Print Size

solrac8126 · Mar 5, 2008

Hello everyone... i just wanted to know the smallest picture size that can be use to print a 4*6 picture.

I;m Asking this cuz i recently shoot a birthday and i want to post the pictures on a website, but i don't want them to print the pictures, at least not acceptable on IQ.

astrostu · Mar 5, 2008

People usually say 150 ppi is the minimum resolution for decent photos. That's 600x900 px.

Big Mike · Mar 5, 2008

The problem is that 'they' might not know or care about the minimum resolution...they might just copy them and print them anyway...and if they look terrible, they will tell people it's because of you

How about putting a watermark on them?

EOS_JD · Mar 5, 2008

Mike is spot on. A friend of mine took some 600x400 pixel images and created perfectly acceptable 6x4s. I didn't mind here though as I was giving him larger prints anyway but it made me think!

I don't copyright yet but think I will.

djrichie28 · Mar 5, 2008

Big Mike said:
The problem is that 'they' might not know or care about the minimum resolution...they might just copy them and print them anyway...and if they look terrible, they will tell people it's because of you

Totally agree with this. It could make people think you take bad photos.

This issue was also discussed in a photography class I attended and the instructor told us about photo album software that will easily display all your photos on a website by generating the code automatically for you, and the pictures cannot be copied, therefore, cannot be printed. The instructor said he uses this method to send proofs to clients. check out www.jalbum.net to download the software. It's free.

I have not tried it personally, but was told it was useful for your exact situation. The albums look really cool too.

bhop · Mar 5, 2008

I notice you have a flickr link as your sig.. if that's the site you're talking about, you can set it up so that your photos can't be downloaded.

~Stella~ · Mar 5, 2008

EOS_JD said:
I don't copyright yet but think I will.

You already do. Assuming you are in the US, you own the copyright simply by creating the art. You need not file anything or mark the images copyrighted, though you certainly can if you so desire.

AussieTimmeh · Mar 5, 2008

Where there is a will, there is a way though. Anyone can take screendumps and crop them down and print them off if they really want to. But in saying that, most people won't bother, so it'll keep most people from doing it.

I really dislike huge watermarks that really detract from the photo, but if it's your business, you have to stop theft (which is what I would argue it is in a business sense) somehow.

Timmeh

MX962 · Mar 5, 2008

Big Mike said:
The problem is that 'they' might not know or care about the minimum resolution...they might just copy them and print them anyway...and if they look terrible, they will tell people it's because of you

How about putting a watermark on them?

Exactly I had a customer try to print from walmart off a small res.cd she was pissed how they looked at 8x10 lol she complained to walmart then they looked at them and asked her are those pro proofs she said yes so they swiped them from her she was so mad ha. some people .

I say stamp PROOF across them semi transparent like and be done with the theives

solrac8126 · Mar 6, 2008

Big Mike said:
The problem is that 'they' might not know or care about the minimum resolution...they might just copy them and print them anyway...and if they look terrible, they will tell people it's because of you

How about putting a watermark on them?

mmm i never thought that...

let me see what i do...
most of the people also asked me... hey give me your email so you can send me the pictures....

sabbath999 · Mar 6, 2008

djrichie28 said:
Totally agree with this. It could make people think you take bad photos.

This issue was also discussed in a photography class I attended and the instructor told us about photo album software that will easily display all your photos on a website by generating the code automatically for you, and the pictures cannot be copied, therefore, cannot be printed. The instructor said he uses this method to send proofs to clients. check out www.jalbum.net to download the software. It's free.

I have not tried it personally, but was told it was useful for your exact situation. The albums look really cool too.

Cannot be copied? Oh my, is he ever mistaken. If anybody cares to test me on this, show me one of your pictures and give me permission to post it here

solrac8126 · Mar 6, 2008

thanx again...
I think i'm going with a watermark, hehe i don't know how big, let's see how it works
:wink:

Neuner · Mar 6, 2008

bhop said:
you can set it up so that your photos can't be downloaded.

Only for someone who doesn't know much about computers. If it's on your screen, then it's in your computer and you can take it.

djrichie28 · Mar 6, 2008

If you do take the picture from it appearing on your screen then you may understand if the quality is bad. If you right-click to save and then print a low quality image, you would blame the photographer which is really what the point is to this thread is all about.

Sabbath999 - I did mention that I have not personally tried this software, so I'm not entirely sure if I am 'ever mistaken', perhaps misinformed. But I did offer this idea to Solrac8126 so they could have an alternative to people downloading original copies. This software will produce an obvious compressed display of the pictures and if anyone were to figure a way to copy them they would understand if the quality wasn't perfect. But if solrac8126 were to post these pictures with the ability to right click after they resampled them to low-quality (to prevent people from printing), it might make they look bad as a photographer.

Many of us know that anyone who knows about computers can steal a picture from the screen, but we would understand why the quality wasn't original.

Neuner · Mar 6, 2008

djrichie28 said:
If you right-click to save and then print a low quality image,

Uh, that's one of the amateur methods but there's many other methods out there. To protect yourself I think you should become aware of what some are doing by hanging around a couple of hacker forums. This is what I've done which has drawn me to the conclusion that if you don't want it stolen, don't post it on the internet. If you do want to post and want to 'try' and keep it protected, then I believe watermarking is the best thing at this time.