Printing Renders
VIArts
Posts: 1,515
in The Commons
Ever go to a local store to print your artwork only to have it come out grainy? I did this week.
I wonder why it's grainy. dpi, maybe?
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Well what pixel size was the render, and how big did you print it?
I printed 11 different renders. i think most, if not all, go up to 1024 or 1080 at 72 dpi. i got 4x6, 5x7, 8x10. no matter how small the print, still got grain
Printing at 8x10 (inches?) you should supply an image around 2400x3000 pixels.
Mine all came out sharp and clear even 800 x 400 on a 4 x 6 but sadly the kiosk cropped them disgustingly chopping off heads even though I previewed and set the cropping on every one and the store didn’t want to know, just said I should have previewed them, since then have had difficulty getting anything printed as they claim from a game or other source and I have no proof of intellectual ownership so just gave up!
1080 pixels at 10 inches is 108 PPi if you print it full size. Remember,
size in inches * PPI = size in pixels
size in pixels / size in inches = PPI
size in pixels / PPI = size in inches
and so on. PPI is not a measure of image quality, it's a conversion factor betwen pixel dimensions and physical dimensions. For an imahge you are going to hold in your hand you probably want 300PPI, so multiply the print size by 300 in the render size bones (you can just enter it as a sum - 10 * 300, 8 * 300)
Yeah, like Richard said, 300 ppi is kinda the minimum for a nice print.
...I'm looking at 1,200 for high quality art prints in the 24" x 18" and up range.
For renders? How much content will provide that level of detail?
Even 8k maps aren't going to give that much detail.
...24 x 18 is a pretty large surface area and I ma looking at larger sizes compared to the normal 8 x 10 photo format most home photo printers can produce.
My plan is to render in a larger size then reduce for printing to tighten up details. I am looking at "gallery grade" print services which use fade resistant inks on high quality stock and even canvas, not your corner Kinkos.
I used to paint in oils, I no longer am able to, so 3D has become my "paint" medium.
PPI and DPI are the same, right?
Some of the renders date back to 2011 and I don't have the file anymore to re-render at higher PPI. Blah, I wish there was a way to fix it.
Most paint or photographic software packages have enlargement tools, some better than others, there are also specialist enlargement packages out there, which are the best I don't know. None of them will give the quality of an original hi-res render but it might be an option to get something, also if you're only printing up to 10x8 then a cheap A4 printer will do that even if you just decide to use the home prints as proofs it will give you an immediate check before paying somebody to produce high quality prints.
Here in the UK a cheap printer/multi-function printer can be picked up for £25 or less, and if you use third party inks from a reputable supplier the running costs drop, and there are lots of inkjet compatable photo papers around so you can get any finish you want.
Most printers doing fine print images ask for 600 dpi. For poster work at the sizes you are looking at 300 would work unless you were going to stand up against the image and scrutinise it with a magnifying glass. For an ordinary every day image at those sizes you would get away with 150 dpi and viewed from a distance you would find it hard to see the difference. A billboard, viewed from far away, of 40 feet by 20 feet might have a dpi as low as 4 and you would only see the dots if you stood right up against it, but then you wouldn't see the image :)
...I am looking to produce gallery quality prints are on par with the oil paintings I used to create in large format, 24" x 18" is on the small end. These will be seen close up.
I'[m just wondering, why is the smallest detail more important than the story behind the art? I'n guilty of such desires,but ti'v not like people aev o go "Hey, there's a tiny starstep up her head!"
Run it through Dynamic Auto painter and pass it off as 2D art
it upscales as it creates brushstrokes
They wont be that close. I don't understand your logic. You don't go to an art gallery and then get so close you want to see how fine the brush strokes are so why get so close you want to see how close the dots are? If you are that close you are assessing the printing technique not the art work.
What I've noticed with printouts is that (at least at the "regular photo size", too high resolution can lead to a worse result that slightly lower resolutions. Some printing machines don't do downsampling well, and you end up with artefacts.
DPI tends to be used as a synonym for PPI but strictly speaking no, PPI is how big the pixels are in an image (when printed/placed at 100% scale) while DPI is a measuer of how dense the ink spots froma printer are (individual spots wil usually be a bit larger, however, due to bleed). Because a dot of ink is usually there or not there (some photo printers may be able to vary the amount of ink per dot, and many have a mid-tone ink giving you missing, half-strength, or full-strength) while a [ixel may usually have any of 256 values in a each colour it is almost always necessary to have a PPI value substantially lower than the printer's DPI.
I use 'ON1 Resize' and would recommend it. I've used it up to 300% and it really does produce enlargements that are as good as the hi-res renders are.
My question there was directed at kyoto kid, re: needing that much fine detail. lol
...believe me, some people do.
PPI and DPI are not the same thing. A fine art printer can use many dots to add up to a single pixel. I use an Epson SC-P800, which will use 9 to 32 dots to create the color of a single pixel.
"Synonymous" and "no" just made this more confusing. lol. Like in Carrara, I'm now going "Is that actually DPI or PPI?" And where is it in DS?
This is a good explanation
https://99designs.com/blog/tips/ppi-vs-dpi-whats-the-difference/
Mine's BROTHER MFC-J4620DW. I got it in 2015. No ink right now. lol
...and if people think 1,200 DPI is extreme here's a service which makes that appear "low rez."
https://vastphotos.com/prints/.
I think i'm getting it. So...if I print a 4x6" photo thats, say, 400x600px at 60 PPI, los of the pic will fall off the paper because 400x6800 / 60 = 6.7x10", right?
The pixel dimension of the image determines the maximum size of print at a given ppi/dpi. A 400/600 ppi image printed at 60 dpi is 6.67"x10" maximum size but if you print it at 4"x6" then the printer will size the image to fit the paper. You wont loose any image but there will be a white border.
Was just curious about your reason is all. I would do it because, even if people aren't going to rub their noses all over my beautiful photo loo like it was king for a pixel or dot, I'd ant to feel like I made a realistic masterpiece. Like those artists who I've heard put underwear on their figures, despite knowing that no one will see it. Art is always about you and how you feel; never others.
Hey, maybe one day I'll print something really big, so people run into it thinking it''s a doorway!