How to Print High Resolution Image Files and Photo FilesWriten by Jefferson Lee
Many printers seem to give you the same problem no matter what brands or what model. As soon as you tell you PC to print a photo, it counters with a warning, telling you that image is larger than the printing area of your paper. After you see the result. you go cursing your printer.
In fact, It isn't your printer's fault. It is the software setting's fault. Many digital cameras can produce images
at a default 72 ppi (pixel per inch) which is the same as your computer monitor. For example, a 2megapixel camera cn produce a 1,600-by-1,200-pixel image at 72 ppi or about 22x17 inch image. On the other hand a 5 megapixel camera may produce a 2,560x1,920 pixel image at 72 ppi or 36x27 inch image.
But to get a decent photo print, your image needs to be at least 200 ppi. Here's how to do it:
1. Size's matter - open you photo from your favourite photo editng software and it should be in the Edit
menu/ and find Scale (resize) and change the scale x and y resolution to pixel per inch scale then change setting to 200 or up. (most magazine print can live with 266 ppi). but that isn't all
[Once you change the resolution you notice some changes from Width and Height mesurements to reflect the calculation. You have just tripled the resolution meaning you reducing your photo about one-third from original size. These new dimensions represent the maximum size at which you can print the image and still retain photo-realism for the most part, 2-megapixel photo file will yield a maximum 5x7 inch photo print.
The higher the ppi resolution, the better the print quality. in most cases 200 ppi up for printing would be fine.
2. Limits- now you can upsize Width and Hight just a bit to interpolate pixels but don't do it too big! you will lose quality.
3. Perfect the size before print - If the measurements are larger than the paper size in printer, Type the target print size's width or hight (now the app will reconfigure the opposite side in propotion and beef up the resolution) in the corresponding field. If you get a warning from printer about image too big, down size it a bit.
4. Print- Go to page setup and choose how you print but dpi setting should be as high as 266-300 for best quality looking on paper. And don't forget to use photo paper that's optimized for you printer.
About the Author:
A digital photographer from Japan. He uses Macintosh Macbook exclusively. and also has a blog here:
http://printphoto.blogspot.com/ It's a blog about printing tips.