Printing large gallery size prints

I have a few of my best shots that I'd like to make large prints out of. I have no idea where to start.

Nations Photo lab is excellent!

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Nations is very good. Just a thought large prints means high resolution, hope the images are high.

My vote is Nations as well.

What do I need to get my pictures ready for printing? Do I upload raw or jpg?

Mine are jpeg when they come out of LR, want the highest quality/file size possible. You can go to their site and download a tool called "Roes" which helps you upload.

You don't say how you edit your images. I edit in aperture and get the print just the way I want it, then burn the file onto a cd. If I am not printing it myself I then take the cd to Sam's Club for prints up to 20x30. Some of the online outfits like Meridian can also help you. Hope you have good luck. Just remember that getting the file to look just the way you want it to is the key to success.

Welcome to the forum

If you fill out your profile we can better answer any questions that you might have.
You can do that at http://nikonites.com/profile.php?do=editprofile

Also how large to you consider large? If you use PhotoShop there are ways to increase the size and not lose to much quality.

The pictures were taken with my D3100 at 14 megapixels. I was thinking 2'x3' metallic prints. I don't think I would want to order bigger without seeing them at that size first. I see that National will do professional color correction on the larger prints since my monitor is not calibrated. I have Photoshop and LR, but I'm still a beginner at both.

Welcome.

i suggest, after all that hardware investment, you get to the best spot possible technically and then simply try. Maybe they'll provide a discount if you explain what you're trying to do. I would, to get your long term business.

AKRiverRunner said:

The pictures were taken with my D3100 at 14 megapixels. I was thinking 2'x3' metallic prints. I don't think I would want to order bigger without seeing them at that size first. I see that National will do professional color correction on the larger prints since my monitor is not calibrated. I have Photoshop and LR, but I'm still a beginner at both.

Click to expand...

Try a few in a small size first. Try with and without color correction. I've been to a shop where he let me look at the process, so I could say more/less light on this one (more or less my first prints, so I was happy to get a better idea about how my file should look).

Raw files always needs to be edited some, and you print jpg (some takes tiff, but not everybody). Make sure your color profile on the images are sRGB! I set this up in my camera, so all mine are sRGB.

Your dpi needs to be 300, and a full size file.

Edit your photos and enlarge the files to the sizes you desire. While in Photoshop (or whatever editing program you use), take a look at them by enlarging to 100%. If they aren't sharp, or there are any other flaws, you will be able to see them.

My other suggestion is to enlarge the file to the size you want then take a 4"x6" crop of an area that has lots of detail. Print it out on 4"x6" photo paper to get an idea of sharpness, color, etc. Granted the color won't be exact because your monitor isn't calibrated, but you should get an idea if the sharpness, contrast, etc. is where you want it.

Nations is my suggestion, too.

Printing on metal resolves any problem about what paper to print on. If you are serious, you should get your monitor calibrated. The less decisions you leave in someone else's hands, the happier you will be with the results. And do the test printing that Hark suggested. That is a great idea.