Megapixel Question

[brook]

I want to get the maximum resolution on my printer for 8x10 prints from digital photos. Since most home inkjet printers have a 300 dpi resolution shouldn't that dictate that I should be shooting my digital photos at around 4 megapixels?

[D60DIETER]

Hi,

depends on the quality you expect and on your PS Work.

If you like to print without upcalculating your picture than it´s 2400*3000 that means 7.2 MP. (This is then like a contact print).

On experience you can do an upsize from 4 MP up to 13"*19" using little patience in your PS.

Dieter

[justme_dc]

the question is not that simple. There are other issues like cropping. Sometimes to need the extra pixels. especially if you want to isolate a section of a photo later for enlargement.

[brook]

Good point but I was talking about the theoretical max resolution possible from a standard inkjet printer. To make an 8 X 10 contact print (1 for 1 ratio) then I would have to shoot at 7.2 megapixels. If they even have a 7.2 megapixel camera on the market I'm sure it would be out of my modest reach. I couldn't even imagine going higher than that.

[D60DIETER]

Hey,

come on!!! What about the 10D. It has 6,3MP. That ist so near by, so there isn´t any problem!!

I did some 20*30 of the D60 and they where excellent.

So a 8*10 is better than any analog picture (24/36) that you ever saw.

Dieter

[brook]

Thanks for the info. Just for curiousity, what format (in the camera) do you save your digital photos in? TIFF or JPG? I've been reading alot about the lossless advantages of TIFF but the file size is intimidating. My current practice is to shoot with the highest resolutiion possible, save it as a JPG, and then convert it to a PSD in PhotoShop.