What is 100%

[gary6557]

I look at some images on my laptop in Elements 9 and they look great at anything upto 80%, at 100% they look out of focus. In print size what is the difference between 80% and 100%?

[CheaperKings]

About 20%...?

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by gary6557

I look at some images on my laptop in Elements 9 and they look great at anything upto 80%, at 100% they look out of focus. In print size what is the difference between 80% and 100%?

You're looking at it wrong.

At 100%, a pixel captured by the sensor is the same size as a pixel displayed on screen. At 200% viewing magnification, each pixel captured is 2 pixels displayed on screen; 50% means the opposite, so each pixel displayed is actually 2 pixels captured.

Checking focus should be done at, at most, 75%. Anything above 200% is useless unless you're doing pixel-level editing.

These percentages dont equate to anything in print: it depends on the size and resolution of your monitor, the resolution of your file, and the size of print (and pixels density) you want to make.

[gary6557]

Thankyou for your answer, its crystal clear to me now. I now have a new problem, how can I recover the award winning shots that I deleted because they looked out of focus at 100%, doo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!