

- #Digital photo print size inches software full#
- #Digital photo print size inches software professional#
Though printing a fine art photograph at 100 PPI is considered completely unacceptable to some, if a photographer intends for a large print to only be viewed from 8 feet away or more, this is reasonable. So, in the case of the 36" x 54" image, having 1/3 of the resolution at 100 PPI is equally compensated for by the 3x longer viewing distance. The key connection to viewing distance here is that due to the optics of the human eye, a print that is 3x farther away requires exactly 3x less resolution to maintain the same visible quality! So, if you round the numbers out, the maximum standard size for that print will be about 7 X 5. However, the maximum size for a quality print will be smaller. If you decide to make a print at 300DPI from the same image file, you will have a print with better resolution. A file size of 2,000 pixels X 1600 pixels can be printed to make a good quality 10 X 8 photo when printed at 200 DPI. Next, divide the number of pixels in the height of the file by 200. The maths involved to come up with that size print is to first divide the number of pixels in the width of the file by the 200 DPI.

In another words, the larger 10×8” print’s aspect ratio is squarer. The reason is that, although the 10×8” print is significantly larger than a 6×4”, its aspect ratio is 5:4. This would unfortunately mean cropping part of the image –possibly an important part of the composition. If we printed this as a 6×4” print, it would not need cropping but what if we wanted this image in another common print format – a 10×8”?
#Digital photo print size inches software full#
How does aspect ratios relate to cropping? The image below is a full frame 3:2 image. Or expressed another way, the width of the image is 1.5 times the height of the image. For example, a full frame image taken from a SLR camera, without any cropping, is in the ratio 3:2. So, what about aspect ratios? In its simplest form, a print aspect ratio is simply a measurement of its width compared to its height, in the form of a ratio. Given that I have many clients, on various courses, and other events wishing to create prints, I felt a guide to the considerations and technicalities would be helpful. My digital photography interpretation of Ansel's quote is “the digital file is the score, and the print is the performance.” Each performance differs in subtle ways.” Ansel Adams “The negative is comparable to the composer's score and the print to its performance.
#Digital photo print size inches software professional#
In fairness, even as professional from the digital age, I must work things out each time I go to print too, though I have done enough exhibitions and other print required tasks to have a reasonable understanding. As such, many photographers don’t have the knowledge and understanding of print resolution, aspect ratios, mounting, paper choice and the plethora of challenges that come with making the print. Nowadays, few people choose to print images as it’s so much easier to share electronically through social media and photo websites.

The printing part (sharing) of the panel has equal importance to the design (creative/framing), shoot (technical execution), enhance (editing and presentation) as the first stage of showing what the photographer sees and interprets. Joking aside, the assessment for any panel quite rightly relies on evidence that the photographer (applicant) also understands, and presents, the images to a professional and competent standard. I often joke about the judges smelling the ink on the paper and waxing lyrical about paper choices more than the photograph itself. This is especially a truism when it comes to the RPS. You may think that the job is done already but the print is the final part of the workflow (share) and is as every bit important as the previous four stages: Having spent countless hours capturing images, editing images and probably re-editing and selecting images your now at the stage of getting a set of prints ready.
