Mike Chaney's Tech Corner

Hi guys I'm using the free download for a test drive and I have asked this elsewhere so please forgive the repetition but I need to be able to do this for my business.

Okay.

I need to print 17" tall x at least 216" long (18 ft.)

I use a Nikon D90 process with CS5 on a MAC

I save these images as TIFFS pr PSD if necessary

I cannot see the images in QImage

I am printing on an Epson 4880

How do I make this work?

Thanks

Mac Tiff saves are different from a PC Tiff

See screen snap.

As for the PSD, Qimage has no trouble reading thiose as long as they were properly saved.
Is the file size too large for your resources? What is the filesize?
Do you get an Image Read Error in the thumbnails?

Fred

yeah I got an image read error.  Mike replied to an email suggesting the file sizes are too big maybe.  He asked for some info so I'll know more when he gets back to me.

Now, obviously people do print images this large for certain applications.  So if my files are too large as is then what would be the best way to go about doing this?  How small can I make the file before I start noticing a degraded resolution?  I currently save the files at 500 dpi.  I am guessing they could be a bit smaller without losing image quality and I think this would reduce overall size right?

You didn't reply to my question of file size, so I can only guess.
Just a quick calculation suggests that 1.134 gigabytes would be close.
You might not have the resources to run a file that big.

As long as you are in touch with Mike, he will have the answer for you.
Good luck,
Fred

There is a check on your resources by using Help, click Analyse Current Settings with the Shift key down. I get 2000MB on a modern W7-64 PC with 6GB ram.
Just to comment on
QU will make excellent prints with a print resolution way below 500ppi. QU interpolates to the native resolution of the printer and for an Epson the maximum value is 720ppi. However, for very large prints, half the value (finest detail not ticked in the driver) of 360ppi is often used. This still means the image can be less than this as QU has superior interpolation methods to any other program.
Terry

...and in addition. I think I remember correctly, Qimage will re interpolate your image back down to 360 ppi from your 500 ppi  to meet the native driver.


Fred

well thats good to hear. At least I can take a smaller version of the originale put it through the program and uszize it there without losing quality.  The image size is 2.75GB whihc leads me to believe I am doing something wrong in the first place cuz that seems excessive.

Actual pixels its 10800 x 8500

I show a 1789 MB as the Now available.

Based on the principle that the more times you interpolate, the more quality loss, it begs the question, why resize at all.?
Why not take your image before you messed with it, the original, and open it in Qimage, tell Qimage what size print on what size paper, and PRINT.
Qimage will interpolate for the printer using Qimage's (best on the planet) interpolator. And you are done!

Fred

Is this a stitch job; how did you arrive at this size and if it is a stitched image, can you start with smaller images? Or: - the narrower dimension of 8500  pixels is larger than a camera produces I think, so did you interpolate up to that size in CS5?
As Fred has said, multiple interpolation is a no-no for best quality, let QU do its magic.  ;)

Terry

Hi

As Terry and Fred have said, Don't re-size your image. Nikon native resolution is 240dpi, which will be fine. It will be safer to use the QImage poster feature for printing (see 6a in 'Help by Example'). This is a fantastic way to print panoramas as it avoids problems with spool files, memory etc, and really works. Basically, all you do is set the page size to anything reasonable - say 24" - QI will split the image across the pages and the Epson will stitch them perfectly.

Brian

Okay sounds like I need to do a bit of relearning.  What I am doing is making photo backdrops for model railroads.  Due to the importance of scale I have to work with the image a lot to get the buildings and other things to appear the right size.  I then make a 17" crop out of the result for printing.

It sounds like what I could do is take the original image in photoshop, size it for what I need, write that size down, then take the small original, put it into QI and tell the program the ultimate dimension needed.  Have I got that right?

Thanks folks

I would take that original image and put it in Qimage. Tell the driver what size paper. Let Qimage have all the pixels to it can have, and let Qimage set the print size and ppi for you.
Assuming a roll with a 216" print, I would set user defined page size to 18" x 217"
Then in Qimage tell Qimage the print size; 17" x 216", and click Print

Brian's method is equally as effective and easy to do. You need to be in banner mode in the print driver besides roll paper.
Fred

You don't need to "size" anything in photoshop. Remember an image does not have a size in inches, only pixels; and a PS inch size is merely a tag.
In Qimage, it's easiest to work in real print sizes and the program looks after the pixels.  8)
Just use your image as it is and in Qimage, set a custom size 18"x217" with the crop scissors on and place in the queue. You can then adjust the crop in the Page Editor.
If you are not sure how to do that, come back to us.

Note for Brian, great to see you back contributing on the forum again.  ;)

Terry.

I think I see what you're saying I will give it a shot.  I assume there is a ruler tool or something to check the print size of an object on my image?  Then I can crop my 17" x 216" out of the result using QI instead of CS5.

Thanks for the help I will let you know how it turns out
  Dave

Just tell Qimage your print size. Qimage is absolutely accurate and will report the print size from the queue (tab) screen that it is sending to the print driver.
No need for rulers or measurements.
Just tell it the print size with crop scissors on, and you will get just that size.
As terry mentioned earlier, if you need to adjust the crop a little, you can do that in the Full Page Editor Cropping tab.
It works so easy.
Just drop the Photo Shop for a day. :-)   
Try this.
Fred

okay so I have my first print running.  I just used what I ahd from CS5 and saved it as a PC TIFF.  Wonder why they make em different.  Anyway the print should start soon........

