*For more information visit AdoramaTV YT page, and of course you can keep up with David on Instagram and Twitter @DavidBergman. LATEST UPDATE: David opened up new IGTV episodes where you can ask him questions live! find out more at http://www.AskDavidBergman.com
Many photographers see their artworks’ future as a part of some prestigious gallery, museum or private collection. Some dream of their photos being posted on billboard, as a sign of professional success. For either of these achievements a nice quality print is required. And today we will talk about a few tips of getting better quality prints, thanks to our beloved New Yorker – photographer David Bergman.
David shares: “Once you know how big you want a printed image, there are a couple other factors to consider. Pixels per inch or PPI, is literally how many pixels are squeezed into each inch of the photo. The tighter the pixel density the cleaner and smoother the image will look when printed.”
“If you don’t have enough pixels, the photo is gonna start to fall apart, and you’ll lose all kinds of detail. It’s generally accepted that 300 PPI is the most you’ll need so you can’t actually see the individual pixels, but your file might not be big enough to get 300 PPI at the size you want. I printed a small portion of my image of Marissa from a few weeks ago at various PPI values to demonstrate the three hundred and hundred fifty PPI prints looked pretty much the same.”
“At a hundred PPI however it starts to break down and 50 and 25 are basically unusable but there’s one more key factor and that’s viewing distance. There are some incredibly complex formulas that calculate the resolving power of the human eye at different distances, but the main thing to know is that you can see less detail the further away you are.”
“For example a print that’s gonna live on your desk at work, you should have PPI above 150, since you usually see it pretty close up. But for a big twenty by thirty inch print hanging on your wall you’ll probably never be closer than five feet away, so 100 PPI should be acceptable.”
“I made this photo of Bon Jovi at the end of a show in Brazil last year by combining three frames to make a really big file sizing it at a 120 by 44 inches to print on my Canon Pro 4000, it’s only 75 pixels per inch from more than 10 feet away though you can’t see individual pixels and it looks great at that size, so don’t be scared to print images big at lower resolutions if you don’t have a big enough file even a billboard looks great at 25 PPI because you’re three blocks away.”
Check out our WORKSHOPS in Los Angeles that teach you hands-on how to make great photos!
Watch the full episode with David Bergman and Adorama TV: