printing questions

[arthur]

I have heard it is best to print at 300 pixels/inch.

That limits my 20D to 8x10's. I'm wondering what the degradation is like when you print at 11x14.

Also, in general should I print in matte or not? (I intend to put some pictures on the wall, behind glass, in frames).

Never done much printing before.

And what online printer is best bang for the buck. The only one I've ever used is snapfish.

[AjP]

I think you confusing your self...depending what format you shooting JPG or RAW.. with RAW you can get DPI you want during conversion process

I have 20D and printed 20x30 and it looks great.. as far as matte or gloss finish it's up to you.. I prefer matte

[arthur]

so I can expand the pixels / inch greater than 300 when converting from RAW?

[jeffkohn]

You can get excellent prints at less than 300 PPI. I'd say you can go down to 240 with little or no compromise in print quality. Depeding on the particular image and the intended viewing distance, even 180-200 PPI should be OK although you will be compromising a bit in quality compared to a higher-resolution print.

To get the best results you should use high-quality interpolation when printing large. I recommend giving QImage a try (there's a free trial), as it automatically takes care of interpolating the image to the print drivers native resolution. It also gives you a lot of flexibility with regards to print layout and other options.

[ranchonodinero]

Earlier in the year I was trying to justify a new printer in order to take advantage of some rebates. After looking at all of the "on line" printing options and trying some of them out, I came to the conclusion that after you purchase the printer, ink and paper, it is far less expensive and with better results, to use the online services. I know Walmart is hated by a few (loved by their stockholders), but their processing is hard to beat. They can do prints in an hour with 4x6 running .19 each. CVS pharmacy and Walgreens also do the same and are very competitive. For larger prints, I have used smugmug with excellent results-they are also a pretty good on line picture hosting site too. Here is an example with the "nifty fifty"
http://ranchonodinero.smugmug.com/photos/51635417-S.jpg

[AjP]

when you converting from RAW in Adobe RAW converter, there is setting for DPI you want, by default it is 240 DPI

[jeffkohn]

Originally Posted by ranchonodinero

Earlier in the year I was trying to justify a new printer in order to take advantage of some rebates. After looking at all of the "on line" printing options and trying some of them out, I came to the conclusion that after you purchase the printer, ink and paper, it is far less expensive and with better results, to use the online services. I know Walmart is hated by a few (loved by their stockholders), but their processing is hard to beat. They can do prints in an hour with 4x6 running .19 each. CVS pharmacy and Walgreens also do the same and are very competitive. For larger prints, I have used smugmug with excellent results-they are also a pretty good on line picture hosting site too. Here is an example with the "nifty fifty"
http://ranchonodinero.smugmug.com/photos/51635417-S.jpg

I agree with you about cost, and even simplicity. But not quality. Granted for 4x6 prints the difference is going to be small, but it's still there. And as you get into larger prints the difference becomes more apparent. I've tried the Fuji/Chromira prints, not only at places like Costco but even pro labs. The results just don't compare to what I can produce at home with my inkjet.

Just as an example I took some Christmas pictures of my friend and his family. He didn't want to burden me too much with making a bunch of prints, so even though I offered to make prints for him he decided to get the prints he would be handing out to others at Costo. I still made prints for him personally, and when we compared them to the Costco prints he couldn't believe the difference. The Costco prints weren't as sharp, and saturated colors didn't print nearly as well. The overall impression was that the inkjet prints were noticeably better even to the casual observer.

Granted, getting the best print possible from an inkjet takes some work and requires a thorough understanding of things like color management. For people who consider computers and post-processing a "necessary evil" of digital photography, home printing is probably not going to appeal to them. But if you're a control freak like me it's the only way to go. I've put quite a bit of work in to careful seletion of paper, printer settings, and even creating my own profiles. I'll put my inkjet prints up against any lab using the Fuji/Noritsu/Chromira printers.

[TxLerman]

One thing I did not see mentioned when responding to the orginal poster is that there are only so many pixels in a picture. What ever pixels-per-inch you choose will determine the largest size print you can make. You can get great quality pictures at 200 ppi.