File size for printng

[rpcrowe]

I wanted a 24x30 inch metal print done of one of my images.

I looked at an online printer but, I could not submit an image to that printer larger than 7 mb.

It seems that is a very small file size for a large print.

Am I missing something here?

[DanK]

The size in MB doesn't matter. It's the size in pixels that matter.

In my experience, good printers can do fine with some uprezzing. I have had larger metal prints than that made from 50D files that are relatively low res by current standards and that I suspect were well below 7 MB in JPEG form. They turned out very well. (I used Bay Photo for this.)

[rpcrowe]

The size in MB doesn't matter. It's the size in pixels that matter.

In my experience, good printers can do fine with some uprezzing. I have had larger metal prints than that made from 50D files that are relatively low res by current standards and that I suspect were well below 7 MB in JPEG form. They turned out very well. (I used Bay Photo for this.)

How would I save the image to keep the pixel size at say 2400 x 3600 while retaining a 7 MP file size?

[Manfred M]

They are looking for 8-bit sRGB JPEGs. By using lower res you should be able to hit 7MP.

Don't forget that printers, depending on the number of individual colour cartridges it uses and whether or not it uses variable dot sizes, can only reproduce somewhere below 1 million distinct colours, even though the hull of the colour space is much wider than what your computer screen can reproduce. I believe my P800 is in the 600,000 distinct colours range. The printing company doesn't want more data than necessary to produce the print.

[Stagecoach]

How would I save the image to keep the pixel size at say 2400 x 3600 while retaining a 7 MP file size?

Open the image in ACR.

Go to 'Save Image'

In the 'Format Box' set 'Limit size to 7000k (or whatever)

In the 'Image Sizing' box set your size required.

Or,

You can simply 'Save As' in PS at the size you require and save at different 'Qualitys' until you get the MB you want.