Image size vs Print Size in Photoshop 5.5

[janet_brosius1]

<p>I am really comfused, am in the process of testing a new Olympus SP-600UZ and all images show:<br>

Pixel Dimensions: 33.8 M<br>

Print Size: width 55.11 inches. Height 41.333 inches.<br>

Resolution: 72 pixels/inch<br>

I know enough to be dangerous, printers print good prints at 300dpi, so how can I change the image after it is on my PC to produce a 8x10 photo at least 300dpi? Do I want a higher dpi?<br>

I know the high the mega pixels the better, and the longer the zoom is better.<br>

I want to have some of the photos (I took 138 today of Lake MI lighthouse), and want to see how sharp the lighthouse is at various optical zooms. It is supposed to go up to 15, and is a 12 mega pixel camera.<br>

I really want to decide whether digital is all I need for my personal and professional photography, or is I should dig out my film equipment and dust off my darkroom equipment. I have Graflex, Mamiya, and Nikon equipment that I have set aside while I learned to oil paint. I use a 10mp digital for painting ideas.<br>

Now I want to get back to more serious photography, but am not prepared to buy a Nikon Digital SLR unless I can unload all my equipment. Any comments will be appreciated.</p>

<p>I have a Beseler 45XT enlarger, and a few other enlargers, some of which I have setup but have not used since I moved to MI. I have tons of neat darkroom equipment, walk by it every time I do the laundry.<br>

I kind of lost my drive when my husband passed away, now I want to do more photography.</p>

 

[alan_olander1664878205]

<p>You can pretty much ignore the print size and resolution as those are changeable in Photoshop or any other image editor without altering your image file. The pixel dimensions are what is important. At the maximum size, your Olympus produces a 3968 x 2976 pixel image. If you want to print at 300 ppi, that would give you a print of approximately 13 x 10 inches (3968/300 by 2976/300). As you can see, the aspect ratio of your camera's sensor is not the same as 10 x 8 so you'll have to crop just as you would in the darkroom when printing 10 x 8 from 35mm or other formats.<br>

The Olympus' sensor is much smaller physically than a DSLR's sensor even though the megapixels are similar, so the quality of big enlargements will not be as good with the Olympus. I think once you get the hang of digital you will be much more satisfied than if you went back to the darkroom.</p>

[curt wiler]

<blockquote>

<p>printers print good prints at 300dpi, so how can I change the image after it is on my PC to produce a 8x10 photo at least 300dpi? Do I want a higher dpi?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I haven't used PS 5.5 for a good many years, but the current menu is probably the same: Go to Image > Image Size and set the resolution to 300 making certain "Resample Image" is NOT checked when you change the resolution. That will get you close. Not all printers are best at 300, but most are.</p>

[jcuknz]

<p>It is funny how this question keeps coming up year after year and the camera makers still list the ridiculous 72dpi/ppi which is meaningless ... Alan's answer tells it all :-) Except the ability of good editing programs like PSP Irfanview and Adobe photoshop to interpolate, inventing fresh pixels based on existing pixel, to make bigger prints while maintaining say 300ppi. for good prints. To elaborate on Curt's final comment .. way back in the printing world it was thought that the dpi should be a whole number of the printer ... so that some printers preferred 300 while others 360. Maybe somebody can explain it better :-) <br>

I will repeat my previous comments that I have three cameras which list the dpi at 72, 180 and 300 .. the latter is my lovely Nikon 5700, still going strong :-) </p>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>If you print from Photoshop (including v5.5), the image size <strong>is </strong>the print size, unless you alter the print size in the printing dialog window. Photoshop will attempt to print at that size, allthough the printer will crop the print if it doesn't fit. Photoshop will also attempt to use the print size resolution, which the printer will map or resample to fit its requirements.</p>

<p>If the resolution is 72 ppi, the printer will usually map those pixels to its native resolution (180-360 ppi), and you will see the individual pixels clearly. If the image resolution is higher than about 300 ppi, you won't see any improvement from that point.</p>

<p>That said, the 72ppi given for P&S images is simply the Photoshop default for images which do not contain markers for the intended size and resolution. Secondly, the only immutable specification for resolution is the actual number of pixels. The size (in inches) and resolution are arbitrary designations, mainly for printing purposes, and are inextricably related - if you change two, the third is fixed.</p>

<p>pixels = size(inches) x ppi</p>

[jackh1]

<p>Here's a part of this puzzle that I've badgered Adobe to address as it has driven me nuts for years.<br>

Under the <strong>View</strong> Menu is an option titled <strong>Print Size</strong>. Which you might think, would then display your image at the size it would print, for example, 8x12 inches at 300dpi. But in practice, it doesn't actually usually work out this way when you hold a ruler up to the screen... It may be close-ish, but it is not exact straight out of the box and the error grows more obvious the larger you go.<br>

Instead, you've got to determine your monitor's pixel count and pixel density and then plug this number into your Photoshop<strong> preferences</strong> for <strong>screen resolution</strong> under <strong>Units and rulers</strong>, and then <strong>View>Print Size</strong> will be much more accurate.<br>

For example, my 20-inch iMac display is 1680px wide over 17 viewable inches. Divided, that's 98.8 px density. So if I set my screen resolution to 99 in Photoshop, my on-screen <strong>View>Print Size </strong>display is significantly more accurately sized. So now when I hold a ruler up to my 8x12 shot onscreen, it measures darn near 8x12 inches.<br>

But what would be even greater would be a database of popular monitor sizes and densities and a sniffer/drop-down option to make this just work straight out of the install, wouldn't it?</p>