The Right Resolution: Pixel Perfect
I’m sure we’ve all heard by now that we should shoot our digital images in the highest resolution possible. But you would be surprised how many people (me included) forget to check the resolution settings on their cameras.
Clarity in digital photographry is measure in pixels, which are dots of light. The more pixels you have, the clearer the image. Having your camera set to a lower resolution setting usually does not pose a problem when you’re just viewing and sharing photos on say, Flickr or Photobucket, but it becomes a big problem when you want to print that great shot of your daughter’s first smile in an 8×10 for grandma.
If you’re shooting at a low resolution, such as 640×480, that crisp small smile will suddenly become blurry and fuzzy when blown up to a larger size. I had forgotten, before I learned the joys and wonders of the Flickr uploader tool that automatically resizes your photos based on your preferences (more on this subject in a later post), that I had reduced the size of my images on my camera so they were small enough for me to email to my friends and family without having to resize each and every one when I downloaded them to my computer. Here is my two cents of advice — stop doing that! To get crisp shots, set your camera to 300 dpi (dots per inch — a measure of pixels).
I had to learn the hard way. I have several photos that I’d like to blow up a little larger for frames, but unfortunately, I had forgotten to change my default size for images on my camera to a higher resolution. I suggest you do that now so you don’t suffer the same fate. The resolution settings are usually found under the Functions button on your camera. With larger megabyte memory cards going for decent prices these days, you never have to settle again for the limited amount of space you get with the small card that usually comes with your camera.
Also, with sites like Flickr sprouting up all over the web, you never actually have to resize and email photos anymore. You can just send your friends and family a link to your online snapshots and stop fretting about the large size of that email. Increase that resolution number on your camera, and pride yourself in that crisp and clear framed 8×10 sitting on your mantel.
Responses and Conversations
Gosh, I never understood before why some pics could be enlarged and some came out fuzzy!! Thank you so much and keep up the good work..I’m eager to learn more:)
Comment by Arlys on February 23rd, 2006 at 7:38 am
You may want to advocate the understanding of pixel dimensions as an indicator of image ‘quality’ or print acceptabilty/usabilty. In other words, change the thinking from “what resolution do I need to get a print that’s a certain size?” to “what is my camera capable of printing based on the pixel dimensions?”
It’s really just a way of thinking of the same information– but in a more useful way. Pixel dimensions tell you how much information is in an image right away. Physical dimensions only tell you how big the canvas is and are useless without knowing the image’s resolution. Resolution, which is only telling you how detailed the image will be, is useless without knowing how bit the canvas is.
Think of it this way, a 3000×2400 pixel shot is enough ‘information’ to get a good 8×10. (If you do the math, note that this does lead to a 300 ppi resolution- just do the math, 3000/10 = 300 pixels PER inch).
This math tells you what you already know, 300ppi will make for a pretty good print…but it also tells you that it really doesn’t matter then, what the physical dimensions are going to be, or what the resulting resolution will be at those physical dimensions (since the two are connected–you can’t ever create information you can only spread it out over larger or smaller physical dimensions). If you know what the -Pixel Dimensions- are. If you know the pixel dimensions (the amount of information in the image) and you can then figure out what a camera is capable of, simply based on the pixel dimensions.
Resolution is simply a measure of pixels per inch– it’s the ‘per inch’ part that ties it to physical dimensions. This is why most folks are convinced that the ‘best’ resolution is 300 pixels per inch– because at one point, for the physical size of the print they were making, 300 dpi provided enough information…but they remembered that number, kind of by wrote, without understanding what it was telling them.
There is no ‘best’ resolution. To seek that is to seek the answer to the wrong question…It’s more a matter of, do I have enough information (total pixels) to make a decent print. Pixel dimensions answer this question without even thinking about resolution– and pixel dimensions are usually quoted in any and all new camera reviews, so it makes it a black and white answer to ‘what’s the biggest print I can make with this camera?’
By the way, every inkjet printer has it’s own ‘native resolution’ so 300 dpi might not provide the best print. (Do a google search for native printer resolution) Many enthusiasts feel that the best prints are produced when you print at the printers native resolution– and that you should provide the printer with files that are at it’s native resolution to prevent letting the printer driver upsample the image.
Comment by Matt on March 3rd, 2006 at 7:17 pm
Matt – you hit the nail on the head. I once read an excellent article years back about how dpi and ppi minimums were often set without thought to the actual resolution of the output device. This was in a day and age when disk space was very expensive – we had just bought our first MO drive.
Anyhow – The calculations ended up being that for standard offset printing (which was 1500 dpi per plate) the best actual pixel representation you could get, considering halftone screen and such, was about 150 ppi. I used to work for the Orange County Register and we were stuck in the 90-95dpi range, being a newspaper.
Your comment about printing at the devices’ resolution is great, and definitely pans out. Since most people tend to use either inkjets or color lasers that aren’t calibrated, the reality is far worse with bleeding and shifting between different color passes taken into account. I once did an experiment with my folks printing an image at 300dpi and then at 150dpi and the color fidelity / pixel shape was much better at 150.
Still, with almost limitless storage space, I’d still rather shoot a high resolution image and resample it down to something more useful than to attempt to deal with an image that I shot at 640×480 on accident. But I definitely think you’re right that it’s important to understand how your output device (monitor, inkjet printer, TV screen) in very real ways affects how you shoot your pictures.
Comment by Chris Frazier on March 3rd, 2006 at 8:10 pm