outside sources for printing large prints

[devilwoman]

I received some good information on printers, but am now looking for information on getting together my prints, sizing, framing and having a show of some of my work at several places where I live. Perhaps even selling a print/frame etc or two. So the question is if you want large prints how do you know how large to print them so they are still good? And where would you go to have that done? I have a frame place here that really does great work so that wont be a problem...then putting a price on your work...wow dont even know where to start there...how do you all price your work? Any suggestions would be great...thanks.

[la-psycho]

i go to kinkos for 20x16 "poster" prints.....cause it's right next door to where i live heh, but it costs a lot to print a something that size...and laminate it...it's $30 a poster...and especialyl if you want to make a profit...say you sell at $35...it's kinda expensive also....i know.....cause i don't get much profit myself from doing that...

.....i have a friend who made an acct at www.cafepress.com and sells things from there. the company actually prints your picture...but you are pretty limited in terms of print sizes. i think they'll do 20x16, and...i don't remember....but it's a big one. i don't know how the print quality actually is there....but my friend say's it's pretty good. from there however, it's easy to promote your site and you won't have to do any actual coding or anything to make your site....you can set up a basic shop....where you can only sell 1 type of each product, like 1 20x16 print only...you can't sell another 20x16 print of a different picture (trust me....it's really limited), or you can pay something like 5-6 dollars a month??? and you can sell any amount of a type of product...you want.

if you are just starting out selling things, i'd suggest going with cafepress....just cause it's easier. i've never used them before, so what i've just told you is based on what i heard from my friend.


i hope this helps

~leo

[la-psycho]

oh wait...i dont' think i answered your question....

i think (now notice i said think) that the amount of resolution you get from your camera really matters (assuming you are using digital) because if you are going to blow a picture up, and keep it at the same dpi, what photoshop does is basically adding pixles to your pictures, but you still have the same amount of actual...um....picture data. so if you are using say...a 2 megapixle camera, no matter what you do, you will still have 2 megapixles worth of actual picture information. while if you are using 4 megapixle camera, the same picture would look better enlarged simply because you have more picture info. so does that mean more megapixles is always better? not necessarily.

so you do have to be careful when enlarging pictures...i can't say exactly how you would know...how much to blow up a picture...i generally print one at kinkos at 20x16, as a reference and decide from there....but in my mind...there is no ...well.....really....a WAY to know how much to enlarge something and still have it look good.

(this is based off of my experience with my canon g2)

hope this helps

~leo

[devilwoman]

YEP, that sure does makes sense and it sounds like trial and error. Good enough, I'll give it a try...thanks very much.

[autumnsky]

Take a look at this vendor, JumboGiant, I've heard good thing about them. http://www.jumbogiant.com/

They also provide a scale for sizing and resolution
http://www.jumbogiant.com/services/tips.html

"We suggest using at least a 2 megapixel camera for prints up to 18"x24", a 2.5 megapixel camera for prints up to 24"x36", a 3.1 megapixel camera for prints up to 36"x48", and a 5 megapixel camera for prints up to 40"x60". "