Best resolution for digital photo printout

[RolyPoly]

Have been using digital camera for quite sometime but has never printed any of the photos. But recently I took some photos for my nieces and would like to print them out.

Would someone tell me what would be the best resolution to print a 3R photo or 4R photo?

I always set my digital camera at VGA, Fine resolution. Would this be good enough for a 3R printout?

Or do I have to set it to 1.2M and Fine?

Would appreaciate your tips and sharing of knowledge on this.
Thanks.

[fRaNkY]

2.0mp is fair for 3R and 4R.

VGA is about 640x640, suitable for web but when printed, you can see jagged edges.

Do not know what is "Fine" on your camera. Mine (digital SLR) is 6.3MP :P

Most people buy cameras like 4.0mp and 5.0mp, but usually u will only need it if you want to print size higher than 5R. Also, the photo files created is around 3 to 4 mb taking up your memory card space (CF, xD, MS, etc). So, my suggestion is to set the resolution at around 3mp for family pictures which u want to print at 3R or 4R.

[RolyPoly]

Hi franKy,

Thanks for your input.

No, I don't know the pixel for FINE on my digital camera.
Wow for dSLR, the FINE is high in resolution!

I need to go back to the camera's manual and read it up.
Agree with you that 3-4Mb photos collection would definitely take up a lot of space! That's why I always have my pix in VGA format. Burn them on CDs and play it for the children to see. They love seeing their pix on screen.

[fRaNkY]

Printing at VGA would not give you the quality you want.

Like you said, alternatively. Play it on a PC or on the TV. Some DVD player, like JVC can read Jpeg from a CD disk.

Photographers who save their files on 4mp, 5mp or 8.3mp, will have to resize their photo to VGA to be able to post on the web.

[ceo684]

samsung dvd player from ambank also can see the jpeg on vcd.

[fRaNkY]

My 300D can also see slide show on TV :)

[alanang]

Most of the latest digital cameras can do slideshow from the camera itself.

Depending on what camera you are using. Even my Konica Minolta Dimage X31 (3.1mp) can do slideshow .. :)

[wufei]

4R = 2megapixel 1600X1200 setting or higher

Want to crop, have to shoot at higher pixel 3 or 4 to withstand another jpeg compression.

[kwchang]

I have always taken my photos using a horizontal resolution of 1024 pixels. Which is to say, if my computer screen is set to 1024 pixel resolution, that pic would fill the screen if I used it as a wallpaper.

I have also found out that 1024 pixel resolution is actually less than 1 megapixel. I have no complaints with 4R printouts. BTW, most photo shops will not print less than 4R from digital shots.

Of course, the more megapixels you have, the better is the picture (provided the focus is corect). But there should be a balance - if you plan to take pictures of an occasion, make sure you have enough memory to record all the events. If you were on holiday overseas, you would like to maximise on the number of pics, hence a lower resolution (of less than 1 Megapixel) would be sufficient for holiday pictures.

[fRaNkY]

Family photo 2mp cukup lar.... :D :D

If you take for competition or work u need more than 3mp to work on. :rolleyes:

If you go overseas, either bring spare CF,MS or memory cards or you can buy a device with harddisk which you can backup to and delete from your memory card.

Compactdrive Pd70x (http://www.photomalaysia.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=4775)

I bought one recently but not going overseas yet :D :D There are also other models like MIO, Nikon, etc.....