essential for showing your work in galleries. Regardless of your reasons for choosing large format printing, you’ll need to overcome its main challenge: enlarging the photo without losing quality or resolution.
Use the right file format.
Many people save pictures in the JPEG file format. Unfortunately, this format tends to negatively affect the quality and resolution of the image, which is especially problematic if you want to enlarge it. This is because when you save an image in JPEG at its highest possible quality, some of the “information” from the photo is dropped from its brightest areas. The JPEG format does this in order to compress the size of the file and to make the photo look good online. Instead of saving your photos in JPEG, consider saving them in PDF format.
Use an unsharp mask.
Most types of photo editing software have a feature called an unsharp mask. Using this feature can help sharpen the image, making it appear to be of a better quality when it’s enlarged. This feature works by copying the image and making its copy blurry. These images are then blended together. The software places a mask or filter over the image to make it appear sharper.
Try re-sampling an image.
If you try to dramatically increase the size of an image in one step, you will almost certainly notice that the image quality becomes poor and it is pixelated. Instead, try re-sampling the image. (You’ll need to enable the re-sampling feature in your photo editing software.) Re-sampling refers to increasing the dimensions of the image by just 10% at a time. This helps preserve the image quality and resolution.
Reproductions, Inc. is the leading fine art printing and large format printing provider in the Tucson area. We have the state-of-the-art printing equipment and the in-depth expertise needed to make your photos stand out. If you have any questions, you can reach our shop at (520) 622-7747.