Raw jpg dpi printing CONFUSION!!!

[DeannaC]

What are the pros and cons of shooting raw vs jpg? Will shooting raw allow you to print larger images and maintain a good quality? Or is it just the benefit of being able to change the settings afterwards?

I'm using the canon rebel. When pulling up an image in Photoshop that is shot with the largest jpg setting it reads 3072x2048 at a resolution of 180dpi. Is there anyway to change that in camera to shoot at 300 dpi? As it is how large of a print can I have made at what quality?

I have read about some of this on the net and I am very confused! Can someone clear things up for me?

Thanks for reading!

DC

[me_wrestler]

First, the pros and cons of shooting RAW. The pros are that you are gathering the data from the camera without compression and loss of quality. This makes for a better quality plus greater latitude to do adjustments during the post-processing. The cons are the size of the file and the fact that you need to convert them for the majority of people to read them on their computers.

The DPI is Dots per inch. If you have a resolution (total dots) of 2000 X 3000 at 200dpi then you have a 10 X 15 inch document. If you are at 500 dpi then you have a 4 X 6 inch document. So the dpi basically controls the size of the document, the resolution is how many dots you have to work with. As far as how large can you print.... that depends on many factors but I can tell you that I regularly print 20 X 30" posters with my Nikon, so you shouls be able to do the same.

This is a pretty short explanation. If you need more detail, email me.
Colin

[Bytephoto]

Colin,
I'm confused now LOL
But shouldn't that be PPI (pixels per inch) instead of DPI, as the DPI is for the printer as in, dots (of ink) per inch.

[jdtphoto]

Extensis offers a Photoshop Plugin that allows you to up resolution 1600% of the original size with no discernable loss in print quality. Product is called pxl SmartScale.

[JCW3]

Originally posted by DeannaC
Will shooting raw allow you to print larger images and maintain a good quality?

I'm using the canon rebel. When pulling up an image in Photoshop that is shot with the largest jpg setting it reads 3072x2048 at a resolution of 180dpi. As it is how large of a print can I have made at what quality?
DC

There are alot of writings on the RAW issue, and some are very infromational. Its like anything, you can here views from both sides of the fence.

Shooting in RAW does help with quality, but is not as improtant as taking the time to get the photo right to begin with (exposure, framing, so on). But the biggest thing is its a lossless compression and it allows controls to be dont later. The key there was the LOSS-LESS. Though jpegs look nice, you do loose quality by compressing them. For you average use its not noticable, but when blowing up images to MAX size, it them becomes more of a issue. But thats the BIG adavatage in my eyes.

As for the DPI being at 180, its not as big of a deal. In Photoshop you can easily change it to 72, 300, or what ever. As posted before this is more of a printing thing. You will notice though when changeing the DPI the over all deminsions will change as well. Most documentation will say that 300 DPI is a good printing range to stay to achive 35mm quality. But MANY digital users have found they can go much lower than that.

As for the MAX size thats more a personal thing and also you must take into consideration the viewing distance. I mean you could blow one of your images up to 5'x15' as long as its being used as a billboard. But if your wanting to mount it on a wall with a viewing distance of 3 feet, then 16x24 will be much more pleasing. But the final though is always a personal thing. Some will say no more than 11x14 and others will push it to billboard size, but again viewing distance is more than anything.

The type of image will make a big differance as well. If its a closeup of a flower where most of the pixels are similar, then you will be able to go much bigger than if its a wide angle senic where the pixels color ranges greatly. So image type may also come into play.

[me_wrestler]

I went back and read my post and now I think I'm confused too. :-}
Yep, it should have been PPI. That's what I get for posting while trying to answer my student's questions. I'll try again after the fog clears from my mind.
Colin

[JCW3]

Originally posted by me_wrestler
Yep, it should have been PPI. That's what I get for posting while trying to answer my student's questions. I'll try again after the fog clears from my mind.
Colin

I fully understand where your coming from, since I have been down that same path. PPI is the more logical way of looking at it, but DPI refers more to printing. And since the orginal post was asking about MAX printing size its the logical method of thinking (or is it )

PPI and DPI are both important figures, but for some reason the digital industry trys to mix them and DPI always seems the prefered method of talking about. Why, I have yet to figure, but it just seems to go that way.