Hi...Just bought a digital camera and love it. Have learned about recording still photos at low resolution for internet. But need to know,what size file should I record still photos at, for printing 4x6's and 5x7's??? Very confused...... thanks, Cat

-- Cat Corcilius (catcorcilius@uswest.net), August 22, 2000

Answers

Have a look at the question titled: Scanning Resolution and Interpolation a bit lower on the page.

Generally, you want 300 pixels per inch(PPI) to print an image, so for instance a 2048x1536 image would print out at 6.82 x 5.12" @ 300PPI.

The math is simple:

Image size(in pixels) / PPI (Pixels Per Inch) = Size (inches)

So: 2048 / 300 = 6.82" 1536 / 300 = 5.12"

You could drop down a bit lower to say 200 to 240 PPI and get a larger print from the same size file. Bear in mind that as you drop, quality will drop as well. If you can capture images at a higher resolution, do it. You can always resize them later to make them smaller. It's a lot tougher to blow them up, because you can't put in detail that wasn't captured.

The best thing to do is experiment, but generally speaking more pixels are usually better. Low to medium compression(FINE or NORMAL on most digicams) is best as well, superceded only by the TIFF or RAW file formats available on some cameras.

-- Gerald M. Payne (gmp@surferz.net), August 23, 2000.