"How To" Guides > Printing Images
Printing Quality Photo and Document Digital Images
Printer Pixel Resolution Requirements for Families and Local Historical Societies
If you explore the websites of multiple printers, photographers, and other image related sites, you will see that printing resolution recommendations vary widely. This is the case since prints are produced for different purposes, and resolution quality varies in importance to each purpose. 4" x 6" family trip photos serve one purpose, while a dramatic sunset with subtle color hue variations needs to meet a different printing standard in order to be enlarged and framed.
For a vast majority of family and community historical society projects, printed image resolutions well below 300 PPI professional quality is perfectly acceptable. A quality representation of the image information we are seeking to preserve and share is our objective, and this can normally be accomplished with print resolutions in the range of 150+ PPI.
It is also useful to understand that as the size of the enlargement increases, the pixel resolution needed for acceptable viewing decreases. This is the case since we normally view larger prints at a greater distance, and at this greater distance, our eyes are not as discerning. Therefore, most online printers will accept orders for larger dimension prints (greater than 8" x 10") that will result in pixels per inch of less than 100 PPI.
The nature of the image and quality of the original print both have an impact on the results of these enlargements, since blemishes and quality shortcomings are magnified in larger prints. Therefore, when you intend to print quantities of images at pixels dimensions of less than 150 PPI, or you are printing enlargements, you should test some images at your planned PPI to make sure that they are satisfactory for your particular project.
Online Printer Resolution Recommendations
The recommendations of large online printers are
useful to consider. These online printers have established their
published resolution minimum standards based on their expertise, and these standards are
supported by customer satisfaction experience. Online printers can not afford a high rate of returns. Therefore, their
published minimum standards have been found satisfactory to a
majority of their customers. On the next page, we compare the
minimum resolution standards of
Shutterfly.com
and Snapfish.com by HP
.
