Hello jashnimal,
Thank you for your question.
One chooses the size of the file to capture for digital pictures
depending on what you desire to do with the final image. Usually, the
choices are for printing or for email / web use.
You will find that digital cameras capture their images at 72 DPI
(dots per inch). Consequently, the native size of a 3.1 MP image is
absolutely huge. Lets look at the math for a moment:
A 3.1 Mp image is about 2048 x 1536 pixels. Multiply those figures and
you get 3,145,729 or 3.1 MP.
Now, if you divide those figures by 72, which is the native DPI, you
find the size of the file in inches is 28.44 inches by 21.33 inches.
It will appear huge on your monitor.
To print a quality digital picture will depend on your printer or
method of printing. The resolution for printing depends not only on
the printer, but which expert you subscribe to. The minimum
recommended is usually 175 DPI, though 300 DPI is a very common
recommendation and some will even tell you 600DPI. Personally, I use
between 250 and 300 DPI for quality prints on my inkjet printer.
Let's do the math again. Take 2048 and 1536 and divide those figures
by 300 and the print size for your 3.1 MP image becomes 6.83 inches by
5.12 inches, or roughly 5x7 print size. So, for a quality 5x7 print,
you need to be shooting at 3.1 MP. Using a lower DPI, you can get a
slightly larger picture that is acceptable, but if you wanted to print
8 x 10's or larger, you can see that even the 3.1 MP image does not
contain enough information to produce a detailed, quality print larger
than 5 x 7.
Let's look at the web and email for a moment. Computer monitors
display at between 72 and 96 pixels per inch for the most part. If you
intended use is JUST for email or web, then you do not need to capture
an image as large as 3.1 MP. But you can adjust that image down for
email and web as I will show you in a moment. But if you wish ONLY web
or email, then lets look at the math for those:
VGA is also known as 640 x 480 resolution. This is a very small image
in terms of memory required. Even if you set your resolution to 100
DPI to cover any possible monitor, you image is 6.4 x 4.8 images on a
monitor set to VGA. Most people use a higher resolution on their
monitors and 800 x 600 is most common, though 1024 x 768 runs a close
second and on larger, say 21" or 22" monitors, 1280 x 1024 is common.
You image here will be a bit small. Consequently, I would avoid
capturing at VGA and select your 1.2MP setting even if just for web or
email. If you will ever want to print these images as well, select a
larger size. As you will see, any of these images can be resampled and
scaled down so that you can have both enough information to print and
a small image easily transported through email or viewed on the web.
Your camera most likely came with software to aid you in making these
adjustments. The industry standard is Adobe Photoshop, but it is
complex and expensive at around $600. Almost as good, and some say
even better is Jasc PaintShop Pro, which is only $84 and a free trial
is available for download at
http://www.jasc.com/products/paintshoppro/ . With these programs, (
and maybe a program included with your camera) you can resample your
images with quality resampling algorithms to come up with the size and
resolution you desire for any application. But, there are also less
expensive and less complex programs that produce most excellent
results.
One of my absolute favorites is PhotoCleaner at
http://www.photocleaner.com/home.html. This program is only $12.95 and
has a free trial available for download as well.
Here you load your original image and with simple settings adjust the
final size. It enhances the image and sizes it for web or email when
you set the longer side to a setting of, let's say 800 pixels and then
you can save it as a copy of the image without effecting the original.
It is easy and produces excellent results.
In Photoshop or PaintShop pro, you would set you desired DPI first at
72, 100, 175, 250 or 300DPI for example depending on whether you are
sizing for web or print, and then set the image size in inches for you
use. There is much, much more you can do with those programs as well.
Let me leave you with a few links that may be helpful in understanding
this somewhat confusing subject:
Short Courses:
A Short Course in Choosing a Digital Camera
1. WHAT IS A DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPH?
http://www.shortcourses.com/choosing/pixels/01.htm
Digital Image Basics
The Barest Essentials of Managing Digital Images
-by Charles T. Low
http://www.ctlow.ca/Photo/DigitalImage.html
LTL Imagery
ABOUT RESOLUTION
http://www.ltlimagery.com/resolution.html
There are many more tutorials, but these are excellent and should
answer or add to any information I have provided that might still be
unclear for you.
Search Strategy:
digital image size
I trust my research has provided you with an understanding of digital
image sizes for both print and web use. If a link above should fail to
work or anything is unclear and should require further explanation or
research, please do post a Request for Clarification prior to rating
the answer and closing the question and I will be pleased to assist
further.
Regards,
-=clouseau=- |
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