What size for prints.

[Kayleigh]

I want to print some of my shots onto A4, what size should I resize the shots in pixels in elements.

Cheers Elaine.

[artdemole]

2480 x 3508 at 200 dpi

1240 x 1754 at 150dpi

[shenk1]

Are you printing on your own printer?

If you are then you just need to tell the printer to print A4 size and it should resize it automatically without need for you to do it.

I don't print much but I remember doing an A4 size picture of Whitby on our last printer and you just had to tell it the size of print you needed (I know I didn't resize the pic as I didn't know how at the time)

[JennyS]

300 dpi would give better quality, and is the normal print resolution:

A4 = 210mm x 297mm so that's 2480 X 3508 pixels at 300 dpi

[John D]

Originally Posted by shenk1

Are you printing on your own printer?

If you are then you just need to tell the printer to print A4 size and it should resize it automatically without need for you to do it.

I don't print much but I remember doing an A4 size picture of Whitby on our last printer and you just had to tell it the size of print you needed (I know I didn't resize the pic as I didn't know how at the time)

It may 'automatically' print out at A4 but to obtain a 'quality' print it will be necessary to set to obtain the preferable 'dots per inch' (DPI) . For a good quality print set the DPI from 240 to 300DPI. 300DPI being the ideal as Jenny has said.

John D
Zenfolio | John's Wild World

[Kayleigh]

Thank you,
I used elements 8 and it has different sizes you select I have printed a few shots off and they look great..

Cheers everyone x

[Geoff F]

Some printing shops insist on 300 ppi but in reality 240 will print just as well. In fact on many papers you can't see any difference between 200 and 300 ppi.

Are you printing a full A4 sheet, edge to edge or do you need a border? Some printers can't print full width. And if you are placing it into a frame would you prefer to have a bit of an edge 'mat' between the image and frame?

The basic maths are simple, required print size in inches x ppi resolution gives the number of pixels. There is an alternative if working in metric.

One thing to watch however is if your shot is at 3 x 2 ratio then A4 doesn't exactly match so a bit of cropping will be needed. Not difficult but requires a little thought.

I sometimes measure it out on a piece of paper just to be certain of my calculations.

[Kayleigh]

The elements print set up lets you see the what the final print will look like and if I resize the image to 800x533 then it fits with a small border.

[artdemole]

Glad you have all the answers needed.Most of Googling will also have similar answers.Have 2 printers Kodak and an Epson.Both will print borderless if clicked on to do so.Changing the size in programes even free programes will not reduce color.

[JennyS]

Hi Kayleigh,

if I resize the image to 800x533 then it fits with a small border.

800 x 533 pixels does give you 11.1 x 7.4 inches (or 282 x 188 mm) but only at a resolution of 72 dpi - while that will look fine when you're previewing it on screen it won't look good when printed.

As you've got a good camera it seems a shame not to get the best possible from it when printing!
Rough guide to this 'resolution' thing:
72 dpi = screen resolution
300 dpi = print resolution

Hope this helps,
Jenny