Simplifying the Pixels and DPI's

When it comes to getting the printing done, there are a few things one should keep in mind to prevent wasting too much of quality photo paper, and the costly printing ink. We'll review a few basic terms related to digital photography and offer a few tips on getting the best prints.

Resolution

Resolution refers to the 'image-sharpness' of a document, and is usually measured in dots (or pixels) per inch (DPI). Depending on your particular needs, documents can be scanned at various resolutions. The higher the resolution of a document, greater the image-sharpness, and larger the file size will be.

Pixel

Pixel is short for 'Picture Element.' It is the smallest part of a digital image, and each image is comprised of thousands or millions of pixels. This basic unit, from which a video or computer picture is made, is essentially a dot with a given color and brightness value. The more pixels an image has, the higher the resolution of that image will be. One Mega pixel is equal to one million pixels.

JPEG

Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) is a standards committee that designed this image compression format. The compression format they designed is known as a 'lossy' compression, as it deletes information from an image that it considers unnecessary. JPEG files can range from small amounts of lossless compression to large amounts of lossy compression. This is a common standard on the World Wide Web,

When dealing with digital photography printing, you will mostly work with the JPEG file format. Remember that every time you open and save a JPEG file, you lose some of the image information. Therefore, it is advisable to do all the changes in one sitting, and then save them only once.

Resolution Guide to Quality Prints

The higher number of mega pixels a camera has, the more detail an image will retain when enlarged and/or printed.

• 1 to 2 Mega pixels

Cameras with this resolution range are sufficient for sending photos electronically via email, but are not ideal for printing photos. Most camera phones, PC camcorders, and PC cameras have a resolution in the 1 to 2 mega pixel range.

• 3 to 4 Mega pixels

Cameras with this resolution range are good for printing and retouching the standard 4x6 inch images.

• 5 to 6 Mega pixels

Cameras with this resolution range produce professional results when enlarging photos up to an 8x10 inch format.

• 7+ Mega pixels

Cameras with a resolution range of at least 7 mega pixels promise superior quality and detail when printing or enlarging photos beyond the 11x14 inch format.

Printing Paper

Needless to say, in the end, your prints will be only as good as the paper you use.

There are many new coated papers available on the market specifically for this purpose, and you should consider what is recommended for the printer you are using.

Regular color ink jet and laser printers are good for text and charts, but not always best for digital photography printing. Pict Bridge-enabled printers allow you to print your digital photographs directly from the camera. Portable printers, such as the HP Photo smart 320 series, allow you to take a picture and print 4x6 inch sized pictures anywhere on the move.

If you cannot get satisfactory results with your own digital photography printing, especially if you're printing larger than 8x10 inch sized images, you could try one of the brick-and-mortar, or even on line photo labs that make use of dedicated photo printers with excellent results.

Photo labs can easily handle digital files directly from your memory card. Take your digital camera, a homemade CD, or your camera's memory card along for professional quality digital photography printing.