Resolution &
Print Size
by J. Ramón Palacios
tell
a friend about this article
|
WHAT SIZE
IMAGE FOR WHAT SIZE PRINTS Granting that good prints can be
made with good printers at 200ppi (for example with dye sublimation
printers), with inkjet is better to make them at 300ppi. Below
a reference table to answer the above recurrent question in
the forums.
 |
| Building blocks of
a digital darkroom REFERENCE TABLE FOR BEST IMAGE SIZE
FOR PRINT SIZES FROM SCANS
. |
| Image size in Pixels
(Virtual Size of scanned film Images) |
Mpixel
rating |
Uncropped print size (inches) at
200ppi |
Uncropped print size (inches) at
300ppi |
| . |
|
|
|
| 640 x 480 |
0.3 |
3.2 x 2.4 |
2.1 x 1.6 |
| 1,024 x 768 |
0.8 |
5.1 x 3.8 |
3.4 x 2.5 |
| 1,280 x 960 |
1.2 |
6.4 x 4.8 |
4.2 x 3.2 |
| 1,504 x 1,000 |
1.5 |
7.5 x 5.0 |
5.0 x 3.3 |
| 1,632 x 1,224 |
2.0 |
8.2 x 6.1 |
5.4 x 4.1 |
| 2,000 x 1,312 |
2.6 |
10.0 x 6.6 |
6.7 x 4.4 |
| 2,240 x 1,488 |
3.3 |
11.2 x 7.4 |
7.5 x 5.0 |
| 2,275 x 1,520 |
3.5 |
11.4 x 7.6 |
7.6 x 5.1 |
| 2,272 x 1,704 |
3.9 |
11.4 x 8.5 |
7.6 x 5.7 |
| 2,590 x 1,920 |
5.0 |
13.0 x 9.6 |
8.6 x 6.4 |
| 3,008 x 2,000 |
6.0 |
15.0 x 10.0 |
10.0 x 6.7 |
| 4,256 x 2,848 |
12.1 |
21.3 x 14.2 |
14.2 x 9.5 |
| 4,536 x 3,024 |
13.7 |
22.7 x 15.1 |
15.1 x 10.1 |
| 5,782 x 3,946 |
22.8 |
28.9 x 19.7 |
19.3 x 13.2 |
The data above is conclusive for
inkjet printers. It could appear controversial for professional
printers, -even if they are talking about digital camera output-
as they seem able to handle lower definitions; for example,
Kodak seems able to handle lower ppi, unless they are taking
about digital camera images, when it recommends as below:
"For a 4" x 6" print, the image
resolution should be 640 x 480 pixels minimum"
That represents 120ppi at best (480pixels/4 inches) on one
axis, 106.6 in the other.
"For a 5" x 7" print, the image
resolution should be 1024 x 768 pixels minimum"
So resolution increases to 146.3ppi (1024/7), 153.6ppi in
the other axis.
"For an 8" x 10" print, the image
resolution should be 1536 x 1024 pixels minimum"
That is 153ppi (153.6/10) and 128ppi (1024/8).
But then it drops drastically:
"For a 16" x 20" print, the image resolution should be 1600
x 1200 pixels minimum"
80ppi (1600/20) and 75ppi (1200/16).
And even lower for a larger size
print: "For a 20" x 30" print, the image resolution should
be 1600 x 1200 pixels minimum"
53.3ppi (1600/30) and 60ppi (1200/20).
Strange.
In any event, you'll be safer by
following the table above.
-
|
