Example Showing Detail in a Color Image

The red box in the first image is shown below at full print size. I used it as an example because the image has a high spatial frequency in places (lots of details close together). Notice the level of detail that the drum scanner is able to pull from the film. Each individual needle from the Douglas Fir is clear and distinct, as is the space between needles.

Of course the final image looks considerably better in person since paper or canvas can show detail better than a computer monitor. A monitor's pixel pitch (typically 72-100 ppi) is much more coarse than the printer's pixel pitch (typically 300-360 ppi). The prints are therefore much smoother than what your monitor can show.

The example image was made using 4x5 160PortraVC film. The scan resolution was about 3200 spi with an RGB scan type, 16 bits, for a file size of 1.07GB. I cropped the RAW scan to trim off the film rebate and to achieve a 4:3 aspect ratio. The final 1.0GB file would allow me to produce a print size of about 38.7 x 51.5 inches (98.3 x 130.8 cm) at one of my printer defaults of 300 ppi.