Looking for advice on large print request

[dougpeterson]

The answer is simpler than most are making it.

Given that the print is both very large and will be viewed from fairly close up, you’d want more than is practically possible, and don’t need more than you have, but will benefit from whatever more you can get, so you should use the most you practically can.

Buy or rent the highest res camera you can reasonably justify based on what you’re being paid, and if the scene is condusive to stitching then stitch as many frames as you can without unduly sacrificing the artistic/compositional/production workflow. If it’s not condusive to stitching then use a single shot.

An IQ4 150mp is the obvious choice if the budget allows.

 

[tashley]

The answer is simpler than most are making it.

Given that the print is both very large and will be viewed from fairly close up, you’d want more than is practically possible, and don’t need more than you have, but will benefit from whatever more you can get, so you should use the most you practically can.

Buy or rent the highest res camera you can reasonably justify based on what you’re being paid, and if the scene is condusive to stitching then stitch as many frames as you can without unduly sacrificing the artistic/compositional/production workflow. If it’s not condusive to stitching then use a single shot.

An IQ4 150mp is the obvious choice if the budget allows.

Love the way you think bro'

 

[Craig Stocks]

I'd think you want to get clarification from someone at the client's office (Billups?) who knows what they're talking about. The size spec just doesn't make sense and would require an image that is probably larger than Photoshop can handle. (PS is limited to 300,000 by 300,000 pixels; these specs at 14 feet X 600 dpi would be 345,600 pixels wide or 34,836 megapixels.) Billboards are usually printed around from files with around 12 pixels per inch. Our local billboard company requests source files 7300X1900 pixels for 14' X 48' billboards. They look surprisingly good up close. (A local nursing college has a number of them mounted on interior walls as artwork.)

Also note the confusion between DPI and PPI. DPI (dots per inch) is a printing term and relates to the way halftone dots are distributed on the paper/vinyl. Epson printers operate around 360 PPI. PPI (pixels per inch) relates to the source image. You can print any DPI source document at any PPI print spec.