B&W resolution

[plum]

Goal: a blow-up print of a gorgeously rich B&W photograph.

Concern: resolution. How high do you figure I'd need to make it in order to get, say, a 24"x24" print without the observer knowing it was taken with a digital camera? I loathe those little pixels that make it just seem so obvious that it wasn't taken on film.

Is blowing up a B&W any different than blowing up a color photo?

 

[GK]

24x24 is a big print for digital. At 200 dpi (and that's the minimum for printing; 300dpi would be better), that's a 4800x4800 pixel photo. My 6MP dSLR takes photos at roughly 3000x2000. I could maybe fudge around in the software to make something that would come out clear at 4500x3000, but anything bigger than that is going to look like it's been enlarged. Areas with gradients are going to be the hardest hit.

The bigger trouble will be with printing. Digital printing technology for B&W isn't as far along as for color. Most home printers make gray by mixing colors, which never quite give the right shade. Some manufacturers are trying out "grayscale" print cartridges to give a truer B&W photo, but it's not a common tool, yet. You might need to check out a few printers before you find one who can do the job right.

 

[plum]

thanks! very helpful indeed