image resolution, is it enough?

[edekoning]

I'm planning on using the original 'x-men COTA' side-art for my cab. The cabinet dimensions are roughly 65 cm x 190 cm (25" x 75"). The highest resolution image I could find is 2935x5029 (200 dpi), available from:
http://arcadeartlibrary.com/arcade_art/details.php?image_id=536 or
http://www.arcadecollecting.com/caga/sideart/

In order to get the image to fit the side, I'll need to do some editing. For the width I'll need to do some heavy cropping and a slight scale (85%-90%), for the height a small crop to 90% is sufficient.


Does this image have enough resolution to use as full-size side-art? Does anybody have a higher resolution version? If not, how doable/hard/time consuming would it be to vectorize? The image has lots of small details, like parallel pen-lines to simulate shadows. Any tips on how to proceed with this? I don't care for the background, nor for any of the text, except the x-men title.


Any help/advice is much appreciated!

[Firebat138]

that image is plenty big enough, probably better than most use anyways...  100 dpi is about what you are looking for when printing out that big anyways.  You should be good to go...  It will look great

[edekoning]

that image is plenty big enough, probably better than most use anyways...  100 dpi is about what you are looking for when printing out that big anyways.  You should be good to go...  It will look great

The height of the original art size is 64 cm (25"), so printing that at 190 cm (75"), wouldn't that leave me with dpi of about 67 (200/3)?

[Firebat138]

ehh...  technically, but it isnt worth the time to vectorize or the money...  5400 pixels is pretty big and cant imagine anyone having a larger one...  If they did, perfect, but it would still be very close. 

[Minwah]

I would say you ideally want 300dpi, 200dpi is ok, but 100 or less is not good enough IMO.

[opt2not]

I would say you ideally want 300dpi, 200dpi is ok, but 100 or less is not good enough IMO.

IMO 200dpi is the minimal res you want to print side-art with.  Anything lower, you'll see the pixelation and blurring printed at that size.

[Firebat138]

yeah, but what he has is plenty... trust me...  I doubt anyone has a 15000 pixel image of that anywhere..  plot one out and see for yourself...  it will look fine.  I can take a render and make it 3600x2400 or 7200x4800 and it will look the same on our hp 5000 Designjet...  most big printers just cant throw down that much ink...  I am sure there is a subtle difference, but negligible at best and not worth the effort

[opt2not]

I am sure there is a subtle difference, but negligible at best and not worth the effort

That's your opinion...but that subtle difference would be enough to bother me, but I'm pretty anal about artwork made for print. Probably why I charge so much for artwork

[edekoning]

That's your opinion...but that subtle difference would be enough to bother me, but I'm pretty anal about artwork made for print. Probably why I charge so much for artwork

Well unless anyone has (or is willing to do) a 600 dpi scan of the original side art, I'm stuck with my 200 dpi scan, which is 70 dpi at full size. How would you suggest I proceed?

[Firebat138]

We shall agree to disagree...  :-)

I am sure there is a subtle difference, but negligible at best and not worth the effort

That's your opinion...but that subtle difference would be enough to bother me, but I'm pretty anal about artwork made for print. Probably why I charge so much for artwork

[edekoning]

Today I played around with Vector Magic using a crop of the original image. I'm actually very impressed with the results, except for one thing: gradients. The original image has tons of gradients, while the vectorized results have lots of banding. I suppose I could add gradients to all affected paths to blend adjacent colors, but that's gonna take lots of time. Does anybody have any tips or suggestions to deal with this?

[PL1]

Why reprint when Divemaster127 has a NOS pair (both sides) for sale here?

Gary just dropped the price to $20 shipped.   


Scott

[Firebat138]

I would go with THAT price...  He is giving it away or he stole it...  lol...  jk...  the COST of the print is more than that with the shipping...  grab that deal...

and on the vector...  I think the banding on the new image would be worse than you printing the image at the res you already have it at...

[edekoning]

Problem is that the original art is only 15" by 25", whereas I need 25" by 75".

Anyway I hope to have some spare time this weekend to prepare (crop/scale) the image that I have. I will then print an A4 crop of that on my photoprinter to see if the quality is good enough for me.

[Firebat138]

I know, but at 100dpi it is 30 x 50.  :-)  I am gonna print it at work today for ya and send you pics of both for comparison...  I feel giddy and have the spare time.  :-)

[edekoning]

Today I found a tutorial by TheShaner on enlarging existing images using the Oil Paint filter from Photoshop CS6: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,122054.0.html

I tried it myself and it tuned out great, which means I can finally get my side-art printed