Resolution for printing memory books

[vawitt]

Hi, everyone. I want to make a hardcover photobook for a gift. The photos coming off the camera are 72 dpi resolution. Should I bump that resolution before uploading to the photo service? If I do that, will I have to make any other changes to the photos? (I suppose if the answer is 'yes' then the first thing to do will be to change resolution.)

Thanks for any info!

~Val in sunny IL

[Wags374]

They are coming out of the camrea at 72 dpi???:eek:

First thing - set your camera for the highest/best quality of picture it can take and leave it there. 72 dpi is fine for sharing on the web, but is too low of resolution to get decent prints from and you can't do much editing to help the situation either.

What size are your pictures? (i.e 640x480, 2592x1940 etc...)

[vawitt]

The images are coming from a 6 MP camera set to high res. Actually they aren't coming off the camera at 72 dpi :o .... If I open a pic in PSE the data on the dialog box shows 2592 x 1944 pixels. Document size is 36 inches x 27 inches at 72 dpi.

I guess my question is whether or not I should change that 72 dpi in the document size to 300.

I know that if I want to create a collage, I should set the blank paper that all images are dragged to at 300 dpi. But do I need to change the size of the photo itself if all I'm going to do is upload it to the service?

I have a dead spot in my brain when it comes to resolution!! :rolleyes:

~Val in sunny IL

They are coming out of the camrea at 72 dpi???:eek:

First thing - set your camera for the highest/best quality of picture it can take and leave it there. 72 dpi is fine for sharing on the web, but is too low of resolution to get decent prints from and you can't do much editing to help the situation either.

What size are your pictures? (i.e 640x480, 2592x1940 etc...)

[Codebreaker]

Images coming from a camera do not have any specific resolution - all that you get is a number of pixels. Resolution numbers are used to determine a physical size, which for a camera is meaningless since the image it delivers doesn't have a physical size until you determine what you want to do with it.

The confusion arises because embedded in the data can be a resolution setting and this depends totally on what the camera manufacturer decides to put in. In the case where they don't have a value then the default that Elements picks up is 72PPI.

It's really of significance for scanned images, for example, where you need to reproduce the original at the same physical size.

What matters when printing is to have an image with pixel dimensions sufficient to give you the physical size you want at a resolution of typically 300PPI.

So for example a 6Mpixel camera delivers an image of 3000 x 2000 pixels. At the ideal resolution of 300PPI you'll get a physical print size of :-

3000/300 x 2000/300 or 10" x 6.67"

What you need to do therefore is to look at your pixel dimensions and see what physical sizes you can get with resolutions of say greater than 200PPI.

Goto to Image > Resize > Image Size and you can see the relationship between Pixels and Resolution. Leave the Resample box unchecked and type in a Physical Size and watch what happens to the resolution setting which gets adjusted automatically. You don't want it to drop too low. Similarly you can enter a resolution and see what physical size you can get.

If you can't get the physical size at a resolution you need ( e.g. 300), check the Re-sample box and now you can enter a physical size and resolution and you'll see the pixel dimensions change. Don't overdo this as quality may suffer.

Hope this helps

Colin

[vawitt]

Colin - YES! Very helpful! Printed and hung on bulletin board for future reference.

Wags - thanks for worrying about my potential low res...

~Val



Images coming from a camera do not have any specific resolution - all that you get is a number of pixels. Resolution numbers are used to determine a physical size, which for a camera is meaningless since the image it delivers doesn't have a physical size until you determine what you want to do with it.

The confusion arises because embedded in the data can be a resolution setting and this depends totally on what the camera manufacturer decides to put in. In the case where they don't have a value then the default that Elements picks up is 72PPI.

It's really of significance for scanned images, for example, where you need to reproduce the original at the same physical size.

What matters when printing is to have an image with pixel dimensions sufficient to give you the physical size you want at a resolution of typically 300PPI.

So for example a 6Mpixel camera delivers an image of 3000 x 2000 pixels. At the ideal resolution of 300PPI you'll get a physical print size of :-

3000/300 x 2000/300 or 10" x 6.67"

What you need to do therefore is to look at your pixel dimensions and see what physical sizes you can get with resolutions of say greater than 200PPI.

Goto to Image > Resize > Image Size and you can see the relationship between Pixels and Resolution. Leave the Resample box unchecked and type in a Physical Size and watch what happens to the resolution setting which gets adjusted automatically. You don't want it to drop too low. Similarly you can enter a resolution and see what physical size you can get.

If you can't get the physical size at a resolution you need ( e.g. 300), check the Re-sample box and now you can enter a physical size and resolution and you'll see the pixel dimensions change. Don't overdo this as quality may suffer.

Hope this helps

Colin

[Wags374]

My concern was based on personal experience. :) My sister has a decent P&S, but she set it to the lowest setting to "save space" on the card. She couldn't figure out why those pictures always printed so badly and wanted me to "fix them!"

When she moved back to the USA I did fix it - I set her camera for the highest resolution and got her to buy a couple of 1GB cards.

I also had her read Lee's great series on P&S cameras and how to get the most out of them. Digital Cameras for Newbies: Parts 1-6 (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16593&highlight=cameras+newbies)

[Codebreaker]

I'm glad it helped. There are a few more notes on my web site including a table that shows what size image you can get for different Mpixel images.

There's also some explanation about aspect ratios which can also trip you up.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/colin_w/pixels_and_ppi.htm

Colin

[Wags374]

Cool website Colin!

[vawitt]

Thanks for the link, Colin. Great explanation. I feed more educated now! :cool:

~Val in steamy IL

I'm glad it helped. There are a few more notes on my web site including a table that shows what size image you can get for different Mpixel images.

There's also some explanation about aspect ratios which can also trip you up.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/colin_w/pixels_and_ppi.htm

Colin

[vawitt]

Shopping at a Circuit City last summer, I overheard a conversation between a female customer and a sales clerk. The woman was laughing about how she was purchasing her 5th 1GB memory card because they kept filling up. :eek: The clerk kept his composure as he told her she could actually put the pictures on a computer or a CD and then delete them from the card.

She was amazed. Yikes! I was ready to buy stock in the memory card company - ha!

~Val in steamy IL

My concern was based on personal experience. :) My sister has a decent P&S, but she set it to the lowest setting to "save space" on the card. She couldn't figure out why those pictures always printed so badly and wanted me to "fix them!"

When she moved back to the USA I did fix it - I set her camera for the highest resolution and got her to buy a couple of 1GB cards.

I also had her read Lee's great series on P&S cameras and how to get the most out of them. Digital Cameras for Newbies: Parts 1-6 (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16593&highlight=cameras+newbies)