 Christian |
resolution i believe I have my camera at the highest resolution setting possible. it is 2592 pixels (w) by 1944 pixels (h). when I import the image into photoshop, I see the image size shows these dimensions and the document size resolution shows 180 pixels/inch. I think/know that for really good print quality on larger images the resolution should be at 300 pixels/inch. I am limited based on what kind of camera i'm using? the camera is a canon digital elph sd450, 5.0 mega pixels. also, am I improving the print quality of the image by bumping up the document size resolution in photoshop to 300 pixels/inch, or is photoshop simply substituting pixels to make up the difference? thanks in advance for the feedback!
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W. |
If you adjust the 180dpi to 300dpi you get a trade-off: true photo quality when you print but also a smaller physical size of the image. You don't lose one pixel. Have fun!
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Alan N. Marcus |
Hi Christian, Your digital camera sports a sensor chip covered with 1944 rows of sensor sites. That’s 1944 x 2593 = 6,721,056 pixels. Now you view your pictures on a video screen. The image is made up on the display as dots of glowing stuff like liquid crystals LCD Typically monitors sport 72 pixels per inch. Let’s do a little math: Also, I think you should know that the pixels on your monitor screen are quite large. They don’t need to be small because we typically view a computer screen from a distance of 18 ~ 26 inches away. Likely you don’t have a 36 inch plus monitor so you (or the software) has set the viewing resolution at 180 pixels per inch (ppi). Using the same math as above: Maybe now you grasp – the screen resolution setting regulates the size the image will appear on the computer monitor. Now print resolution (ink on paper) is measured in dots of ink per inch (dpi). Now prints on paper are securitized closely, sometimes with a magnifying glass. Because of this, ink dots on paper must be quite tiny. In point of fact, ink dots are from 300% ~ 1000% smaller than screen pixels. They must be tiny to look sharp and clear, their diameter’s must be 1/000 of the viewing distance or smaller. If viewed at 10 inches they each must be 0.01 inches in diameter or less. This means that a 4 inch by 6 inch picture printed on paper at 400 dpi looks quite good however when presented on a computer monitor at 72 ppi it will measure an enormous 22 by 33 inch. What I am trying to tell you is: The relationship between viewing ppi and printing dpi is not easy to identify with. So: Set you camera to the highest so your pictures will be sharp and clear when should you need to make big prints. Learn to change the screen viewing resolution so the images as seen on your monitor are sensible, likely this will be an automatic function of your viewing software. Prints in newspapers hover about 100 dpi because the paper and ink combination can’t support more (paper blots and ink dot spreads). Magazines are 300 + because the paper is better. Fine art printing hovers around 1000 dpi. Nobody said it’s easy! Alan Marcus
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John G. Clifford Jr |
The dpi setting is just something to tell the printer how to scale the image when printing. It only matters when actually printing. Here's an older thread on printing that will answer your questions: http://www.betterphoto.com/forms/qnaDetail.php?threadID=29896
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Christian |
great! thanks so much to everyone for the info. a very informative and friendly online community here.
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