If I scan at 8.5 x 11 can I print larger?

[LookingUp]

Hello again,

If I scan a photo in at 8.5 x 11 can I print it out on a larger sheet of paper without loss? I am scanning the res at 1600 dpi and 48 bits. Or, is it a rule to always make the original image larger than the print so not to lose any quality?

Thanks

[klev]

Re: If I scan at 8.5 x 11 can I print larger?

Okay half of that is nonsense information. You are scanning at 16 bits per channel, which won't make a difference. It certainly won't impact how big this can be printed. It's just that in some cases higher bit depth can mean lower chance of banding. You can probably print at the same size you scanned. If no one is going to view it closely, you might be able to get away with 1.5x that. It's clear you're new to this, but you will need to learn to look at the results and make an educated guess.

[Tony W]

Re: If I scan at 8.5 x 11 can I print larger?

When scanning for restoration you are usually scanning for information rather than scanning for accuracy as you would do with a perfect original.

16 bit p.c. will gather as much info as possible and should be able to withstand the pushing of image data that accompanies restoration with much less chance of artefacts which may occur with 8 bit p.c.

With most flatbed scanners and reflectance work there is often little to be gained going past 600 SPI - at least with a good quality original. However in scanning for information you may find increasing to 1200 gives you a touch more resolvable detail and more pixels to push around in the restore. You may want to try a scan of a small area first using both low and higher settings to see if you are able to see any useful added data

Printing the image and final quality depends on the quality of the original and your restoration skills. You should certainly be able to print at same size as original as long as you have a quality restore. Double the original size may be feasible but you cannot really expect no losses in quality. Although this may be mitigated by viewing the print at a correct viewing distance for its size