Article: "To 'Res' or not to 'Res'

Certainly most of us have decided at one point or another that we wanted a big print. Should we 'res it up' in Photoshop or another image manipulations software, or let the lab do it?

The answer may depend on the lab, the processing equipment or other considerations, but labs who use a RIP software sure can save you a lot of time. Taking a 24MB image up to 400MB can take quite a while.

Mighty Imaging shows a side by side comparison of an image that was res'd up in Fractals and the file as it was RIP'd on their Lightjet.

I use a RIP on my Epson 7600, and we have tested it by printing the same image three ways: res'd in Photoshop, res'd in Fractals and left at original capture and then RIP'd to the output size. The RIP'd image actually ended up as sharp, and with a bit more pleasant contrast than the other 2 ways. (Yes, we did the Photoshop at the 10% increment method... time intensive, but it does the best job.)

Mighty Imaging: Large Format Printing for Photographers, Corporate and Design Applications: "Some of our photographers prefer to 'res up' their images in Photoshop or Fractals. This results in a huge file, and that is certainly OK with us, but there may be another, simpler way. By using our RIP processor Mighty Imaging can take your image from the capture size to mural size with very little difference in the final image from the 'res'd up' file. This saves file size, allows for faster electronic transfer and saves the photographer lots of time. In addition, the photographer has to only keep one file at the original capture size."