Largest print I can get away with my files, and can I resized them smaller?

[endervalentine]

I'm not sure if I totally understand the whole ppi vs dpi and what is minimum pixel dimension to get a quality print. This is what I think and correct me if I'm wrong.

Most of the pictures from my d90 come out as 3216px x 2316px. What I read was that I should forget about dpi and just focus on ppi and the general rule of thumb is that 300ppi is good enough for a quality print.

So if I understand correctly, I can divide my pictures' dimensions by 300, to get the approx. max size I can print, in this case 10.72in x 7in. Is this correct?

I'm looking to see if I can use ifranview to batch resize all the pictures so I can have smaller files that I can upload to an online storage place, like picasa or amazon. But if my calculations above are correct, I can't resize at all if I want to be able to do 8x10s in the future right?

 

[JohnnyRebel]

I'm not sure if I totally understand the whole ppi vs dpi and what is minimum pixel dimension to get a quality print. This is what I think and correct me if I'm wrong.

Most of the pictures from my d90 come out as 3216px x 2316px. What I read was that I should forget about dpi and just focus on ppi and the general rule of thumb is that 300ppi is good enough for a quality print.

So if I understand correctly, I can divide my pictures' dimensions by 300, to get the approx. max size I can print, in this case 10.72in x 7in. Is this correct?

I'm looking to see if I can use ifranview to batch resize all the pictures so I can have smaller files that I can upload to an online storage place, like picasa or amazon. But if my calculations above are correct, I can't resize at all if I want to be able to do 8x10s in the future right?

That's about right. You must be shooting M size jpegs (about 8 mp). Here's some info.

http://www.design215.com/toolbox/megapixels.php

 

[Anubis]

ive printed 20x30 from 6mp (3000x2000 px) files and they look fine from the correct viewing distance. with proper resizing you can easily do it

 

[twistedlogic]

I'm looking to see if I can use ifranview to batch resize all the pictures so I can have smaller files that I can upload to an online storage place, like picasa or amazon.

Can you not upload big files?

I didn't think there was a limit set on picasa image size?

 

[Lotheron]

Can you not upload big files?

I didn't think there was a limit set on picasa image size?

I upload 6MB files all the time, but if you're worried about running out of space, I can see why the OP cares about space.

That being said, storage is cheap from picasa (80GB = $20/yr) so I just went that route and never worry about space.

 

[Smoove910]

hmmm 80gb = $20/yr.... OR, just buy a 2TB external drive and keep your files at home. Takes alot of 6mb pictures to fill up 2TB.

I've seen 2TB drives as low as $99, or a 3TB for a little more. I'd rather have my stuff backed up at home rather than upload to some online storage that does who knows what with your pics.

Just my .02

 

[CuriousMike]

You're presuming your home is the safest backup.

Fire / flood / power spike could nuke everything in your house.

While I have three external USB drives that I backup across, I feel vulnerable not having external backups.

 

[Smoove910]

Fire/Flood/Power Spike is just as susceptible at Picasa or any of those other places. Especially since they obviously have a shit-ton of storage space which needs to be cooled/maintained. Plus you would have to worry about them selling your pics to some other site, not to mention you never know 'who' might be looking at your work. Either way, those are my issues with it. Other people might not feel it to be anything to worry about.

 

[actuarial]

Fire/Flood/Power Spike is just as susceptible at Picasa or any of those other places. Especially since they obviously have a shit-ton of storage space which needs to be cooled/maintained. Plus you would have to worry about them selling your pics to some other site, not to mention you never know 'who' might be looking at your work. Either way, those are my issues with it. Other people might not feel it to be anything to worry about.

But if a fire happens at Picasa, it's not going to destroy your primary copy of the pictures, and if a fire happens at home, it's not going to destroy the Picasa copy.

You could have copies on 6 different physical drives in your home, but a fire will destroy all of them at once.

 

[endervalentine]

Regarding local backup, I do currently backup all my pictures and videos to 2 separate drives but for some reason I must have the worst luck w/ >1TB drives. Within 2 years, I have 3 separate drives die on me, one internal one external. The internal one is shot, it just won't read anymore. The external one, looks like the power supply is dead.

It's not catastrophic because I do still have my main copy but still it's un-nerving that they just don't work.

That's the main reason I want to upload the data to online place, at least that's another place I can keep it.

yeha, I'm most likely going to go with picasa's 80GB for $20/yr, that's why I asked whether I can resize them any smaller to save additional space.

If 8x10 is the largest I can go now with my current ppi files, I prob. dontt want to shrink it anymore.

Thoughts anyone?

 

[CuriousMike]

If you decide to use Picasa's backup, let me know how simple it is.

Ideally, there'd be a "backup all my photos" button, and the only option is the resolution I want them backed up at.

 

[rivan]

ive printed 20x30 from 6mp (3000x2000 px) files and they look fine from the correct viewing distance. with proper resizing you can easily do it

Viewing distance and subject matter are key as well. Billboards, for instance, are often spec'd at less than 20 ppi - since they're viewed from 60+ feet.

For very close viewing (think magazines), 300 ppi is what the print industry uses as a standard. Depending on subject matter you can typically go down to about 200 ppi without getting too soft.

Again, it's highly dependent on subject matter and original image quality. Soft focus/ out of focus/ low contrast areas are highly flexible for input resolution.