Upload Size, and DPI, PPI

zacker · January 31, 2006

I have been fighting with the whole crop thing when ordering prints, i'd like my customers to be able to "pick" almost any size print and not have to crop it. I wish I knew this before i uploaded all my images as now i think (fear) i will have to re-do all of them. What is the best size to upload? 8x12, 16x 24, or 20x30? I think 20x30 is to big so if i upload a 8x12 will it still look good when blown up to 20x30? I have an 8MP camera and usually upload a 300DPI image. it seems 8x10 would be a great size to upload, it will load faster and take less server space but can it be blown up to 20x30?
Thanks!
-zacker-

Andy · January 31, 2006

zacker wrote:

I have been fighting with the whole crop thing when ordering prints, i'd like my customers to be able to "pick" almost any size print and not have to crop it. I wish I knew this before i uploaded all my images as now i think (fear) i will have to re-do all of them. What is the best size to upload? 8x12, 16x 24, or 20x30? I think 20x30 is to big so if i upload a 8x12 will it still look good when blown up to 20x30? I have an 8MP camera and usually upload a 300DPI image. it seems 8x10 would be a great size to upload, it will load faster and take less server space but can it be blown up to 20x30?
Thanks!
-zacker-

Hi Zacker

welcome to Dgrin! The best thing to do is upload as many pixels as you can. Ignore DPI. Upload at your camera's native size (8mpx), and save at photoshop 10 (which is considered to be Lab Quality). You can use 11 if you feel it's necessary. I suggest that you do not crop on your end. Allow breathing room as you shoot, so that customers can order 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, 16x20 etc. Our lab will upres as needed.

Much more info is available here:

http://www.smugmug.com/help/print-quality

And some cropping examples:
http://www.smugmug.com/prints/5x7-prints
http://www.smugmug.com/prints/8x10-prints
http://www.smugmug.com/prints/11x14-prints
http://www.smugmug.com/prints/16x20-prints

I hope this helps!

zacker · January 31, 2006

Andy wrote:

Hi Zacker

welcome to Dgrin! The best thing to do is upload as many pixels as you can. Ignore DPI. Upload at your camera's native size (8mpx), and save at photoshop 10 (which is considered to be Lab Quality). You can use 11 if you feel it's necessary. I suggest that you do not crop on your end. Allow breathing room as you shoot, so that customers can order 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, 16x20 etc. Our lab will upres as needed.

Much more info is available here:

http://www.smugmug.com/help/print-quality

And some cropping examples:
http://www.smugmug.com/prints/5x7-prints
http://www.smugmug.com/prints/8x10-prints
http://www.smugmug.com/prints/11x14-prints
http://www.smugmug.com/prints/16x20-prints

I hope this helps!

Hi Andy. Thanks for the advice.. So, I upload (and save as) an 8 MPX Jpeg at what ever the orig. file was? wont that be a huge file to upload? also, i use PSCS2, so when i save as jpeg i should use a 10 compression size? Hmmmm. The biggest problem is my signature. i like it to be in the lower right corner of my pics. this is usually the victem of the cropping, usually half of it gets cropped away. I would like all my shots to have the sig. on it if possible. If i do the native sized thing, will i be able to keep the sig in the corner?
Thanks for the welcome to!
-zacker-

Andy · January 31, 2006

zacker wrote:

Hi Andy. Thanks for the advice.. So, I upload (and save as) an 8 MPX Jpeg at what ever the orig. file was? wont that be a huge file to upload? also, i use PSCS2, so when i save as jpeg i should use a 10 compression size? Hmmmm. The biggest problem is my signature. i like it to be in the lower right corner of my pics. this is usually the victem of the cropping, usually half of it gets cropped away. I would like all my shots to have the sig. on it if possible. If i do the native sized thing, will i be able to keep the sig in the corner?
Thanks for the welcome to!
-zacker-

Yes, upload at the full 8mpx native resolution. Save as in PS CS2 at 10. Huge? No. A 20D file will typically be in the 2-3mb range at level 10.

