Resolution query - size of prints

bloodline76 · 10 Dec 2007 at 09:21

I was wondering if there was a certain resolution for my camera that I should be using for getting prints done.

I am printing out in 5x7 and sometimes this does not always come out the same size as the picture on screen.

So my question is do I have to take the pictures in a certain resolution or do I have to resize the pictures in a photo editing program?

I am using a cannon 350D

Thanks

Messiah Khan · 10 Dec 2007 at 09:25

Generally aim for 300dpi (dots per inch) for decent print quality images. So for a 5x7 image, that would be 1500x2100 pixels.

aztechnology · 10 Dec 2007 at 09:38

if you don't resize somehow, you may end up printing prints much larger than expected.

however you print you will likely need to scale them to a desired output size with some form of photo editor.

bloodline76 · 10 Dec 2007 at 12:24

Thanks to both of you. Very helpfil. Thanks!!! Merry Christmas!!

Phate · 10 Dec 2007 at 12:36

Yep, the above 2 are bang on, for my A2 print I found a website which gave me the correct resolution for 300dpi and I'm telling you, it's bleeding huge

I'll find out what it is hehe. The .psd is 168mb :eek:

EDIT: A2 is - 7087 x 5084 : |

SDK^ · 10 Dec 2007 at 12:58

From my experience anything above 180 DPI is sufficient, especially for larger prints which are viewed at arms length or longer.

bloodline76 · 10 Dec 2007 at 13:41

It was more to do with scaling than quality. As in it wouldnt put the whole picture on the print when printed out.

aztechnology · 10 Dec 2007 at 14:00

SDK^ said:
From my experience anything above 180 DPI is sufficient, especially for larger prints which are viewed at arms length or longer.

yep, this is a good point to note. 300 dpi will be excellent under the closest examination, if the print is going to end up somewhere you can't put your nose on it then you can get away with much less. personally, I wouod not got much below 150dpi, but you can get good results down there.

colinuk · 10 Dec 2007 at 14:47

Use the CROP tool in PS. put in the boxes at the top width and hieght of either 5 by 4 or 4 by 5 depending if its landscape or portrait.

Put the res at 310/dpi. i use this at the colour labs and they recomend 310dpi for somw reason. Now, with the magnify glass, click show actual size, there you go...

The crop tool with bring up a box when you use it, this is what will be printed out when you ask for it, anything outside of it wont be used.

Shout if you get stuck

- took me a few goes to understan what the hell was going on.

ColiN

SDK^ · 10 Dec 2007 at 15:01

If you have Photoshop then goto File-> Print with Preview . You change the size of your photo on the page in this window.

aztechnology · 10 Dec 2007 at 17:06

colinuk said:
Use the CROP tool in PS. put in the boxes at the top width and hieght of either 5 by 4 or 4 by 5 depending if its landscape or portrait.

Put the res at 310/dpi. i use this at the colour labs and they recomend 310dpi for somw reason. Now, with the magnify glass, click show actual size, there you go...

The crop tool with bring up a box when you use it, this is what will be printed out when you ask for it, anything outside of it wont be used.

Shout if you get stuck - took me a few goes to understan what the hell was going on.

ColiN

I might be missunderstanding that, but that sounds like you will be printing a selection of the image. what I think you need to do is resample the image with the correct dpi for your print size. I always leave that until the print dialouge box.

hmm ! you are though adding a dpi so that might do it. I don't do it like this so I might need to check on a machine with ps installed.

bloodline76 · 11 Dec 2007 at 09:50

I use photo studio which came with my camera. Anyone know what you use to rescale the pictures in that without losing sections?

scoop · 11 Dec 2007 at 10:18

I think we might be getting a little confused here talking about dpi/resampling/rescaling etc. A 350D image will be fine at 7x5 without any of that malarkey.

Am I right in thinking what you're saying is that, when you print, the picture you get has bits chopped off? If so, the reason is your aspect ratio. The sensor of the 350D has an aspect ratio of 3x2 (wxh). As the 7x5 image format does not scale exactly to this ratio, you will loose some off the edge when you print. ColinUK was along the right lines with the crop tool, but you need to set the crop ratio to 7 by 5 (or 5 by 7 if potrait) and select which bits of the image you want to lose. Save as a new file (quality 8-10 should be fine for 7x5) and then what you see should be what you get out the printer.