Hello Everyone, I have another newbie question. I've made actual photo prints out of some images I created with programs like Vista Pro and Poser and wanted to do the same with one image I created with Vue. I save them as .jpegs and then upload them to Snapfish and have photo prints made out of them. The problem I'm having with Vue is getting the resolution size to allow me to get a 16x20 print. I've rendered a jpeg image as large as 3300x2050 at 300 dpi (13 hrs)and still can't get a 16x20 print out of it according to Snapfish (only got a 12x18, came out real nice though). What gives??? I can do it with Vista Pro (a 2050x2050 jpeg at the ultra setting gives me a 16x20 print) so I know it can be done with a more advanced program like Vue 4 Pro.

Vue is quite literal if you are using dimensions in pixels and resolution in DPI. Either use dimensions in Inches and resolution in DPI, or use dimensions in pixels and ignore the resolution settings. For example : You want a 16x20 at 300 dpi... you will need to render a picture at 4800x6000 pixels (that is 16 inches * 300 DPI, and 20 inches * 300 dpi).

WOW!!! That size of an image will take days to render not to mention use all of my memory to do it (I have 2G)!!! I may just stick with the 12X18 image and call it a day. I'm just curious to see why Vista Pro does it at 2050X2050 and Vue takes an image thats almost double in size. I know Vista Pro can't produce any where near the image quality that Vue can and I'm guessing that is probably the reason why.

Just do the math - with 300 DPI (or pixels per inch), there is no way you can really have 16x20 images from 2050x2050 without interpolating pixels in the process. I don't know how Vista Pro does it, but it doesnt seem right to me :)

I don't know either but I know it works. Vista Pro doesn't give you the dpi resolution, just the pixel count and the largest size you can render is 2050X2050. I can tell you this, the image quality is way better with Vue vs Vista Pro. I compared two 12X18 images made from each program and the difference was very noticable. It was no contest :)

That's strange, there should be NO difference. Ah...wait a minute..what FILE format did you save the pics out and print from? JPG is lossy format NEVER use that for prints, it causes "artifacts" like pixelation. Always print from .tif .tga .bmp .psd or .png format, in that order of prefference IIRC?

Use the largest pic you are willing to render and enlarge it with PS or PSP. Normally when you let it print then the pixels are just enlarged. If you use a smartsize (or whatever works best for you) then the room between pixels will be interpolated and most of the time it looks better if printed then. Finally add some filters to it that smooth, sharpen, clarify etc... the newly sized pic and you could get away with a smaller render and still have a good quality print.

Thanks for the tips, I'll have to try them out next time!!!

I've printed a few large size images from Vue (I have 2G memory on my laptop)...I render to disk, use the inches and dpi like Agiel mentioned, and render as a .tif. Works fine, and you don't have to worry about any pixel interpolation, you get a true image of what you rendered. Patience is a virtue!

I second that comment - about patience :) My longest scene, rendered in Print quality (about 3000x3000 pixels), took 9 days to render. I kept my fingers crossed the whole time in case of a power outage :)

Many times when you attempt a large render you'll get an "out of memory" error. This will happen variably depending on the complexity of your scene. In other words, the more complex your scene, the more limited your render size. However, by using the "select render area" option you can have renders of unlimited size. When using "select render area" for a final render you must render to screen. In the resolution fields, enter the final dimensions of the image you want. Vue will calculate the size of your selection in relation to your overall requested render size. In a nutshell, the concept is to have Vue render smaller pieces of your image which can be re-assembled in a program like photoshop later. Divide your picture up into as few pieces as your memory can handle with plenty of overlap.

Or oyu cna slect only some ITEMS in the scene, and then select RENDER SELECTED ITEMS ONLY ;) I've used that, then composited afterwards

I found out what the problem was, it wasn't Vue. Seems Snapfish has two ways of uploading images to their site, standard and high resolution. Standard reduces the size of your image I'm guessing for storage reasons and high resolution allows the full unedited image to be uploaded. I took one of my previous renders 3400X2550 @ 300 dpi and it allowed me to make an image as big as a 20X30 not that I'd want to make a print that large. So the problem was Snapfish and not Vue, I feel better now :) Thanks for all the advice though!!!