The BIG print

How to make BIG prints from your work and display them at home

OK so first let me be upfront, this article is just a primer on this subject with some helpful suggestions, but there is a lot you can know about this subject that I won’t go into here. Suffice to say that printing is a deep subject you can study your whole life but there are some basics that are worth knowing.

The camera you used to make the image you want to print does play a big part in the overall quality of the image BUT no matter what you use to make photos, how many megapixels you have, etc., it’s unlikely to change how much you love your big print. The fact is that the only time when people are fussy about these things is when we’re doing a direct comparison between two identical images made with two different systems. This almost never happens in the real world. You make the photo with what you’ve got and to hell with the tech specs.

A quick primer on camera resolution and printing

“The number of megapixels your camera has is unlikey to change the enjoyment of the prints you make”

OK almost, there are some minimum quality standards that you’re going to want to know so you have some idea that you’re in the ballpark in terms of resolution.

The first thing that’s really helpful to know is how big your images are coming out of your camera. It’s even more helpful to know what those exact pixel dimensions are - for example, if you have a 24 megapixel camera the chances are that the images are 6000x4000 pixels (24 million=24 megapixels).

By dividing the long edge of your image’s resolution by 300, you can know the size of your picture for optimal quality for most professional applications. So, optimally, a 24MP camera at 6000 pixels on the long side would make a 20in print. Now in the real world, you can usually double that size and still make acceptable prints (subject to your standards of course).

Pro Tip: Print a small section of your final print to determine how the larger, and more expensive, piece will look before final printing. I like to make an 8x10 or even an 11x14 for a few dollars just as insurance before spending hundreds on the 40x30, for example.

These are just go-by numbers, not gospel, but it’s a place to start. If you do want to resize your images to be larger than their native resolution you’ll need to have your lab handle it or use a program like Photoshop. Note, however, that there are limitations and as you make the image larger (higher resolution) you will see the quality drop as the computer is making up information to fill in the gaps.

NOTE - One example I see a lot, Apple iPhones among others will often downsize images when they’re sent by text to something really small. Those 1000 pixel across images cannot be printed larger than 4x6in or 5x7in- it’s just too small. If you need/want to do something larger you must go and find the original image in the camera roll where it will have the full 12 megapixels of resolution.

All of that aside, most cameras are at least 12 megapixels these days, including phones, so there is a lot we can do with our images.

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print types

1. The first thing you should consider before you make a big print is where it’s going to hang. I really recommend measuring that space and maybe even taping off a square on the wall to give you a real sense of scale. Many, many times I’ve done this personally and professionally and we’ve had to make adjustments to our initial thoughts so that we got the print just right for the space. Painters tape works best and it’s easy to reposition if you make mistakes.

Side note to this article, you can also consider hanging a grouping of prints that all relate. This is a great way to tell a story and fill up a wall visually.

Once you have the print size you want, the next consideration would be the type of print/paper/canvas etc. you want the print to be made of. There are four main categories of prints these days and each can be stunning when printed large:

• Standard photographic paper framed and matted. Papers come in gloss, semi-gloss, and matte and you’ll want to see how those look before making a decision. I suggest making some small proof prints before the run of the larger wall print. Also really consider the frame and matte you choose and how that affects the overall size of the final piece. Often, I’ll print a bit smaller on these jobs to leave some inches for the matte and frame

• Canvas - these prints can be done traditionally with a frame or gallery wrapped without. The +/- of canvas is that it will hide some of the resolution of an image or conversely coverup the lack of it. So if you’re printing from a cell phone image, for example, you might love canvas because it’s more forgiving on the quality of the image.

Gallery Wrapped Canvas

Close up of canvas print construction

• Metal - Metal prints are just what they sound like, images printed directly onto aluminum (usually)., Anywhere that’s white in an image would then be bare metal and all colors, etc. come away a bit muted. That being said, it is a really fun and contemporary look. Be aware that some labs will lay down a white layer/substrate and print onto that. In those cases the images will not show through any of the metal and they can be quite vibrant, but looks are a lot of the reason to print on metal overall (IMHO) so be aware before you order.

24x36 Meal print

Closeup of metal print showing how white areas in an image are printed as bare metal

• Acrylic face mounted - these are prints that are printed directly into the back side of a piece of glass (actually clear acrylic) which can be anywhere from 1/4 inch to 3 inches thick. The overall effect is extremely high definition and a very modern overall contemporary aesthetic. I love making these because they can be 6-8 feet across in a single print which really makes them feel like gorgeous window like art in your home.

A face mounted acrylic print at 36x24 inches

Closeup of the edge of an acrylic print where you can see the acrylic (glass-like front) and the white backing

2. Don’t forget to think about hanging hardware. Some prints, like canvas, are light and easy while others like acrylics are heavy and should include mounting hardware from the lab. Take your time during the hanging process and buy the right hanging hardware, we’ve made countless revisions to how to do this, and learned a lot over the years, but many situations have their own unique challenges. Rest assured there is a solution to every problem.

Pro-Tip: Really think about if the kids (or adults) might be able to knock or hit the prints where they are going to hang. We have an installation on our staircase that we purposely did in unbreakable products just in case.

3. If you’re looking for a lab the one we always recommend is http://www.mpix.com They have a huge variety of printing options, including all of those listed above, and they are often announcing new products. We don’t have any affiliation with them but we still love their work.

4. If you’re thinking of buying a photo printer for your home I’d caution you that the economy of that decision is often not so good. You can get such high quality work these days from great labs around the country in just a couple of days so you have to weigh that against the price, of not only the printer, but also the paper and ink. I’ve owned many photo printers as a working photographer but I still come back to my labs for most work. Additionally, if you do want to make a big print on your own remember that you’re going to want to get it mounted on foam, gatorboard, or matte board and the process is precarious for most of us at home. If you don’t there is a strong likelihood your larger prints will get dented or warped. So word to the wise.. maybe the actual printing is better left to the labs.

5. Give a lot of thought to where you want to hang your work and what will work best as hanging hardware. There are a lot of choices these days depending on print weight as to what will work best. Knowing how you’re going to tackle the hanging, however, will play a big roll on what you order and how easy it is to get the project done. Some labs include the hanging hardware and others don’t so be sure to read the fine print.

OK that’s a lot of information for now.. let me know what you’d like to hear more about in a future article and I’ll go more into detail.