Digital
to Photo Print Information
to
Recent advances in
technology have brought the idea of having photographs in a digital format into
almost every household with a computer. Digital cameras are becoming more and
more common and users are starting to shoot everyday images in addition to work
related images with their digital cameras. However, people still want
photographic prints of their digital photos. In order to get the highest quality
prints and enlargements possible the photographer needs to become familiar with
some new terms and concepts. The
glossary contains some of the most common
terms you'll encounter when working with digital files and this page explains
some of the concepts behind getting quality digital photographic prints.
To get the best quality prints, it is recommended that you set your digital
camera to produce the largest digital file possible. If you are using a scanner
to create your digital file, you should set the scanner to obtain a file that is
your final print size at 300 dpi. Please note, digital files for larger print
sizes (8 x 10, 11 x 14, etc.) will be large. The average uncompressed size of a
photographic digital file to make a high-quality 8 x 10 inch print is 18 MB.
The optimum printing size is determined by dividing the image pixels by the
printer dpi. For example, your image size is 640 x 480 pixels and your Photo shop prints at 300 dpi. To find your optimum print size, divide each file
dimension by the printer dpi of 300. 640/300 = 2.13 inches and 480/300 = 1.6
inches. Therefore, a 640 x 480 pixel image will produce a 2.13 x 1.6 inch print.
However, our printers can produce a relatively good quality 4 x 6 inch print
from a 640 x 480 pixel image. To find the pixel size of your image file, open
the file in a graphics application and view the image size or look for an image
size specification in the manual of your digital camera.
|
Digital
File Specifications |
|
Print
Size: |
Image
H & W
in Pixels: |
File
Size
in Bytes: |
Minimum
Digital
Camera Required |
3.5
x 5 prints
4x6 prints or greeting cards
5x7 prints
8x10 prints
8x12 prints
11x14 prints
12x18 prints |
935x
1335 pixels
1068 x 1602 pixels
1335 x 1869 pixels
2136 x 2670 pixels
2136 x 3204 pixels
2937 x 3738 pixels
3204 x 4806 pixels |
3,744,675
5,132,808
7,485,345
17,109,360
20,531,232
32,935,518
46,195,272 |
1
Megapixel
1 Megapixel
1.3 Megapixel
2 Megapixel
2 Megapixel
2.5 Megapixel
3 Megapixel |
Most photo shop
printers print at approximately 300 dpi. The print-size chart above is designed
for a 300 dpi printer. The same pixel dimensions on a lower resolution printer
will produce a print with larger dimensions but a lower quality.
When resizing digital files in a graphics application
(PhotoShop, Photo Deluxe, Picture It, etc.) it is very easy to change the file's
dimensions and dpi to new settings. However, doing so may actually degrade the
quality of your image. Interpolation is the term used to describe how graphics
applications recalculate the pixels that make up an image file and add or
subtract pixels to recreate the image at the new size. Most photo shops
recommend leaving digital files at their original size and allowing us to resize
the image.
Most of the photo shop's digital printers can make up to
12 x 18 inch silver-halide photographic prints from computer-generated digital
images. In other words, digital camera images, scanned photographs, images that
have been manipulated, enhanced, or combined with type and graphics, can be
reproduced as high-quality photographic prints. Our printers differ from common
ink-jet printers because they use light to expose real photographic paper.
Ink-jet printers recreate the image by spraying dots of color on the paper. Most
home printers are ink-jet printers. The advantages of printing on photographic
paper include a full range of colors, wide tonal scale, sharp clear images, and
archival quality paper.
Digital files containing photographic or image data are
different from digital files containing word processing data. Common file
formats for photographic data are .tif (Tiff), .jpg (JPEG), .eps (EPS), .bmp
(BMP), and .gif (Gif). Most photo shops prefer to receive files in the
universally accepted .jpg (JPEG) or .tif (Tiff) formats. BMP and Gif files are
used with lower quality bitmap image files and do not contain enough data to
make quality prints. EPS files are traditional used in offset printing and
page-layout applications. Most photo shops will also accept an EPS file if all
related graphics and fonts have been embedded into the file; however, you will
need to contact customer service to arrange for delivery via a different method.
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Photos shown on following pages are the property of Doug M. and may
not be used without prior written consent.