You can sure keep your signature in the corner!

zacker · January 31, 2006

Re

Andy wrote:

Yes, upload at the full 8mpx native resolution. Save as in PS CS2 at 10. Huge? No. A 20D file will typically be in the 2-3mb range at level 10.

You can sure keep your signature in the corner!

Awesome!:D Thanks Andy! Too bad I didnt realize this before I uploaded all the pics....It's going to be a busy weekend....:cry

-zacker-

mercphoto · January 31, 2006

zacker wrote:

Hi Andy. Thanks for the advice.. So, I upload (and save as) an 8 MPX Jpeg at what ever the orig. file was? wont that be a huge file to upload?

My 20D makes approximagely 2.5M JPG's and takes cable modem about 1:15 to load. Not fun, but I wouldn't call it huge either. But, huge is in the eye of the beholder, or something like that.

The short answer to your question about size is to completely get the DPI of the image out of your mind. It is irrelevant and meaningless. Spend no more time worrying about DPI. Only worry about pixel count. Send up to Smugmug the native size of your camera and call it a day. For my 20D that is 8.2MP. And it is capable of beautiful 20x30 images even though technically its "only" about 100dpi. No biggie.

To answer the problem with a signature being in one corner of an image and the problem of cropping for various print sizes there is no easy answer to that problem. It would take the entire framing industry to abandon their 4:5 ratio frames and only sell 2:3 ratio frames so that people bought 8x12's instead of 8x10's and that is not going to happen. I have a Photoshop action that puts a copyright notice in the bottom right of each of my pictures. I try to position that so that a typical 8x10 crop still keeps the sig. Unfortunately this means its inward a bit on a 4x6 or 5x7 print. Such is life.

zacker · January 31, 2006

mercphoto wrote:

The short answer to your question about size is to completely get the DPI of the image out of your mind. It is irrelevant and meaningless. Spend no more time worrying about DPI. Only worry about pixel count.

I thought i read somewhere that 300 DPI is best for optimal prints? If thats the case than shouldnt i use it? if not..that would also be cool, ..(smaller size) if 100 DPI is about the same, then ill roll with that!
Thanks!
-zacker-

mercphoto · January 31, 2006

zacker wrote:

I thought i read somewhere that 300 DPI is best for optimal prints? If thats the case than shouldnt i use it? if not..that would also be cool, ..(smaller size) if 100 DPI is about the same, then ill roll with that!

The people who say that are usually people who either:

1) don't know any better
2) are talking about printing from home rather than printing at a lab.

If you are printing at home then the DPI becomes important. Printing at a lab, however, is different. The lab will re-interpolate your image to the native size of that particular printer for you, and do so with software that is better than you are likely to have at your disposal. (For that matter you can buy "RIP" software for your home printer to do the same thing, but it is not cheap).

Lastly, those who talk about re-sizing images before sending to a lab often have no clue whatsoever what the native DPI is for the printer their lab uses. Don't feel bad, I know working professionals who don't realize this. Think of it this way, if your starting image is 175dpi for a 16x20 print (totally made up example here) and you re-size it to 300dpi before sending to your lab, what if your lab's printer has a native resolution of 275dpi? Then it re-interpolates your interpolation. There is obviously little point in doing this.

I briefly worked with a professional youth sports photographer in town who resized EVERY ORDER to 300dpi before sending to the lab. This included 4x6's even. A complete waste of time. And he wonders why he works 120 hours a week during football season...

zacker · January 31, 2006

re
Cooool... So even uploaded at 100 DPI is fine huh...good to know! For now im going through my site and re sizing the pics and cropping out my sig. beats printing a shot with half a name on it..no?
lol
thanks a bunch guys!
-zacker-

mercphoto · January 31, 2006

zacker wrote:

Cooool... So even uploaded at 100 DPI is fine huh...

The only thing that matters is the number of pixels. A 4x6 JPG at 600 dpi is no different whatsoever than an 8x12 JPG at 300 dpi. Its the very same amount of information. They are both (roughly) 8 million pixels worth of information.

Upload Size, and DPI, PPI

Comments