Digital Image Tips

When sending us your files, it’s important to send us the highest quality file your camera or scanner is capable of for the size of print you require.

Size

Our current printer accepts up to 44″ wide rolls of media. The widest canvas or photo we can print is 40″ – we need the extra space for wrapping around the sides of the frame. However, because our media comes on rolls, we can print over 15 feet. In fact, in 2009, we delivered an 18 foot canvas print to a customer in Lindsay, Ontario. Click here to see photos. The smallest we print on canvas or photo/fine art paper is 8″ x 8″ – with the exception of our cards.

We setup all images for printing on canvas, including your wrapping options. If you want to set up your own files, contact us and we can help you get started. We’ll be posting templates soon to help you get started.

RESOLUTION

Higher Megapixel = Better Image Resolution

If possible, send photos taken with a 6 megapixel or higher camera. A 6 megapixel camera is able to reproduce 24″ x 36″ or larger canvases very well, and smaller images much better. Canvas prints reproduce detail very well, but is forgiving for lower resolution images. Pixel grain from low megapixel cameras show much clearer on photo paper than it does on canvas.

We personally review each image before it is printed to ensure the quality of the finished print. We will contact you immediately if we have any concerns with your images.

COLOUR SPACE, BIT DEPTH AND COLOUR MODE

Larger Colour Space/Higher Bit Depth = Better Colour Reproduction

Colour space defines which colours are present in your photos. Most consumer-grade camera will use sRGB or possibly AdobeRGB colour spaces, which is fine for most prints. Most of the images we print use sRGB colours and the results are fantastic. Unless you are shooting in RAW format, these are typically the only colour spaces that would be available.

If you do shoot with a DSLR camera and capture images in RAW format, you can choose colour spaces with a larger gamut of colours. When converting RAW files, choose “wide gamut RGB” or “ProPhoto RGB” and convert your images as 16-bit. This will result in smoother gradients, a higher range of possible colours and the best possible reproduction of your photos. Our printer processes 16-bit images natively, so there are no colour conversions before we print your high quality images.

There is no need to convert your images to CMYK colour mode. Our printer is an RGB printer and ONLY accepts RGB colour mode images. This is a good thing.

FILE TYPES

Lossless Compression = No Loss Of Image Quality

Most digital cameras save photos in JPEG format. If you are converting RAW images, you may want to consider saving as TIFF or PSD (Photoshop/Photoshop Elements) formats. If you are taking advantage of large colour spaces and 16-bit images, you’ll have to choose something other than JPEG. We recommend TIFF with LZW compression. LZW is a good compression algorithm which doesn’t result in any quality loss.

If you edit your photos in Photoshop, we recommend flattening any layers before sending the file to us. This reduces file size and embeds any fonts or effects you’ve applied to your image.

We can accept most types of RAW formats. If you would like us to process your RAW files, a processing fee may be added to your invoice. We are more than happy to assist professional photographers processing large volumes of RAW images. Contact us to discuss your requirements.

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