How much larger can I print a 12x12 layout?

[KateD]

I was thinking about printing & framing a layout or two for Christmas presents and was wondering if I could print it bigger than 12x12 without losing quality. Ikea has a 20-inch square frame and I'm thinking about printing the layout as a 15 or 16 inch photo. Will that work or will I end up being disappointed?

TIA!

 

[solagratia]

if it's at 300 dpi, I don't think it would turn out too bad. After all, that would be a resolution of 225 dpi, so that's not too shabby. But I haven't actually done anything like this before, I'm sure someone else has.

 

[SeattleSheri]

Yeah, I think you should be fine with a 15 or 16" print. As long as you don't go below 150 PPI, you shouldn't notice much degradation. You may want to test out increasing the size in PS first. Here is what you'd want to compare:

1. Increase the size to 15 or 16 inches keeping the DPI at 300
2. Increase the size to 15 or 16 inches, but don't modify the DPI

Choose the one that looks the best. If you keep 300 DPI, PS (or what ever program you use) will resample the image filling in the "missing" pixels with its best guess. It depends on the image what will look best. If you just upload your 12 x12 for print, the image will most likely not be resampled (option 2).

Good luck.

 

[kelley]

I've never done this, but I also would think that if you keep it at 300 dpi, it should turn out fine at that size.

 

[KateD]

I asked the question of Persnickety Prints' on Facebook after I asked it here (probably should have thought of that first) and they said it would be fine. They don't recommend doubling the size, but increasing by a few inches should be okay.

Thanks for the input

 

[jessica31876]

What I figured was 18x18 would be the max Id want to go. Posibly 20x20 but not much about thta.

 

[sprauncey1]

Honestly as you increase size of the print, the dpi doesn't have to be high as smaller size because you aren't going to view it as close. Many photographers go 150 to 250 pixels for large canvas prints and such. Now the original needs to be "clean" and not grainy to start with. I definitely would try it and see, you will probably be suprised at how big you can go!