For the sake of simplicity............

[Photovision]

if a photo shows good detail as wallpaper on the desktop, is it safe to assume that it will print out as a "good" photo of equal size? Meaning,that as a rule of thumb (disregarding MP calculations) etc., is this an accurate way of estimating how the print will turn out?(on a decent photo printer)

 

[celery]

Possibly.

But there are things to consider.

15 inch monitor is probably 800 x 600 resolution, 17 inch monitor will be 1024 x768 resolution and 21 inch monitors usually are 1660 x 1280 resolution.

You can get a decent print out of those resolutions, but also depends on the dpi and size you want to print. 800 x 600 is fine if you want to print a 4 x 6 picture, but not a 15 x 15 inch picture.

So . . . you're better off checking a few things.

1. Resolution.

2. dpi.

3. Original image size. (a 1 x 1 inch picture won't enlarge to a 20 x 20).

 

[jstuedle]

Your monitor displays a nice image at about 72 DPI. To print a very nice image, most print at 300 DPI, an OK print is about 150 DPI. One reason for the difference is the viewing distance for the print can be much closer, another is the monitor has an output of light, the print is viewed with reflected light. The monitors output lets pixels "blend" with the glare of its light. Hope this helps a little.