Montclairphoto Home Page
Montclair Photo
A digital image is a rectangle made up of many small squares of color called pixels.  
The number of pixels across the width and height of the image is called the
resolution. An image with 640 pixels across the width and 480 pixels high has a
resolution of 640x480.  The more pixels in the image file, the higher the resolution.  
The larger the file resolution, the fewer images that will fit on your camera memory
card. Commonly the size of a digital camera image is proportionate to a 4x5.3 not a
4x6.

We can make any size of prints from almost any image resolution.  But the print
quality may not be acceptable when we make too large of prints from smaller image
files.  Please refer to the tables below to see if your image sizes are big enough for
the print size.

Resolution Table

The table below shows you the recommended print resolutions for different print
sizes from your digital camera (72 dpi). These are only guidelines and there are
always other factors which can affect the quality of your photos. Any print size above
the "Some Pixelation Will Occur" field will have extreme pixelation. TIP: When taking
photos, always set your digital camera to the highest resolution possible. This will
help to ensure that your prints will look nice. Also indoors always use a flash.

Scanning Images
The table below shows you what resolution you need to scan your picture and  
quality output  of your print. The following equation can serve as a guide to help you
determine the quality you may expect. Our digital printers, Frontier 370 and Noritsu
3212, print high quality laser sharp at 300 dpi. Photos are much sharper than any
inkjet printer can print.

Find your print size: [resolution]/300 dpi = print size in inches.

example: a 1200x1800 resolution image will give you a high quality 4x6 print.

1200/300 = 4 inches and 1800/300 = 6 inches

If you have a 4x6 print and want to make an 8x12 print, you must scan the 4x6 print at
a much higher resolution ( at 600) in order to get a high quality print. Now any
alteration can be made to the image digitally. Try not to compress your image too
much when saving. Tiff files are uncompressed. JPEG files have different levels of
compression. We can also print any custom print size.
How big can I print from my digital images?
MegaPixel Size
Image Resolution
Outstanding Print
* fine compression
Very Good Print
Fair Print
1
480 x 640
- - - -
Wallets
Up to 4x6
1.2
768 x 1024
Wallets
Up to 4x6
Up to 5x7
1.5
1024 x 1280
Up to 3x5
Up to 5x7
Up to 8x10
2
1200 x 1600
Up to 4x6
Up to 8x10
Up to 10x15
3
1536 x 2048
Up to 5x7
Up to 8x12
Up to 12x18
4
1800 x 2400
Up to 6x9
Up to 11x14
Up to 16x20
5
1932 x 2580
Up to 6x9
Up to 12x18
Up to 16x24
6
2016 x 3040
Up to 8x10
Up to 12x18
Up to 20x30
7.1
2304 x 3072
Up to 8x10
Up to 16x24
Up to 24x36
8.3
2336 x 3504
Up to 10x15
Up to 20x30
Up to 30x40
10.2
2592 x 3872
Up to 11x14
Up to 24x30
Up to 30x40
10.9
2704 x 4060
Up to 11x14
Up to 24x36
Up to 36x48
16.6
3328 x 4992
Up to 12x18
Up to 36x48
Up to 48x64
How large should I scan my pictures?
Original Picture
Size to Scan
Print Size you
want to Print
Great Print
Scan
Very Good Print
Scan
Fair Print
Scan
4x6 or 5x7
4x6, 5x7
300 dpi
200 dpi
150 dpi
4x6 or 5x7
8x10, 11x14
600 dpi
300 dpi
150 dpi
4x6 or 5x7
16x20, 18x24, 20x30
1200 dpi
600 dpi
300 dpi
8x10 or 11x14
4x6, 5x7
150 dpi
100 dpi
72 dpi
8x10 or 11x14
8x10, 11x14
300 dpi
150 dpi
100 dpi
8x10 or 11x14
16x20, 18x24, 20x30
600 dpi
300 dpi
150 dpi
Our Frontier print sizes are set slightly above 300 dpi:
size    -     pixels
3.5x5 - 1050x1524
4x5.4 - 1228x1654
4x6 - 1228x1818
5x7 - 1524x2138
8x10 - 2436x3036
8x12 - 2434x3638
10x15 - 3036x4536

*The Frontier prints full bleed.  Using the Frontier print sizes when cropping in Photoshop will give you
more of the image.  You will only lose up to 1/16th on an inch all the way around.  Cropping to a standard
size in Photoshop (like 4x6) you will lose up to 1/8th of an inch.
This chart will roughly give you an estimate number of images you can take on your digital media card.
NOTE: This chart only goes to 1 GB.  Multiply that number by the size of your card.  
When Quality Counts...

Montclair Photo Home Page