HEEELP !!!!!

[dujie]

I have a G3 and just love it. However lately I have becone increasingly frustrated. Some of my photos look grainy and the prints just stink. What could it be?

I am trying to print 4 x 6 and 5 x 7's. Is it my resolution and compression?

Dazed and confused,

Dujie

[gandini]

You may be frustrated due to a lack of response, so here's one. I don't print photos so I can only be of limited use, but reading "is it resolution and compression" I wonder if you are using the largest images (pixel dimension) and lowest JPG compression settings when saving images to print? Many printing programs allow you to print TIF files, which do not require compression.
Also remember that you should be allocating about 200 pixels to each inch of print (200 ppi) and then printing with a relatively high quality printer that probably allocates 600 dots to each inch (600 dpi) when printing. Within reason, it's the ppi that determines what your prints look like rather than dpi.
There's no doubt though that a G3 is capable of making images that will print at the sizes you mention with photo quality.

cheers,

[PacAce]

What resolution setting are you using? I'd recommend at least a "M"edium and "S"uperfine if shooting in JPEG mode. If you process your shots with a photo editor before printing, don't crop or resize down too much because you'll lose some resolution that way, too.

Also, check your ISO setting. At or above ISO 400, grain (or noise) may be noticeable, especially of shots taken in low light conditions.

[dujie]

I really dont remember off hand but I will check and get back to you tomorrow. I do know that one of my settings is set with an ISO of 400. We went to a water park and it had low lighting. Those images and others I have taken, which are grainy, had the ISO at 400.

[lasercomp]

dujie wrote:
I really dont remember off hand but I will check and get back to you tomorrow. I do know that one of my settings is set with an ISO of 400. We went to a water park and it had low lighting. Those images and others I have taken, which are grainy, had the ISO at 400.




Thats the problem right there. When the ISO is at 400, the quality of the photo degrades due to noise. Try taking pictures at ISO 50. The noise (grainy) will be gone.

[dujie]

Thanks for your help.