Pixelation with 16x20s

[Bob Hall]

Thank you all for your thoughtful answers! This is a good (!) forum.

[DougAxford]

If I can suggest, post the image on a web site somewhere for us to see, even if it's only a smaller section. Best to post the original plus the post Quimage. I suspect that your problem is exposure related, but the "minimal photoshop work" also suggests problems.

This is where the forum is at it's best. So far you've only been given possible solutions to check-out because we've only got hints on what your problem is. By looking at the image itself, we can give you a real answer and then you can move forward with your talent. that's the great thing about this forum, most of us really thrive on passing along our years of living in the trenches, so that others can get their head out of the muck that digital sometimes gives us. The one terror with digital is that there are dozens of small obstacles that must be overcome, one at a time. Only the persistant and determined photographers turn out fabulous work every time.

You're on the right track - keep at it though.

Doug

[Bob Hall]

Doug. Great answer! Thanks. The printed file is in photoshop format, 47Mb. I can see the mottling in that image on my monitor, something I had not done before. My guess is that the problem is not with Qimage. I wil ask photoshop to make a small jpeg and take a look at it.

[Bob Hall]

Using Photoshops default settings, the jpeg reduced from 47M to about 900K. That still seems too large. I will shrink it more, but, the major question is, how to post the image! I asked Drew for help.

[JuanSalgueiro]

I just got 3 16 X 20 prints back from the lab this morning. All from 20D files shot RAW converted to jpeg with a little levels, saturation and minimal sharpening. Sent to the lab at 300dpi came back perfect. Now, I hadn't done any resizing before output so I rang the lab to see why they seemed so good. They have interpolation software built into their printers so I can send my file as is and they take care of the rest. What great service!

[DougAxford]

Bob,

Mottling? Did you use sRGB? Do you have color profiles installed? I suspect that it's a profile problem if there was minimal PS work done. Sometimes if you are out of gamut, it will look like mottling on the screen & print.
It's best to post the file before resizing plus the original file, if possible. If you don't have a web site, easiest would simply be to email them to interested parties, then you don't have to worry about size so much.

Doug

[David_Buzzard]

I think that the "mottling" is coming from JPG (or other format) artifacting. That's what happens when you save the file multiple times. One thing that I do is to only work on copied files, and keep the originals untouched. That way I can start with a clean file if I need to enlarge or do some crazy photoshop work.

I'm a fan of programs like Geniune Fractals and QImage. They apply noise reduction as part of the interpolation process, and that can lead to loss of detail and artifacting. Try it with just the size palate in Photoshop. I don't even use the 'Bicubic Smoother', just the regular 'Bicubic' setting, but you can experiment.

Lastly, lose the loup. The closest you should be looking at the screen is with Photoshop at 100%, and a good rule of thumb for prints is close enough to see the entire print without turning your head. You don't see people with magnifing glasses looking at the Mona Lisa.

David Buzzard