Why is a digital print better than a conventional photographic print?
This excerpt from an article in the 1996 PMA magazine explains it very well: “Digital prints are superior to large-format copy negatives and inter-negatives used in mural enlargements, since the scanned image can be enhanced, color corrected and manipulated to perfection by computer before printing. Digital originals are sharper, because second (and sometimes third) optical-system negative generations are eliminated. Digital printers do not suffer the same physical problems created by giant-size print enlarging, such as optical lens distortions, Newton rings, dust particles, soft edge images due to print paper curl, and poor depth-of-focus due to imperfect alignment of the enlarger to the printing surface. Image softening caused by physical vibrations during long exposures with room-size enlargers is also eliminated.
