Printing Advice.

[Sahil]

Hi all.

I am pretty happy with a few shots of mine from my last trip. I am thinking of getting them printed. Mine is a 10MP camera. What size is recommended for the same? What about the border? Should I give the borders myself or the printer will take care of them or they are not required? And, this might sound too crappy, but should I put a small watermark on the image, so that the printing guy doesn't use my shots for his purposes?

Here is the link to my photostream. 1st 6-8 pics I would want to get printed. I am open to any kind of suggestion, even if it is "THEY ARE NOT WORTH GETTING PRINTED, YOU JERK"

[Jim B.]

Hi Sahil,

I'm sure Colin will give you the advice you are wanting when he comes in.Here's a link that might help you.
http://www.hp.com/united-states/cons...rint-size.html

Watermarking,I wouldn't bother.Too easy to remove.
Very nice images in your photostream!

[Donald]

To reply to the bits that I can reply to (others, such as Colin, need to answer the sizing questions)-

• Watermark - No. You don't want to ruin your prints. What you need to do instead is do what you can to check out the printer - does he have an honest trustworthy reputation? If he's good and honest, then he'll be happy to give you the name of other people for whom he has done work so that you can check with them
• Are they worth getting printed - Yes!. The 2 images entitled 'Pangong Tso' are excellent and as Dave (I think) said in the thread in which they appeared, this set does, I believe, mark your coming-of-age as a photographer, in that they really indicate your growth and development. They are excellent.

[Sahil]

Thanks, Jim & Donald, for the kind words.

[Sahil]

Thanks for the link, Donald. Thats helpful

[Colin Southern]

Mine is a 10MP camera. What size is recommended for the same?

Hi Sahil,

You can print ANY size photo from ANY camera - the issue is really "how close can you get to the image for inspection before the lack of detail becomes a problem?" As a ball park figure though, if you want to inspect the image from a close distance (say the distance you'd read a book) then probably best not to go much bigger than about 1m along the longest dimension.

What about the border? Should I give the borders myself or the printer will take care of them or they are not required?

A common standard for competitions is to put a 50mm border all the way around an image that's 200mm x 300mm (it isolates the image and gives a good handling strip for the judges), but it's really up to you.

And, this might sound too crappy, but should I put a small watermark on the image, so that the printing guy doesn't use my shots for his purposes?

Printing an image title & your name in the border of the image is one thing, but watermarks on the image for the reason you stated is unnecessary. The printer will no doubt print thousands of images a week - some worse than yours, some no doubt better; I'd bet my last dollar that he won't give any of the images that he prints even a 2nd thought.

Hope this helps

[Sahil]

Thanks, Colin. This post has been a great help and answers all my queries.

I am getting this printed just for my place. They would be hung in my room. Will go to the printer and see what size he would suggest.

[Sahil]

Just to update, that I got my shots printed, first time
And I am delighted with the results.
Thanks everyone for the guidance, throughout.

[Colin Southern]

Good to hear

The first of many, no doubt!

[Sahil]

Good to hear

The first of many, no doubt!

Definately

A big thanks to you & all other CiC members for their constant motivation.