Printing a picture over multiple pages?

[lunaticitizen]

I wanted a nice painting to hang on a wall in our living room. Preferably something around 80x40" (200x100cm) in size. I looked around online because I don't know how to find one locally. I found several candidates but the wife always vetoed any of them because of the cost involved. I thought the price of the paintings themselves was reasonable, but nobody makes a frame that size in Japan so I'd have to get it custom-made and the quotes I got were mind-boggling

So... I'm thinking about printing one of my pictures at the above-mentioned size. I got only an A4-size printer so I'd have to print the picture over multiple pages and join them together My calculation said I'm going to need around 30 sheets of photo papers.

Has anybody ever done this?

Re the photo frame, I might try to make it by myself. I think I've got most of the equipment needed. The skill, not yet

[Round Tuit]

I wanted a nice painting to hang on a wall in our living room. Preferably something around 80x40" (200x100cm) in size. I looked around online because I don't know how to find one locally. I found several candidates but the wife always vetoed any of them because of the cost involved. I thought the price of the paintings themselves was reasonable, but nobody makes a frame that size in Japan so I'd have to get it custom-made and the quotes I got were mind-boggling

So... I'm thinking about printing one of my pictures at the above-mentioned size. I got only an A4-size printer so I'd have to print the picture over multiple pages and join them together My calculation said I'm going to need around 30 sheets of photo papers.

Has anybody ever done this?

Re the photo frame, I might try to make it by myself. I think I've got most of the equipment needed. The skill, not yet

Leo,
In order to print at that size, you will need to scale your photo 3 to 4 hundred percent depending on the size of your camera sensor. I would first take a look at the photo scaled at whatever size you will need and decide if it will look good enough to be printed. You could print one page at the full size as a test. If that works, I would print a four page section and see how well the edges can be matched. If you are happy with the result then you could reasonably consider gluing you mosaic to a solid substrate.

As for the frame, I have built many. None of that size. Unless you have a well equipped wood workshop and know what you are doing, I think it unlikely that you would succeed.

Good luck,

[lunaticitizen]

Thanks for the advice.

I actually tried printing 3 of the 30 pieces needed and glued them together. Yes when you eyeball them they don't look great but I don't really look at my pic (or any pic) at such a close distance.

Re frame, such a bummer. Maybe I can ask a local craftsman to see if they can make the frame I want at a more affordable price.

And maybe I will consider downsizing the print so that I can use a standard frame size. The biggest I found was 1500x750mm.

[DanK]

I think it would be extraordinarily difficult to separate the pieces for printing and line them up physically.

[lunaticitizen]

I think it would be extraordinarily difficult to separate the pieces for printing and line them up physically.

You mean the alignment is difficult? Yeah based on my test it was not easy and also time-consuming; not fun at all. I might give up in the middle of the process -shrug-

[DanK]

Maybe irrelevant, but what I did some time ago, when I had a large space to cover, was to print three related images in two sizes and hang them in an arrangement. This allowed me to print (I can print up to 17 x 22, roughly A2) and frame everything myself.

[Ken MT]

Our local photo printer can print up to 30x100 inches. In your case you could print top and bottom halves and join them together. Not cheap but high quality.

[lunaticitizen]

Maybe irrelevant, but what I did some time ago, when I had a large space to cover, was to print three related images in two sizes and hang them in an arrangement. This allowed me to print (I can print up to 17 x 22, roughly A2) and frame everything myself.

I was also thinking about similar thing:
1. Divide the digital image into three equally-sized parts
2. Choose a frame big enough to contain, say, A1-sized prints
3. Print the parts at A1 size
4. Frame them
5. Hang the 3 frames with, say, 2-inch (5-cm) gaps
6. Voilà!

What do you think?

[lunaticitizen]

Our local photo printer can print up to 30x100 inches. In your case you could print top and bottom halves and join them together. Not cheap but high quality.

I actually haven't found somebody able to print larger than A2 size here In Japan lands are scarce, houses (and their walls) are small, so I guess there's no market for large prints.

[loosecanon]

I had a large panorama printed by my local printers who do display graphic arts,. If you want a cheap mount then ask tham to sell you foam board cut to provide a margin. If you want a cheap wood frame then cut strips of plywood and stick tham onto oversized foam board.
Mosr printers doing display work will have a wide format printer. You can send them a file formatted to the correct size and several hundred megabites via We Transfer. The printing cost is quite low.

[AaronRoberts]

Nothing you print at 40 x 80 is going to be cheap. I did a quick web search for “very large metal prints” and the first item on the result list was https://www.largemetalprints.com/. Printing at that size starts at $775, but a metal print rids you of the need for a separate frame.

I also agree with DanK in that trying to jigsaw together 30 individual prints to form a decent looking image will not only be impossible, but is likely to look terrible.

[Manfred M]

I've seen this type of work done quite effectively using indoor, self-adhesive vinyl that is made for ink-jet printing. It is designed to be removable. Don't try the outdoor stuff as it is meant to be permanent.

This material is a bit thicker than paper and comes with a peel-off backing. One has to be careful to not stretch it, though. When it is well done, the seams are not noticeable at a distance. If you don't get it quite right, you can pull it off and reapply it to get a good installation. Once it is down though and the adhesive has cured, it cannot be removed without damaging it.

[lunaticitizen]

Well I tried printing 5 or 6 pages and stitching them together but it took too much time and effort I gave up. They didn't look that bad to me, though.

Another worry was that the frame maker estimated that my custom frame will weigh somewhere between 15-20 kgs (33-44 lbs) depending on the material I choose. Will my wall be able to withstand that kind of weight?

And yet another thing is that I will probably need to install lighting equipment because my wall currently has none.
Something like this: https://www.odelic.co.jp/webcatalog/...7/pdf/0307.pdf
I can't install them by myself because it's prohibited by law. So I need to ask someone and right now it's just too bothersome for me to do all of those things.

It has been a nice experiment though.