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Picture Quality: Printer Or Camera


fran

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I have a very modest digi camera and I have a regular ink jet printer. I am finding that my pictures are very grainy. I have tried changing the ppi before I print and not much difference. My question is, what makes the most impact on the final print of the picture, the camera or the printer? Which one should I invest in first?
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For me I would say a bit of both... If you don't have a good quality camera your photo's will never turn out great, but not having a good printer will mean you loose a lot of quality during the progress.

For me personally I would invest in a at least 4 MegaPixel camera with a good lens ( they aren't that expensive anymore : I have a Kodak Easy Share) and then invest in a photo printer. If you don't aim for a wide printer but a regular size printer the prizes are very good. I have a HP 7760 photo printer and I adore the photo's I get from this printer! Most important is that you get yourself a photoprinter instead of a regular one.

HTH a bit :)
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I too think it is a bit of both, however there are a couple of things you can check to make sure you are getting the most out of what you have right now.

Set your camera on the HIGEST quality possible, this is very important if you plan on enlarging. You will be able to take FEWER pictures on your card, so either download more often or pick up another card, they have come down in price significantly.

Make sure you use the ink and PAPER made for your printer, it makes a huge difference.

You can get a great Cannon photo printer for around $100. We got one for my daughter and after the "rebate" it was $70

Good luck
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Guest gdsjoy
Can never go wrong with a Kodak digital!!! Everyone I know prefers them and they always come out great. And besides, you can order your prints through sam's or wherever until you can afford to replace the printer. What dpi do you print at? It could just be the camera. My mil tried a cheap camera with a high megapixel and could never get it to print out good pics. Went to a kodak, same printer and aoas.....perfect pics!
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[quote name='fran' date='Mar 25 2006, 09:52 PM']I have tried changing the ppi before I print and not much difference.   
[right][post="37774"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]

Just for clarification, you're not creating your layout at a low (72) ppi and then changing it up (300) after you're done, are you? Cause if you are, that won't work. If your computer only puts 72 pixels in an inch, and then after the fact you tell it to put 300 in that inch, it sorta "guesses" what the other 228 pixels should be so it won't be clear.
Lori
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Wow, a lot to consider. So I get this right. I can:

1. Set my camera to a higher setting or buy a new camera
2. Use the right paper, if not get a new printer (which I can't wait to do)
3. Have the right settings on my computer

I know how to go about the first two, however I am sooooo confused about the dpi settings on my computer. I have tried to change them from 72 to 300 like Lori mentioned and yes, they are not turning out at all. How do I fix that?
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[quote name='fran' date='Mar 27 2006, 09:04 AM']  I have tried to change them from 72 to 300 like Lori mentioned and yes, they are not turning out at all.  How do I fix that?
[right][post="37961"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]

when you first open a new blank image you set this, before you actually add anything to it. I don't know what program you use but in most when you click New you get a box that asks what size you want to make the image and usually it's in there that you plug in what ppi you want. I'm sure if you tell us what program users can give you more exacts...
Lori
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One other thing that hasn't been mentioned about the camera side of things that I ran into with my old camera:

Digital zoom versus Optical zoom.

If all you have on your digital camera is digital zoom, every time you use it you are going to lose picture quality (especially if you try to enlarge or resize the photo later). The only way to get half-decent pictures is to use the highest setting and as little zoom as possible.

If you have the option of both digital and optical, use only the optical zoom.. it's a truer zoom and you can use it even on smaller file sizes and still be able to enlarge or manipulate the image with much better results.
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Guest Cropnpix
Wow, I'm not even in the market for a new camera or printer right now, but this was valuable info! I'm committing it to memory.
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Guest deannayh
one thing i had to make sure of was that quality that was used to transfer from my camera to my computer. It wanted to automatically choose a medium quality, i had to overide it to choose the highest quality. it even put up an "error" like message asking if i was sure i wanted to do this. I said "yes!". So, even though i had set my camera to take the highest quality photos, the transfer default was a lower quality.
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You are all giving me such valuable information. I really appreciate it.
In response to Lori's question, I have just started using PSE 4.0. Should I change the ppi right after I open the picture?
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I think you need to start PSE first, open a new workspace and set your ppi there. Then import your photo to the workspace.

Everyone please feel free to correct me if I am wrong, this is how I do it but there is very possibly a better way.
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Guest darklighter
One other possibility. If you really what to test your camera quality, try having the images printed. You can upload them to shutterfly or kodak or even target or such now. Print a few and see how they come out. Then you know if it is just the printer...
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You're talking baout printing pictures, NOT layuots, here, right?

The thing is (and keep in mind I am HORRIBLE at math, so these numbers are probably totally off!), a 5x7 picture at 300 dpi is the EXACT SAME as a 20x29" picture at 72 dpi. So when your camera setting is defaulted at 72 dpi, but the image size seems HUGE as far as inches go, it's really the same thing as a smaller inch-sized image at a higher dpi.

Does that make any sense?

Without buying major hardware, you can do a few things to optimize your prints. Using photo paper designed to work with your ptinter, and setting your printer to the highest quality will help. Also, taking your photos at the highest possible setting means you are capturing the MOST information your camera is capable of wach time.
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