From the course: Inkjet Printing for Photographers

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Understanding the relationship between viewing distance and print size

Understanding the relationship between viewing distance and print size - Photoshop Tutorial

From the course: Inkjet Printing for Photographers

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Understanding the relationship between viewing distance and print size

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By now you should be comfortable with the idea that resolution affects print size. For example, as resolution goes up, print size goes down, because you're packing pixels closer together. You should also understand that as you interpolate an image upward, you run the risk of softening image or introducing other little artifacts that result from the upsampling process. The good news is that there's another factor that affects your perception of the quality of a print, and that's viewing distance. As you stand farther away from a print, you don't notice a certain level of detail loss or artifacting. In general, you can assume that as print size goes up, viewing distance also increases. So if I make a 24 x 36 inch print, I'm probably not going to view it at arm's length. I am going to stand far away from it, at least several feet. From that distance, my eye will be very forgiving of detail loss. In fact, the only people who are going to walk up to a large print, stand a few inches away…

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