Printing suggestions / How big can i go?

.Longshanks.

Apoligies in advance - lots of questions!

I'm looking for some help with the pic below that i took and uploaded to the random photo thread over the weekend. Its easily my favorite since getting my slr at Christmas!

Firstly
I have since tweaked the version on my HD and its now ready to print. (I'm open to any more tweaking suggestions by the way....so please fire away!). So today I saved the file to my memory stick and took it to Harvey Norman and printed it off at 12 x 8" for less than €4.

However the printed picture came out a lot darker than i planned. The photo itself is still (in my opinion) very striking, but I've lost all the detail on the car and the sky isn't as nice when a lot darker. Its that dark that i can just about make out the rear wheel of the car... the front is totally black. Although the moon light off the line of the roof looks really good.

So, how do i counter act this? Should i go elsewhere or brighten the photo beforehand?

Secondly
The 12 x 8" is good, but i like the pic that much i would like to print it even bigger. How much bigger can i go? I took it with a canon 1000D on the highest jpeg quality setting. The camera is 10.1 Megapixel and only cropping done to take a tiny bit of the sky at top and grass at bottom to make it exactly 12x8 after i added a white border (added after I uploaded it to flickr)

Is A3 feasible? Any bigger? Harvey Norman will print up to A1, but would you go back to them due to the photo coming out darker or look for somewhere better? I'm based in Naas by the way but a trip to Dublin isn't out of the question.

Oh, and what kind of money would a decent A3 printer set me back?


Larger

AnCatDubh

should print to half the size of an elephant tbh (well theres more to it than that). a3 isn't a problem.

have you raw or jpeg only?

raw would give better chance of brightening up but the jpeg will have some flexibility.

if your screen isn't calibrated then you are likely to get different results than expected.

if you want to do a really nice job on it, consult stcstc (steve). he'll cost more than harvey normans but will advisE you before print takes place. boards user discounts from him too.

.Longshanks.

AnCatDubh wrote: »

should print to half the size of an elephant tbh (well theres more to it than that). a3 isn't a problem.

have you raw or jpeg only?

raw would give better chance of brightening up but the jpeg will have some flexibility.

Jpeg only - haven't got around to trying raw yet

AnCatDubh wrote: »

if your screen isn't calibrated then you are likely to get different results than expected.

I understand what you mean, but its looks almost the same on my laptop and the work monitor, although I didn't have laptop to work to direcctly compare. But both are significantly brighter than printed pic.

AnCatDubh wrote: »

if you want to do a really nice job on it, consult stcstc (steve). he'll cost more than harvey normans but will advisE you before print takes place. boards user discounts from him too.

Sorry, but is stcstc around this site much? I presume i can just PM his username to get things started?

Found him after a quick search. Thanks

stcstc

hey, someone mention me!!!


you should be able to get an image of say 30*20 if its proper sharp etc

if you want some help you can come over here and play with it as its printed etc, if that helps


give me a shout and we can arrange

.Longshanks.

stcstc wrote: »

hey, someone mention me!!!


you should be able to get an image of say 30*20 if its proper sharp etc

if you want some help you can come over here and play with it as its printed etc, if that helps


give me a shout and we can arrange

I just emailed you!!!!

I'm thinking 24 x 16" or so on MDF. I fairly happy with the sharpness. Where are you based if i was to call to your office? Are you open saturday? Im working 9-5 in Naas.....

stcstc

i replied

I work from home in foxrock

i am around generally on a saturday so we could sort out

.Longshanks.

stcstc wrote: »

i replied

I work from home in foxrock

i am around generally on a saturday so we could sort out

Thanks.
I'll check my account again in the morning, but i haven't received any reply yet...

pete4130

A place called repro 35 on merrion sq do good service...albeit pricey. They'll work with you before they print it. They said they could get a 40" print from a <2MB peg file from a D50 before at a push. They don't have a website but you can get their number online.

.Longshanks.

Just a quick update - I meet stcstc last weekend and the mounted photo is spot on! Great service and very reasonable prices. I'll be back;)