Resolution question

[backpackerx]

Ok, since I'm fairly new to digital photography I can ask a potentially dumb question :D Does the megapixel resolution matter if you don't print photos larger than the recommended range for your camera?
Ie. If your just printing 4x6's you'll still get just as good shots with a 2 or 3 megapixel as with a 5 or 6 right?

Also, I have a 3.2 megapixel camera and I've read these can make good 8x10 and 11x14 prints. For those of you with real world experience do you find this to be accurate?

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Yes and yes to your questions. To clarify on the second a bit, scenes requring more resolution (typically landscapes) will suffer a bit with a 3 megapixel when printing to 8x10s and larger.

[Gary Sheynkman]

More megapixels = better. Even 4x6 prints will look less grainy
plus the higher end cameras usually have better lenses

[Jason Dunn]

There's a point of diminishing returns. If you NEVER print bigger than 4x6, then more pixels won't make much of a difference once you get beyond 300 dpi in a print...now, that said, you have to rememer that if you crop your images you're losing resolution, and of course higher megapixel cameras usually have better optical systems that result in better quality photos. But quite often it's better to focus on the image quality and lens of a camera moreso than the resolution (if it's 3 MP or higher I'd say).

[Suhit Gupta]

I think it basically comes down to the dpi (dots per inch) that you are printing your photograph at. Typically, people pick 300 dpi, though typical modern color laser printers can print at 2400dpi. At this stage, like Jason points out, if you are still printing on a 4X6 then the benifit gained has reduced significantly.

Suhit

[aroma]

It's all about the optics. You can get amazingly nice images with lower megapixel cameras as long as you have good optics. For the longest time I shot with a pro-sumer level camera with good optics but a less than 3 megapixel sensor. I printed numerous 8x10 prints from this camera that people swore had to have come from a higher megapixel camera. In my opinion the sensor density is more "mega" hype than it should be.

- Aaron

[backpackerx]

Ok, thanks. How good is the resolution then from your average over the counter photo development shop (like the send out or 1 hour people)

It sounds like if their printers are hi resolution then a higher megapixel (along with good optics) would show improvement, but if they aren't, then it won't matter too much.

[Suhit Gupta]

Ok, thanks. How good is the resolution then from your average over the counter photo development shop (like the send out or 1 hour people)

It sounds like if their printers are hi resolution then a higher megapixel (along with good optics) would show improvement, but if they aren't, then it won't matter too much.

AFAIK, they print at 72dpi. I know that the CVS (pharmacy) as well as Kinko's (copy center) are capable of doing so, though Kinko's may be able to do more. There is a Duane Reade (pharmacy) also by my place but I don't have details on their printer. They must be comparable though...

Suhit

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Oh no, here we go again. No, no one prints at 72 dpi, if they did, your photos will look terrible. Printing resolution is much higher than that (typically in the hundreds). Do NOT confuse printing dpi with the dpi that Photoshop or whatever reports to you.

[Suhit Gupta]

Oh no, here we go again. No, no one prints at 72 dpi, if they did, your photos will look terrible. Printing resolution is much higher than that (typically in the hundreds). Do NOT confuse printing dpi with the dpi that Photoshop or whatever reports to you.

My bad... I meant to say 300dpi. I was reading the CVS website at the time and they said that "For fast access via the Internet, your pictures are viewed at screen resolution (72 dpi)" and I got my numbers mixed up. I apologize for the confusion.

Suhit

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Ah, I see, I thought I'd had to endure the terrible confusion of dpi all over again, hehe (think about 10 threads worth of a few hundred postings with many more confused people).

[Honda_Civic_Si]

I think it basically comes down to the dpi (dots per inch) that you are printing your photograph at. Typically, people pick 300 dpi, though typical modern color laser printers can print at 2400dpi. At this stage, like Jason points out, if you are still printing on a 4X6 then the benifit gained has reduced significantly.

Suhit

Actually, todays laser printers (colour) are capable of way higher that 2400DPI. My new Photosmart (photo inkjet printer) is capable up to 4800 DPI. This is amazing!

I have a 3.2 megapixel camera and everything prints out really nicely on photo paper, 4x6, 8X10, its really nice.

-Justin.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Due to different technologies, 300dpi won't give the same results on different printers. 300dpi on a dye sub looks great, but on a laser it'll probably be very poor. So a high or low dpi number isn't necessary good.

[JR]

My new Photosmart (photo inkjet printer) is capable up to 4800 DPI.

Is this really noticeable? My understanding is that the human eye can't distinguish beyond 600 dpi. I don't know where I heard that though...so it may not be true.

Anybody know?

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Haven't seen any of the supposed 4800dpi printouts, but like I said in my previous post, for inkjets, more than 600dpi will give nicer printouts.

[JR]

Haven't seen any of the supposed 4800dpi printouts, but like I said in my previous post, for inkjets, more than 600dpi will give nicer printouts.

Gotcha. Maybe the information I had heard was not within the context of printing then. Like I say, I don't recall the details. It's just one of those details floating around in my head. I know now where it came from. :)

[Jason Dunn]

Due to different technologies, 300dpi won't give the same results on different printers. 300dpi on a dye sub looks great, but on a laser it'll probably be very poor. So a high or low dpi number isn't necessary good.

<groan>...I've talked about dpi/ppi/resolution in several books, and I *still* get confused about it sometimes. This will make a good front page post, and you can all watch me stumble as I try to explain it. ;-)

[Gary Sheynkman]

It's all about the optics. You can get amazingly nice images with lower megapixel cameras as long as you have good optics. For the longest time I shot with a pro-sumer level camera with good optics but a less than 3 megapixel sensor. I printed numerous 8x10 prints from this camera that people swore had to have come from a higher megapixel camera. In my opinion the sensor density is more "mega" hype than it should be.

- Aaron

so true
real life story:
A family friend had a 3mp nikon (with the swivel body) and upgraded to a 5mp olympus. The picture quality went down because the nikon despite having less megapixels had better optics...he now has a digi rebel.. 8)

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

<groan>...I've talked about dpi/ppi/resolution in several books, and I *still* get confused about it sometimes. This will make a good front page post, and you can all watch me stumble as I try to explain it. ;-)

Aww, how hard can it be? =P

[Lotto]

Ok another question (perhaps dumb), why is it when I print at more than 300 dpi it seems like the paper is just soaked with ink color? Rather than getting clearer (from more detail, or dpi) it seems to blur and be way too thick on the paper.

[Jason Dunn]

Ok another question (perhaps dumb), why is it when I print at more than 300 dpi it seems like the paper is just soaked with ink color? Rather than getting clearer (from more detail, or dpi) it seems to blur and be way too thick on the paper.

That usually means you're not using the right type of paper, or your printer doesn't know what type of paper it's printing on (this is in the properties of your printer). It's very important to have everything set up properly, because the print driver knows that high-gloss photo paper is designed to absorb more ink than regular paper.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Yes, using the right paper is important. Try the series of papers from Ilford if you can; not too expensive and good results.

[Lotto]

When I have tried it, it was with Photo Glossy paper...Epson's brand. I did change the properties to account for that. Perhaps the paper itself can only handle a certain level then.

[Gary Sheynkman]

When I have tried it, it was with Photo Glossy paper...Epson's brand. I did change the properties to account for that. Perhaps the paper itself can only handle a certain level then.

In my limited experience I think it comes down to matching the quality of your printer to a certain paper....you dont want a crappy printer/very good paper and vice versa