Making larger prints?????

[ignatiusjk]

I'm making 16x20's from a 4x5 neg and when I make the 16x20 I seem to lose something from my 4x6 and 5x7 test prints.The print just seems to flatten out.Do any of you make 16x20's any special way. I'm using a Epson 3800 with Ilford Gold Fiber paper.Any suggestions???

[ic-racer]

I'm using a Epson 3800 with Ilford Gold Fiber paper.Any suggestions???

How about an Omega D5 and Ilford Multigrade FB instead of that

[ignatiusjk]

sorry don't have a darkroom.

[Louie Powell]

My experience is that larger enlargements always have less contrast, sharpness, and impact compared with contact prints and smaller enlargements.

My solution (in a chemical darkroom) has always been to boost the contrast a bit when making larger enlargements. Wouldn't have a clue what to do digitally.

[Ben Hopson]

The 3800 and Gold Fiber Silk paper combination are capable of very nice prints. That narrows it down to the rest of your work flow, which you will have to go into a bit before any one can really help with your flat prints. For example, are you printing black and white or color? Are your scans of a high quality and at an adequate resolution for the print size? Are you working with a calibrated system? Are you making adjustments in Photoshop to attempt to match print output to what you are looking for?

You will probably have to adjust your working file to appear the way you want it to at the size printed. Try printing smaller crops from the 16X20 digital file for testing, to save ink and paper and make adjustments in your image editing software to get it right.

I am just throwing a few things out here. Post how you are working on the images and maybe someone will see something you need to do to help get the results you are after.

Good luck

[Greg Lockrey]

Adjust your Levels.... start with the Black Point and move the slider 10 points and see where that takes you, then play with the White point as not to lose detail in that area. Fine tune by adjusting the Grey Point....

[Ron Marshall]

Might be a case of needing more USM for the larger size. Sharpen at final output size.

[Brian Vuillemenot]

What kind of scanner are you using? I make a lot of 8X10 and 11X14 prints from 4X5 Velvia scanned with a 4990 and printed on a 3800 that look great, but when I print the same images at 16X20 they definately are not as snappy. Perhaps you may want to try some drum scans if you haven't already.

[Kirk Gittings]

I agree with Brian about the scan quality/print size interface at 16x20.

But also I don't find this issue any different than making larger silver prints. As you get larger, prints require a hair more contrast and sharpness to "hold together" and "look rich" at larger sizes.