Jump to content

Lightroom specific: resizing & DPI


Recommended Posts

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I promised a print to someone and wanted to do an A3+ size. With the native size/resolution of the M8 in mind, I realized that I'd have to upsize my photo or choose for less DPI. I know there are specific software solutions that do this resizing perfectly well, but in the end I used the old way of 10% increase steps in CS. So far so good.

 

But I normally work via LR and started out that way now also. In the print module you can enter paper (print) size and DPI. That looks a very simple way to print in any format you want. But when I printed the A3+ from LR, I noticed a lot of quality loss versus the resized print in CS. So how does this resizing in LR work? Is there a smart way? Or should I (in LR) just not print bigger than the camera's native size?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Marco,

I just resized a cropped DNG file from my M8 to 240% in the following ways:

- develop in C1 standard sharpening exported at 100%, 360 dpi as a tiff

- as above but exported at 240%

- I then upsized the the 100% tiff using Photozoom Pro2, Genuine Fractals, CS4 (using bicubic sharper!), and Size Fixer XL. All with NO sharpening set.

I then printed all to the same size on my Epson 3800 using Lightroom using the same settings, so that Lightroom only had to resize the 100% file.

The print resized by Lightroom is indeed noticeably the one with the least resolution.

The others have very slight differences which require a magnifying glass to see.

The Genuine Fractals and Photozoom are the best, but the difference with the other two is only noticeable under close scrutiny with a magnifier and insignificant at normal viewing distance.

The color in all is exactly the same.

So upsizing in Lightroom is no option for me anymore.

The export from Capture One at 240% by the way is pretty good and only the very finest detail is slightly softer.

maurice

Link to post
Share on other sites

Maurice,

 

Thanks for stepping in, I was wondering if anybody had an idea about this :p And indeed, LR is not the way to go. Your workflow looks like mine, so resizing in something else than LR and more and more also printing in another app.

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Marco,

Once I have upsized in another program, I do get good results from Lightroom and the interface is very convenient. I used Qimage when I was on Windows which was a really good program, but now that I'm on a Mac it isn't available. Image print at about 900 euros is a bit too expensive for my work. Do you have a good alternative?

The printer profilesI make with i1pro work perfectly in LR and my prints match screen extremely well

regards

maurice

Link to post
Share on other sites

I used Qimage when I was on Windows which was a really good program, but now that I'm on a Mac it isn't available. Image print at about 900 euros is a bit too expensive for my work. Do you have a good alternative?

The printer profilesI make with i1pro work perfectly in LR and my prints match screen extremely well regards

maurice

 

Maurice,

 

No, I have been looking at Image print also, but 900 euri is a bit steep. I'm a student photographer (as opposed to either "professional" or "amateur" :p) and am willing to invest, but for that money I know other nice things to invest in. So I'm still using CS with 110% bicubic smoother for enlargements.

 

I have not yet discovered the art of making printer profiles and so am running canned versions from the paper manufacturer (I use Harmann FBAI a lot). I'll have a look at i1pro, though.

 

Edit: ah, of course I have calibrated me screen and do so regularly. I use the Syder2 and am trying a demo version of Coloreyes Display pro. Works fab, but is not exactly cheap at $ 175. And that's without hardware.

 

Cheers,

Link to post
Share on other sites

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Marco,

If by chance you print with an Epson 3800, I will gladly send you the profile I made for the Harman paper or any other paper you use. At present I cannot make any new profiles because the i1 pro eye-one match software will not work under Snow Leopard, but I do have a large collection of profiles for the 3800.

Maurice

Link to post
Share on other sites

Marco, I am entering the discussion a little late, but I doubt you can do in LR what you wish.

 

Last year I had a similar but more recurring problem and, after a lot research, invested in Alien Skin 'Blow-Up'. It does a marvelous job, much better than using incremental increases in Photoshop but takes a little time per image as complex algorithms are at work. I produced a PS Action so that I could batch upsize through the PS Blow-Up plug-in while doing other work. The results are much smoother and more refined. The plug-in has since been upgraded, but I have been satisfied with the original version.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Guest WPalank

Marco,

 

Here's an interesting thread in another forum regarding your topic.

Luminous Landscape Forum > Interpolating in Lightroom 2 vs. Photoshop

 

I think you said you are using CS. According to Jeff Schewe (around the middle of the page), in the newer versions of Photoshop with a newer bicubic smoother algorithm, "What you did by doing step interpolation (10% steps) with Bicubic Smoother was basically ruin the image. Bicubic Smother was designed to eliminate the requirement to do step interpolation because that will "over-soften" your upsampe. So, you were basically misusing the tool..." He doesn't tend to mince words!

 

also, here's an article you might find interesting that he authored:

The Art Of The Up-Res - Digital Photo Pro | DigitalPhotoPro.com

 

Now, a question for you. How does one export a file that you can change the pixel and dpi dimensions from Lightroom? It seems the only place I can send the file is to Photomatix Pro. Do I need to create a preset first? If so, how does one do that? A link to an article would be just fine.

 

Here's a grab from the box that comes up when I right click on an image and select "Export...":

 

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

That being said, the above discussion (first article) took place about a year ago. Schewe alludes to the fact that there would be improvements to the algorithm via LR.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...