Well, at 72dpi an 8X10 is 720 X 576 pixels. That's certainly not very far from
video rez. If you want a negative to produce better detail, moving that file
from 8X10 @72 to 8X10 @300 dpi will require a 416% increase in rez and file
size. That's more than double the increase that is considered "safe"
(maintaining a photographic CTone look). With that said, I've pushed many
files to that extreme, it takes a little massaging on the back end, but it can
work. No problems that aren't fixable. Watch out for large areas of moderate
texture, these will tend to develop a "plaid" pattern which can be blurred or
filled with a subtle "noise". I tend to take files up in rez in 2 or 3 steps
instead of all at once. Also, Photoshop 5.0 comes with a plug-in that demos a
newish technology that creates a "fractal" version of a file which can be
greatly increased in size without loss. This gets pretty interesting.
> Question2:
> A local photo developer offers 35mm slides or negatives from disk at a
> (fairly) cheap price. They told me the file size of the image should be
> 1772x1181 or 10x15cm at 300dpi. This sounds low to me, but since I'm
> starting with such a low-res image to begin with, could I possibly make use
> of this?
The lowest pixel count I've used was 1326 X 2048, That will enlarge easily up
to 5X7 with no discernable softness, 8X10 is the "limit" with this rez...again
these rules aren't written in stone. I think the difference is probably in the
machine that writes the negative. The pixel count is different for every
machine. The lab I use has a Solitaire.
> Anyway, I realize that I'm really the only one who can answer these
> questions with experimentation, but I wanted to find out if anyone else on
> the list was using the "rough and dirty" approach to digital photography
> and if you could share your thoughts with me. Thanks!
What Jack F. replied about, in regards to capture, is an area that can greatly
impact your final negative. I've shot many video images off the screen,
still-frame frozen, and had very good success. I have these slides scanned to
Photo-CD, where there is lots of rez available.
lots of luck in your alt-processes
Darryl Baird