Tara Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 I am really confused about size and I am having a really hard time figuring it out. I use Elements 5.0 and I have a 6.0 mp camera. If I were to open a picture in Elements and ask it to print with out resizing it first (which I know I would never want to do) why does it say that it will print in quality less than 220pi? If that is the actual size of the picture, why would the quality be bad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daisies803 Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 I have PSE 5 (and a 6 mp camera) as well but the only time I print my photos from the program is if they are on a scrapbook layout. (I use another program to print photos only). But, I think - don't quote me on this - that cameras change the pictures to 72 dpi once they are moved to the computer for storage. I have noticed that when I am working on editing a photo in elements that the information line towards the bottom of the screen show 72 dpi. I think you can resize the picture and just change the dpi level. Maybe that will work. I'll have to try it as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda Peters Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 I have PSE 5 (and a 6 mp camera) as well but the only time I print my photos from the program is if they are on a scrapbook layout. (I use another program to print photos only). But, I think - don't quote me on this - that cameras change the pictures to 72 dpi once they are moved to the computer for storage. I have noticed that when I am working on editing a photo in elements that the information line towards the bottom of the screen show 72 dpi. I think you can resize the picture and just change the dpi level. Maybe that will work. I'll have to try it as well. Yes I think you're right Daisies. Every time I upload pics to my PC from my camera, it changes the dpi to 72 but the size of the picture is huge. Tara.... I'm no expert but I always decrease the size of my pic (since it starts out on the pc so huge) and I always increase the dpi from 72 to 300. You should never increase the actual size from the original because it will decrease the quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betsy Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 Right, the camera shoots in 72 dpi, but like 26 inches wide by 32 inches high or something that seems ridiculously large. But at 300 DPI, that thanslates to like 8x10 or whatever. It's just a matter of mathemetics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest siraacsa Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 Here is a link to another thread that discussed this topic and a chart that explains the relationship between dpi and print size. http://scrapgirls.com.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=8564 And welcome to the Message board and Scrapgirls Tara. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tara Posted April 22, 2007 Author Share Posted April 22, 2007 Thank you everyone! I think I understand now. I think my confusion mainly comes from the merchant that I bought the camera from telling me that I would be able to print 16x20 prints. Now I am understanding that a 8x10 is about as big as I am going to be able to print at 300 dpi. The chart that I found on the thread was very helpful in understanding all of this! Thanks for that, Siraaca! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManiakMama Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 I always change my Image Size to 300 dpi before moving it onto my LO in PSE 5. I actually use my HP software that is for my printer when I want to print individual prints. I've never had a problem printing an 8x10 that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawn51 Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 I have been wondering about the same thing. I changed my camera to fine instead of better in picture taking, but it still says 72 dpi on the pictures in elements. I wondered if there was something you could do to make them be automatically 300 dpi so you don't have to change them all the time. I just assumed when you changed to a better picture quality it would do it automatically. dawn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shari PV Mom Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 I'm not sure you can have it automatically change for you. I know I have to change my image size on my photos whenever I use them in a LO. About the print size though, I changed an image to 300 dpi once, uploaded it to Costco.com and had them make a poster for me (I think it was 18 x 24 or something - a little larger than a 16 x 20) and it came out fine. I didn't notice any graininess (is that a word?) at all. I'm not sure it would look great on photo quality paper but as a poster for my kid's room it worked just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shari PV Mom Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 Oh, and welcome to SG Tara! You're going to love it here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troush Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 You've got some great info on the PPI stuff - go with that. One thing about printing for a 16 x 20 - is usually you don't view it as closely as a 4 x 6. A 16 x 20 is poster size, so you have to stand back 4 or 6 feet to see the whole thing. So, you can print at 150 ppi or 220 and have it still look great at the proper viewing distance. But, an 8x10 or 4x6 you're going to hold at arm's length, so you need the ppi squished closer together for a "good" print. -Trish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda Peters Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 I have been wondering about the same thing. I changed my camera to fine instead of better in picture taking, but it still says 72 dpi on the pictures in elements. I wondered if there was something you could do to make them be automatically 300 dpi so you don't have to change them all the time. I just assumed when you changed to a better picture quality it would do it automatically. dawn Here's something I found on Scrapgirls.com. 72 dpi? 200 dpi? 300 dpi? What is resolution size all about and why is it important? Can you just change the dpi setting to 300 and get good quality printable results? Ro's answer : You may change the dpi setting at will, but if the original dpi information was 72 dpi or 200 dpi, raising the number to 300 dpi just splits the existing dots into smaller pieces and if the computer doesn't know what to do, it guesses. You will not get the increased color variations that can be found when a file was originated at 300 dpi. Remember, dpi is a means for computers to communicate file information with each other and so dpi is is really a mathematical formula. Your computer can't invent information that wasn't there originally so it will try to guess what it should do and the results you will see will usually be disappointing. Typical outcomes include blurry contours and "pixilated" images. (Pixilated means visually seeing tiny squares on your image). My take on this: So if you change a low dpi setting to 300... you must ALSO decrease the actual size of your image in order to avoide getting a pixilated image. I don't know how else to explain this except by saying... you're not just splitting the dots into smaller pieces... you're compacting them into a smaller area as well. Thus... an image that isn't blurry or pixilated. So the bigger your original is (after you upload from your camera to your pc) the larger higher quality print you can end up with after resizing. This link was already provided in this thread but it has an excelent chart at the bottom of the page that you can use as a guide when resizing your photos. Megapixels vs. Maximum Print Size Chart Hope I helped with the confusion instead of adding to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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