Photographic printing
Bring digital photographs into print for portfolios, interiors and exhibitions.
Photographic printing
Large prints for photographers
An image that looks perfect on a monitor can reveal all sorts of surprises at a metre and a half wide. This page is for professional and serious amateur photographers preparing large prints for exhibitions, clients or their own walls.
How far will your file really stretch?
Work out pixels against print size first. Divide your image's long edge in pixels by the print width in inches to see the resolution you have at that size. Around 300 ppi suits close inspection, but large prints viewed from a few paces can look fine at much less, sometimes 150 ppi or lower, depending on the image. Enlarge carefully, using good interpolation software, and check noise at 100 percent. For film, drum scanning can draw more detail from a negative than a flatbed.
Editing for the print, not the screen
Most monitors are brighter than paper, and photographers commonly complain that prints come out dark for this reason. Calibrate your screen, reduce brightness, and soft proof with the relevant ICC profile if one is available for your chosen paper. Sharpen last, at final output size, since sharpening that looks crisp on screen can look different on textured paper. Keep your master file untouched. See photo printing for more, and ask us about profiles for specific papers.
Try a test strip before the full sheet
Large prints are expensive to get wrong, so print a section first. Choose the most difficult part of the image, such as shadow detail or a skin tone, and proof that at actual size. Paper will change the mood too: gloss deepens blacks, matt suits soft tones, and textured fine art papers add a tactile quality that can hide very fine detail. Then think about presentation, because large unmounted prints are vulnerable to creasing and need careful handling.
Related topics
Useful to know
Your questions.
How many megapixels do I need for a large print?
There is no single answer, because viewing distance and image content matter as much as pixel count. Send us the file and intended size, and we can tell you how it is likely to hold up.
Should I supply photographs in sRGB or Adobe RGB for large prints?
Either can work if the profile is embedded in the file. Do not strip it on export. Check our artwork requirements or ask us, because the correct choice depends on your workflow and the print process.
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