Resolution for printing images

Hi All,

I'm trying to print an image to fit in a photo frame (to which I have added text).

I have set the image/canvass size to 6inches x 4inches. But the resolution has remained at 72 pixels/inch. I have had experiences in the past of images coming out very blurry and look rather pixelated - even though on the screen they look smooth.

Any ideas on what I could alter/change to help improve the print process?

Thanks!
Amnesia

Amnesia180 wrote in post #11365527
Hi All,

I'm trying to print an image to fit in a photo frame (to which I have added text).

I have set the image/canvass size to 6inches x 4inches. But the resolution has remained at 72 pixels/inch. I have had experiences in the past of images coming out very blurry and look rather pixelated - even though on the screen they look smooth.

Any ideas on what I could alter/change to help improve the print process?

Thanks!
Amnesia

Depending on the software you are using, when you set the image size to 4x6 you should set the ppi to a high quality -- say, 300 ppi. It's pretty easy to do in any app. Are using PS or Elements or ??

300ppi

It really depends on the printer or lab. My printer uses 360ppi/720ppi depending on settings, so I resize accordingly. To be honest, I never use the 720ppi setting.

If you resize to 300ppi and your printer requires 360ppi, then the printer driver will resize the image again to 360ppi. I'd rather have control over the entire process, so I resize to what the printer driver asks for.

Of course, if you're happy with the results then use whatever works.

What make of printer are you using?

Thanks for all the replies.

I've using the instant print facilities at my local Asda.

It was just a picture of me and my partner from our recent holiday, and I had put a caption on it to put ont he front of our album. She wants to do something similar for her mother at Christmas but the quality was very poor. The writing and pictrue came out very pixelated as though it had been enlarged considerably. (When in actual fact, it was made smaller). The image on the screen looked crystal clear.

I guess it will be trial and error...

as mentioned, 300ppi (pixels per inch) will print fine.
so, for 4" x 6" print your image should 1200 pixels x 1800 pixels. 1200x1800 = 2.16 mega pixels (2.16MP). if your original image was smaller than this then it likely needs to be printed smaller to avoid "pixelation."

Keep in mind that the OP is adding text to the image. Likely, whatever image editing software is being used will alias the text so it looks smooth.

If you do this on a 300ppi image and the lab requires something else, then it's going to get resized and the text will be plagued with artifacts and not look smooth (assuming the text is rasterized before the resize).

Amnesia180 - you should ask the folks at your Asda what PPI they want and target that first before adding any text.