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More thoughts on iPhone photo prints
Submitted by Marty Yawnick on August 26, 2010 – 2:34 am3 Comments
Here are some random additional thoughts I had for my earlier post on printing and enlarging iPhone photos. They didn’t seem to fit smoothly in context in the earlier post, so here they all get their own bullet points in a random musing.
If you print at home, there’s a big difference in papers. Find the paper and finish that’s right for you. Look for a photo paper that’s archive quality and low in acid content. Low acid papers will hold the image longer and are less likely to fade or fall apart. One of my favorites is EPSON Ultra Premium Photo Paper Luster. It’s not a glossy, but has more finish than a matte paper. It holds ink really well and I’ve always gotten great color from this paper. It’s pretty easy to find. For gallery work, I prefer EPSON Exhibition Fiber photo paper.- Don’t be afraid to pay for good photo paper. The cheap stuff never looks right and the few dollars you save isn’t worth the frustration of trying to jack with your color management to get your image colors right. Cheap photo paper isn’t worth screwing up the presentation of your photography.
- Use a heavy stock — at least 50 lb. weight. Anything less feels flimsy and cheap and doesn’t feel like a photograph in your hands. The EPSON Ultra Premium Luster I like is 67 lb. paper and has a good feel to it.
- Hipstamatic prints enlarge nicely. I’ve seen them go as large as 15″ square and they still look good. Hipstamtic filters apply a noise and a texture to the photo that lends itself to big enlargements. That said, for me, I think the visual sweet spot for Hipsta prints is about 7″ – 8″ square.
- While you can enlarge fake Polaroids or fauxlaroids to be really big, especially with an iPhone 4, to me they don’t look right visually if they’re much larger than the Polaroid photographs that they recreate. The classic SX-70/Time Zero instant prints measure 3.5″ x 4.2″. To me, fauxlaroids don’t look right when they’re printed much bigger than that.
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Marty is a self-employed graphic designer in the Fort Worth/Dallas Metroplex. He is an avid Rangers baseball, Chicago Cubs, Packers and Highbury Arsenal fan. In addition to capturing random moments with whatever camera is close by (usually his iPhone), his other interests include coffee, film, music, and traveling in seats 5E and 5F with his fiancé.
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Isnt a printer needed to get that ink on your recommended paper
?
Any recommendations for a printer either mixed mode incl. Photo or a specialist photo printer (13x18cm or up to 18x24cm). For an iMac.
Hi Marty,
I have just read your interesting posts on enlarging and printing but I have a question about dpi resolution.
Assuming that an original iPhone 3GS file is 2048 x 1536 pixels at 72dpi (72.25cm x 54.19cm)
I was of the understanding that taking your example for instance of an original file of 2048 x 1536 at 72dpi and merely changing the dpi to 150dpi 13.65" x 10.24"(34.65cm x 26cm)and not re-sampling the image makes no difference as it is the pixel dimensions that count and without re-sampling these don't change. I can understand doing it this way if the image is destined for offset litho CMYK printing where the printer needs a certain resolution but not for inkjet or commercial lab output.
If on the other hand I re-sample at 150dpi I get an image size of 4267 x 3200 pixels or 72.25cm x 54.19cm which oddly enough gives me a bigger pixel dimension but the physical print size dimensions remain the same as 72dpi.
This gets very confusing for my brain at least so I guess all I really want to know is what would you suggest if I want to send an Hypstamatic image of 1536?×?1536 pixels to a commercial lab to print at 8 x 8 inches.
Thanks again for a great article
Richard
Ouch! Richard, that hurt my head this early in the morning. With no coffee.
Bottom line, at 1536×1536, you'll get great looking 8" x8" Hipstamatic prints from a either a commercial lab or a photo printer at home.
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