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

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?

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

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.

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

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

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. 
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.

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