Many individuals at one time or another requires a large format print of some kind. This can be in the form of a canvas print or a block mount or even just a large poster print and needs to be printed using a specialized large format printer at a professional printing company.
One of the most important things to remember is that in order for a printing company to supply you with a large format print, you have to provide them with a large, high-quality photo or image. It is not advisable to take a small photo (for example the size of your computer screen) and then printing it on an A0 canvas – chances are that you will lose on the clarity of the photo and the quality will definitely be compromised.
Many digital cameras have a setting where you can choose the quality of your images. This is usually defined as small, medium, large and extra large or in screen size, for example 800 x 600 pixels. If you are taking photos with the aim of eventually transferring them to a large format print, your quality setting has to be as high as possible. Some of the more advanced cameras also offer a “raw” option. In this mode images can be graphically manipulated with ease once the images are downloaded to the computer. Raw images are however very large and you might have to invest in a large memory card if you want to follow this route.
Printing companies prefer images with a resolution of 300 digital pixels per inch. This is generally referred to as a 300dpi image. Photos with a lower resolution may appear blurry and grainy. Also try to provide the printing company with an image in a Photoshop or Tiff format, rather than the industry standard Jpeg images. Jpeg images compress the pixels in the image and this is not ideal for a large format print.
Don’t file your most treasured photographs somewhere in a dark cupboard – invest in a couple of large format prints and add colour and personality to any room in your house!
