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Print Quality Photos


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15 replies to this topic

#1
Bent_Rider

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I have a hobby of wood burning, and I'd like to make some 8x10 prints of some of my best work, to sell them. So I contacted a professional photo lab. I was going to upload one photo to send to them, when the lab technician asked me how large the photo was. When I told him, he said he would need something much bigger than that to make an acceptable print. He said it needs to be at least 2 Megabytes in size. 

 

So using my Nikon D7100, how do I make a photo of 2 Megabytes in size?



#2
Merco_61

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Start by shooting in either raw or jpg Large Fine so you have the full resolution of your sensor available.

 

What software do you use to process your photos? 



#3
Bent_Rider

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Thanks, Nikonian. How do I select Large Fine in the camera menus?

 

I use Luminar AI to process my photos.



#4
Ron

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I shoot jpg Large Fine on my D7000 most of the time and my file sizes are rarely under 3mb.

 

On your Nikon you can set the quality and size by changing the options in the shooting menu. You should find two settings... one for image quality and the other for image size. You would want to set them to either RAW or Jpeg Large/Fine. Check pages 66 through 68 in your manual for more detailed information.

 

You can find a PDF version of the D7100 manual here.

 

--Ron



#5
Bent_Rider

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Thanks for the information, Nikonian and Ron. I found those settings in the camera menus and used them. However, I wasn't pleased with the pictures I took after that. So now on to a further question. What kind of lighting would you use for the best enhancement of the following wood burning pieces? Would you use flash, or ambient light? Shoot it indoors, or out of doors? It's the lighting that I mostly am concerned about.

 

Reinforcements | Larry Hendricks | Flickr

 

This is frustrating, getting the URL of the photo. I want the photo to show here, not the link to it.



#6
Merco_61

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You mean like this?

52566401865_bde307c1e7_h.jpgReinforcements by Larry Hendricks, on Flickr

 

You click share, go to BBCode and copy the generated code.

 

How much of a relief effect is there in the original artwork? If there is some, I would use a LED panel (maybe diffused) to get a controllable light source. Light it with raking light and either a second light or a reflector to lighten the shadows. If there is little relief, set your primary light and reflector ( or secondary light) both at 45° to the surface. I would use a macro lens to shoot this to get everything as sharp as possible. Continuous artificial light is easier to set up and more predictable for the beginner, compared to speedlights or strobes.



#7
Ron

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I agree with Peter about using continuous lighting. Flash can be very frustrating if you're not used to working with it.

 

Two things... when photographing artwork you need to be sure your camera is perpendicular to what you're shooting. Otherwise you can end up with parts of the image that, depending on the aperture you use, can be slightly out of focus. Professionals use copy stands that are made for this exact purpose. However, you can get by with mounting your image on a wall and shooting from a tripod. The important thing is to make sure that your camera is level.

 

Second, you need a flat, shadowless light source... or sources. I would recommend a ring light to go with the macro lens that Peter suggested. LED ring lights can be purchased that feature both continuous and flash settings. Most of them also have diffusers that snap on the front of the LED panel to create a softer, more flattering light.

 

Then you need to experiment to find the camera and light settings that produce your desired effect. Trial and error.

 

--Ron



#8
Bent_Rider

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Thanks Merco and Ron. I can mount the artwork on a wall, then put my camera on the tripod, then use artificial horizon to make it level, and perpendicular to the piece. I have a Nikon 80-200 ED lens with the macro feature. Will that work? 

 

I'll check out the LED ring light at a camera store tomorrow. I hope it's not too expensive.

 

Merco, what do you mean about the amount of relief? Of course, the piece is flat. But I burned the image to show some depth in the image.



#9
Ron

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B&H camera sells their own brand of LED ring light (Bolt) quite cheaply... but, it's woefully under powered and eats batteries for lunch. Especially if you're using continuous mode. You might also find a ring light at Best Buy but I'm not sure about that.

 

I have never used an 80-200 so I don't have any advice on that. But I doubt if it would work as well as either a 55mm AI-S or 60mm D micro Nikkor. And, depending on the front filter size, it may not work with a ring light. Especially an inexpensive one.

 

However, if you're set on using a long lens for this project, you would probably be better off using off camera lights as opposed to a ring light because your camera to subject distance will be much greater.

 

--Ron



#10
Merco_61

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If you have any depth at all, raking light will show depth level much clearar than the flat lighting of a ring light.

 

The screw-drive versions of the 80-200 is far from ideal for repro use as there is a pronounced field curvature. The AF-S 80-200 works better, as do the 70-200 zooms, but none of them are even close to any micronikkor.

 

The best repro lens in F-mount is the 55/3.5 Ai. This is not surprising as it was developed to reproduce the brush strokes in japanese calligraphy for archival purposes. No lens in production in the mid 50-s came even close to the resolution the archivists needed.



#11
Bent_Rider

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I also have an AF Nikkor 50mm, f1.8 normal lens. I also have a Tamron wide angle, SP 10-24 mm, f3.5-4.5. Would either of those work? I can't afford to buy another lens now.



#12
Merco_61

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How large is the artwork? As long as you don’t have to get too close, the AF 50/1.8 D or the AF 50/1.8 has reasonable field curvature. On a DX body and stopped down to about f/8, you should get good results if the artwork is 8” or larger on the short side.

 

If you have an AF-S 50/1.8 G, you will have to be a bit further away to get good results. I think 10” on the short side should be large enough. I don’t have nearly as much experience with this lens, so I have to make an educated guess.



#13
Bent_Rider

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The artwork is 10.5" wide, and 12" long. So that should work. At least I'll try it.

 

Unfortunately, the only light source I have is the flash on the D7100, which I don't want to use. So should I shoot it under incandescent light, or fluorescent light? Or ambient light? I have all three of those settings on the white balance setting on the camera.



#14
Merco_61

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Set up as even lighting as you can using whatever light sources you have on hand, as long as they are the same kind. Shoot a white coffee filter or some other paper product that isn’t coated and make a custom white balance from that shot. A commercial gray card or a colorchecker chart would be best, but a Melitta filter works. Incandescent light sources vary in colour temp quite a bit and fluorescent varies with the age of the tube. Daylight varies even more with the height of the sun, how much clous cover there is, the types of clouds, the amount of Water in the atmosphere etc. Just follow the procedure for setting a custom white balance according to the manual and you are good to go.

If you need reflectors, you can improvise by covering some posterboard with aluminium foil or a mylar space blanket.

#15
Bent_Rider

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Gentlemen, I don't want to leave you hanging. I appreciate all the advice you've given, most of which I have followed. But I still can't get the image I want. I think my next step will be to buy a portable studio box, and use that to make my pictures of my wood burning pieces. So, once again, thanks for all the help.


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#16
bgmi41075

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On your Nikon you can set the quality and size by changing the options in the shooting menu. You should find two settings... one for image quality and the other for image size. You would want to set them to either RAW or Jpeg Large/Fine. Check pages 66 through 68 in your manual for more detailed information.