Suitable images for enlarging

By far, the single most important aspect of a suitable image is that it is focused correctly. We can correct colour drift, contrast and density but we can do little or nothing  about a fuzzy image.

As a general rule; Professional Wedding and Portrait photos are most likely taken with cameras having a high quality lens and are likely to be sharply focused. We can scan these pictures and return very nice enlargements with no loss of detail.

Digital photos - those you get from 'kiosk' printers and inkjet printers are the least suitable of all for enlarging. Although we do have some success with these, the pattern of dots in the image means the enlargement will be softer (less clearly focused) than if we had the original file.

Negatives also need to be sharp for best results. 400 ISO negative film is limited to prints about 400mm (in the short dimension) wide/high due to film grain. Digital cameras under 3.5 Megapixels and having a good lens, can expect the same results as you would from 400 ISO film scans.

Image from cameras of 5 Megapixels and more or negatives from 100 ISO film can be enlarged to poster prints with little or no loss of detail. Professional DSLR camera images over 5 Megapixels have few size limitations.

Copyright issues; Until Australia signed a "free Trade Agreement" with the USA, the copyright of all family and wedding photographs automatically belonged to the customer. Now, the Photographer can write a contract which gives them sole copyright of these photos. If you signed a contract before getting photographs taken, you need to see if you can legally have them copied BEFORE you send them to us. Liability for this rests with you, not us. The copyright of Wedding and Portrait Photographs taken before 1999 absolutely belongs to the couple or family.