Digital Prints

This is how ceramic tile
murals are done, and
another good use of this
technique is for making
full-size mockups. This is
also how intentional “collage
art” images and superlarge
images like billboards
that are meant to be viewed
at a distance are created.
Panoramas
Keeping in mind all the restrictions that limit the size of large prints, some of the most dramatic
examples of digital printing are panoramas. There are many ways to accomplish this,
usually either by manually blending digitally captured or scanned images (see Figure 11.3)
or by using an automatic “stitcher” software program. Photoshop Elements and Photoshop
CS both have a Photomerge function, and there are also many third-party software programs
that seamlessly combine many separate images into one. Some of the variables that
must be understood and conquered include: distortion, image equalization, rotation and
horizon line-up, and many other factors. However, there is nothing like a long, seamless,
horizontal (or vertical) panorama to show off the advantages of digital printing!
Chapter 11 ■ Special Printing Techniques 345
Figure 11.2 At left is the Adobe
Illustrator 8.01 Document Setup
screen with Tile Full Pages checked in
the View section. The right screen
shows the custom page size (75.7
inches), created by dividing the banner
size (227 inches) by 3 to yield 75.7,
which is under the printer’s maximum.
Courtesy of Epson America, Inc.
Figure 11.4 Photographer Ralph Cooksey-Talbott creates panoramic prints by manually combining a number of Nikon D-100 frames. Counter-clockwise
from top: the final 120-MB Dry Creek Hills image composed of six separate frames, a 72-inch version of the print coming out of an Epson 9600 printer, mounting
the print with a back brace, and the finished print on the wall of the photographer’s studio.
Courtesy of Cooksey-Talbott Gallery/www.cookseytalbottgallery.com