New to Photography and to the forums.

[Weaving Wax]

Hello!

In late 2004 I received a HP Photosmart 735 digital camera to do Ebay with. I later took the camera and started doing actual photography with it. I've been going at it for about a year and a half now and I think I'm improving. Since it's a digital camera the only place I put my photos on is the internet, but printing is another story. My friend told me that my pictures are great, but the resolution is horrible and when I blow pictures up they get pixelated (spelling?). I have quite a few photos done in photoshop that have heavy editing and manipulation done to them. When I went to get them developed, the machine said the resolution was too low for a decent print. My question is, how do I get good resolution without having it take my pictures straight from the camera to the print machine? I'd like to get some of my photoshop work printed up as well. Any help is appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Big Mike]

Are you using the max size and resolution setting on your camera?

The max resolution on that camera is 2080 x 1542 pixels. Typically, the printers will want a file that is 300 pixels per inch (PPI). So that means your images should easily print at 6.9" x 5.1" (close enough to 5x7). So as long as you don't reduce the image size (in pixels) when you are working on it...the images should be OK to print at that size or smaller.

You can re-sample the image with Photoshop, to get a bigger image. You will lose quality but you should still be able to print an 8x10 image that looks good. To print an 8x10, you would want an image that is 2400 x 3000 pixels.

 

[Weaving Wax]

Thanks. I haven't been using the max resolution. My question now is, 2400 X 3000 pixels are quite big for putting it on DA or something...is there a way to resize without losing the resolution? Thanks!

 

[Big Mike]

Always shoot in MAX resolution and size. Buy more memory if need be.

2400 x 3000 pixels is for printing an 8x10. If you want to upload for viewing on the web, you should resize the image to less than 800 pixels wide. You should also set the JPEG compression to about half. This will give you a nice small file that is easy to upload and easy for people to view. Make sure you save this as a copy and don't overwrite the original file.