Help with making A3 photos

conuk · 27 Mar 2007 at 20:35

Would appreciate some help.

I have a number of photos of my girlfriend (all good

) and some other images and have bought a nice shiny new HP B9180 printer.

Id like to blow up some pictures. Ideally a couple of A3`s etc - BIG prints.

Photoshop doesnt seem to have a good way of blowing them up - Ive used googles Picasa 2 - which does a good job - I tested 4 A4s borderless on normal paper - looked quite nice - obvisously you can see a join just mounting them on a wall ..... just to test you see.

Is there anything better software wise ?

Also - mounting the things - I just want nice glass mounts or something - can anybody point me to them ?
(dont need wooden frames etc....)

Pho · 27 Mar 2007 at 21:01

Genuine Fractals seems to work pretty well, it's a plug-in for Photoshop

.

Howski · 27 Mar 2007 at 21:12

Not sure where the rules about other stores are on this one but a company that sounds like a box where you would put photos had an offer that will give you an A3 printout for £6.99 for that price I'd get it done properly as ink + paper would cost you almost as much.
-How.

ChroniC · 27 Mar 2007 at 22:07

he means photobox

and it runs out in a few days.
Pardon my ignorance, but in PS cant you just create a new a3 page, paste your picture in and just free transform it to fit?? Seems pretty simple enough.

conuk · 27 Mar 2007 at 22:31

yeah sorry didnt describe it properly.

I want to make poster like size prints - couple of A3 in size - and yeah I could order online .... but no fun in that

Gotta use this gigantic printer some how !

FranchiseJuan · 28 Mar 2007 at 11:27

Howski said:
Not sure where the rules about other stores are on this one but a company that sounds like a box where you would put photos had an offer that will give you an A3 printout for £6.99 for that price I'd get it done properly as ink + paper would cost you almost as much.
-How.

I don't know why people who don't ever print large prints at home keep towing this line. I can print 3-4 prints (including paper and ink) on 400 weight super glossy paper for that price. No matter who I go through I can't get withing a country mile of what it costs to print at home.

@conuk: Why can't you do it in photoshop? Just resize by 110% till you get to the right size and then do a highpass sharpen and you get what you want.

boycee · 28 Mar 2007 at 12:29

page setup = A3.
print with preview.
[X] fill page.
Done.

?

conuk · 28 Mar 2007 at 14:11

boycee said:
page setup = A3.
print with preview.
[X] fill page.
Done.

?

no not a3 - bigger than A3.
Am trying that Genuine Fractals plugin now - seems good.

Now best place to buy something to mount them on - dont need wood frames or anything - just mount and put on the wall without seeing the joins of the paper.

thanks.

FranchiseJuan · 28 Mar 2007 at 14:19

conuk said:
no not a3 - bigger than A3.
Am trying that Genuine Fractals plugin now - seems good.

Now best place to buy something to mount them on - dont need wood frames or anything - just mount and put on the wall without seeing the joins of the paper.

thanks.

Are you talking A3+? Is that the size you talking about?

Also about the mounting, are you talking about matting? You can get cut to size matting from most places that sell frames.

conuk · 28 Mar 2007 at 14:29

printing poster size via say - 2 or 4 or another number of A3 pages stuck/lined up together and mounted on `something` to go on a wall. Forgive my terminology but am no photographer - and have not bought frames etc before.

I know I could just order some of the online places for the photos but would like to make my own.

FranchiseJuan · 28 Mar 2007 at 14:45

conuk said:
printing poster size via say - 2 or 4 or another number of A3 pages stuck/lined up together and mounted on `something` to go on a wall. Forgive my terminology but am no photographer - and have not bought frames etc before.

I know I could just order some of the online places for the photos but would like to make my own.

Ok what you are looking for is MDF, which is the same stuff they use to matt photos with. Don't know the largest size that this comes in, but definately A0 is doable.

rpstewart · 28 Mar 2007 at 14:50

You'll get MDF in 8ft x 4ft sheets from DIY places but it might be too thick for framing, it's been a while since I looked but I think the thinnest available was about 8mm or so. Thinner should be available but might be trickier to get.

Just watch yourself working with it, the dust is very fine - a good mask is essential if you're using power tools on it. Better yet get someone else to cut it for you.

conuk · 28 Mar 2007 at 14:52

thanks fellas - didnt know it was MDF they use.... thats what Im looking for I think.

Will see what I can find.
Thanks.