Resolution?

[luv2travel]

What resolution do you print your pictures at? Do you put the setting in your camera or do you change the resolution in photoshop?

[dcclark]

Neither. The "resolution" setting has essentially no effect on output, from a practical point of view. Here's why:

I send my photos off to AdoramaPix or mpix, both of which require two things: a jpeg file, and the desired print size. Then, they squeeze the photo into that print size -- totally ignoring resolution settings. Those resolution settings in photoshop are just a number embedded in the file, not any actual physical feature of a file.

The only thing that really matters is, how many pixels are in your file? The more there are, the more pixels per inch your image will print at.

[nathanbarlow]

they wouldnt totally ignore resolution settings - they would just set it to whatever they want, rather than whatever the file was when they recieve it.

But yea pixels is the main thing. If you have very few pixels and print at high DPI, you can only do a small print. If you have lots of pixels, and print at a high DPI, you can get big prints. Alternatively, you can print with a lower DPI, but it will be noticable after a certain point and viewing distance.

[dcclark]

I've printed 7 megapixel photos at 20x24, and nobody can see any quality degradation. Remember, you won't be viewing a photo that large from 4 inches away -- it'll be 4 feet away.

[teaking]

Isnt it funny how things pop up together only just saw a thread regarding DPI the other day DC is right the DPI is not really in effect untill a print is in phsyical form all that matters is the pixel height and width. When printed at different sizes the physical DPI of the image will change. eg 300 x 300 at 3x3 is 100 DPI but at 1x1 its 300 DPI,

In regards to size limitations I agree with DC again viewing distance is an important point larger prints are usualy designed to be viewed at further distances and dont have to look impeccable from 1cm away although I couldnt recomend the lowest DPI value for printing as I have no experience of printing large prints. Its an interesting topic though.

[dcclark]

Originally Posted by teaking

In regards to size limitations I agree with DC again viewing distance is an important point larger prints are usualy designed to be viewed at further distances and dont have to look impeccable from 1cm away although I couldnt recomend the lowest DPI value for printing as I have no experience of printing large prints. Its an interesting topic though.

I just found an awesome example of this.

My department offices here at the university have recently been redecorated with some large (poster-sized) photos from campus and the department. At first glance, these are all pleasant 2x3 (foot) photos of the math building, people teaching, etc.

However, if you get close and look, you realize that they were apparently printed from tiny preview images (I assume accidentally), and they are seriously about 10 ppi. You can see the individual pixels easily.

But, from a reasonable distance (10-20 feet), they're nice, and add to the atmosphere of the room. They're not fine art, but it's a very vivid demonstration!