How many pixels for photo ???

[Mike]

Originally Posted by SMHarman

A rule of thumb is
6x4 = 2mp
7x5 = 3mp
8x10 = 4mp
and so on. These are minimums to get a 300dpi image at those levels. That means no cropping or anything else.
6mp is about where you need to be. You just need a better storage location or two.

I have taken this advice and just brought one of these !!!

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx...ationKey=50683

Mike

[altis]

I'm glad that someone actually reads my stuff - thanks!

[andygrif]

Originally Posted by Mike

Hi all

Are there set recommendations for how many pixels make a good quality photo. Reason being my camera is set to 6 millon pixels and is filling up my pc pretty quick. As I only normally print maximum size 8" x 10" would a lower setting still give the same results.

Many thanks for your time.

Mike

A 6mp camera has an output of approx 2000x3000, give or take a couple of hundred. At 300dpi 2000x3000 pixles equates to approx 6x10 inches. Most digital cameras output 1:1.5 ratio so probably not 8x10"s more likely to be 8x12 inches.

You can probably drop the dpi down to increase the print size quite comfortably to about 150-200 without any major loss of quality, but of course once you've got rid of it, you can get it back, so backing up your camera's memory card to a CD-ROM when you transfer your images to your computer and start editing them is a good practice. Personally I would not start changing the DPI on any originals.

Also, you should consider what you're using the photos for, if you're only ever going to look at them on your computer screen then the max you'll need is 96dpi, but for printing 300dpi is recommended. You do not need more than 300dpi.

[SMHarman]

Originally Posted by Hom3r

some of my pic in 10meg are 6.5MB

That is because if the camera has converted them to a JPEG file which is a compressed file. If you could save them as RAW data which is the actual information captured by the CCD you would find much bigger files.

[andygrif]

Originally Posted by Hom3r

some of my pic in 10meg are 6.5MB

If you're saving as JPEG then the size of the file will vary according to what's in the picture. For example if you take a photo of a pure white light with just a little detail in the bottom left of the frame then the image will be much smaller in file size than if you take a complex landscape with losts of colour and detail. It's just the way JPEG compression works by discarding pixels that are similar to the ones next to it. The more it thinks it can throw away, the smaller the file size.