It's been 20 minutes since I hit print.  The driver is just taking forever to load.

So i got everything appearing to work except that after three hours of waiting the image had only uploaded about 1/3 to the driver.  I mean where the printer screen comes up and it shows the file going to the printer, the bar was only about 1/3 of the way after the three hours.  The file size saved as a PC TIFF and redueced to 300ppi is 991 MB.

The file size is still huge.... 991 megabytes,
What are you running Qimage on?   A PC or a Mac using Parallels to run Windows?
Sounds like you might not have the horses.
We have a good number of Windows experts on the forum that can help you here.
They have ways of adjusting the spool size, or memory tweaks...
Not my area of expertise.

Fred

Dave, re.
We need to understand why the file is so large. Is this a single image or one made by stitching several together? From what I can understand from your information, it's a single image from your Nikon.
In that case, convert & edit as you like in CS5 BUT DO NOT UPSIZE. Use the original image pixel size. Please tell us how you came to get such a large file.
Terry

The file is stitched together from a series of photos.  Often as many as 20 images combined

Yeah I read about the driver too but using Preview on my MAC I have printed up to 126" with no issue so far

Sorry, the driver limit was a "red herring"; Fred has told me that it's ok in Banner mode.
Terry

Qimage will print to the length of the roll as long as you have resources in the computer to handle it.

I use the User Defined page size. The 4880 has a 17.00 width limit and 595.5 inch length limit (roll size)
You will need borderless to get 17.00 wide print.
Set the length to 217.00 inches. One inch larger than the print you need. Roll paper/banner mode.
I get a print file size of 1402 MB. I click print and it moves along reasonably well.

Fred

Remember (when was it last year?) when the Olympics were held in Vancouver, Many requests and thank yous to Qimage for Getting large banners printed for the Olympics. That is the way they were printed,
Fred

I missed one of the questions earlier.  I am running on a MAC using Parallels.  I emailed Mike and he told me that according to what QI tells me I have for memory it should be working just fine.

I have been looking into getting another 4 GB of RAM just to make things go a little faster when running CS5 anyway.  As I undersdtand it a MAC with Parallels essentially splits the RAM between the two operating systems so this would effectively double my RAM and should help the process.

Just as some more info.  I tried to print a normal JPEG file size 5.2 MB.  Should be no problem.  Everything goes fine up to the point that the printer dialogue box opens.  Ten minutes later its not even half loaded.  No other programs running but QI and the associated printer stuff.

Hi,

Just a thought - windows has its own print queue - you can open it from the little printer icon on the task bar. You may have a file or a number of files 'jammed' in there. Cancel all the jobs in that queue, and make sure that the printer you are printing to is the one you want, and it's on-line. fwiw, for the sort of images you are making, a high resolution is not required - you do not want the background image having higher detail than the models  :D. A relatively small jpeg will be fine. You will probably want to do various distortions (transforms) and fade colours to give the effect of distance as well as selective blurring to make it look right, and a smaller file will considerably speed up that process in photoshop.

Best wishes,

Ray

Thanks Ray,  the print cue is clear.  CS5 does not give the option of saving as a JPEG at the size it is.  I will try and reduce the DPI further to see if that helps.  What's wierd is that the smaller print encountered the same problem.

Also whenever I go to print with the 4880, the printer box for the 610 also opens.  I delete the items in the cue and close the box.  The 4880 box also opens and appears to be loading just incredibly slowly.

This and the time delay indicates there is a problem with the connection between Windows and your 4880 driver.  There are other Mac threads here that talk about the fact that you have to install the printer driver and to ignore the Mac instructions about installing that generic HP driver.  Maybe uninstalling both (610 and 4880) drivers and reinstalling only the 4880 (for now) and testing would lead to results.

I know getting Windows properly configured on a Mac can be a little tricky but once the kinks are worked out, I've heard from a lot of people who do it successfully.  Just put "parallels" in the search box up top here and you'll see some success stories (and possibly some help for you).

Mike

That did it.  My first 216" print is running right now.  Thanks for all the help from everyone.  THe learning curve with printing large format stuff is daunting at times.

So you guys helped me out with the last one I thought I'd ask another.

I am looking to take an image, say 66" long and print it out over three 22" sheets.  I want the image to go full bleed on each without changing any sizes so that when placed end to end the images combine to form the single image.

Can this be done with QI?

Thanks

Yes, of course. It is called Poster printing.
The easiest way is to ask you to click HELP, then CONTENTS,  QIMAGE LEARNING TOOLS, LEARN BY EXAMPLE, Then see example 5 and or 6. Whichever fits your needs better.

Fred

Hey guys,  Been working with Mike on a couple issues between yesterday and today.  He has been able to get me through everything.  I am now ready to print my image which is 17" x 660"  (52 feet).  I have the thing set up for roll paper banner mode.  It gives me the warning that it will require more than one "page" which we already know.  The only thing now is that a 1/4" border appears long the bottom.  Page size is set to the maximum length of 590" and the max size of 17" (Epson 4880).  I have made the print size 18" x 661" as suggested earlier in this thread.

Why is that border still there?