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UWF404

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 6, 2004
125
18
Have a EOS 20D which shoots at 8.2 MP. How large a print can I get?
 

macgfxdesigner

macrumors regular
Sep 27, 2004
190
0
A rule of thumb

you divide the DPI by of the resolution of the photo.

take the highest resolution of the 20d is 3504 x 2332 and divide that by 300 DPI that would be 11.68 x 7.73, Now you can lower the DPI and get bigger prints but the qaulity/sharpness of the print won't be as high.

hope that helps...
 

gman71882

macrumors 6502
Jan 12, 2005
404
0
Houston, Tx
If it supports RAW images then you could theoreticaly go much bigger.
With RAW proccessing you could scale the image up a Huge amount in Photoshop and go larger than 24 x 30 if you wanted.
 

Applespider

macrumors G4
As regards 'sharpness', it does partly depend on what you intend doing with the image.

If it's something that you're likely to end up an inch away from, then you'll want it a heck of a lot sharper (and therefore smaller) than something that you'll usually be viewing across a room.
 

Raid

macrumors 68020
Feb 18, 2003
2,155
4,588
Toronto
I'm resurrecting this thread as I have a similar question:

While away on vacation I got a shot of the wife and I that she absolutely loves; and now she would like to print it on 16"x20" to fit a particular frame.

I took the picture with my Canon Powershot G2, using max resolution and file size for the camera (2272 x 1704 with 3.8 Effective Mega pixels, in jpeg format). Would I be able to go up to a 16"x20" print with reasonable image quality?

I tried doing the math above (i.e. 2272/300 by 1704/300) which translates into about 7.5" x 5.7" :(
Of course I could lower the dpi but using that formula I'd have to go down to about 114dpi...

Also is their a shop/chain that could do this without costing me big $$'s?
 

Kamera RAWr

macrumors 65816
May 15, 2007
1,022
0
Sitting on a rig somewhere
you divide the DPI by of the resolution of the photo.

take the highest resolution of the 20d is 3504 x 2332 and divide that by 300 DPI that would be 11.68 x 7.73, Now you can lower the DPI and get bigger prints but the qaulity/sharpness of the print won't be as high.

hope that helps...

My aunt has the Rebel XT which is 8mp and she gets fantastic prints at 11x14.
 

ChrisA

macrumors G5
Jan 5, 2006
12,904
2,140
Redondo Beach, California
If it supports RAW images then you could theoreticaly go much bigger.
With RAW proccessing you could scale the image up a Huge amount in Photoshop and go larger than 24 x 30 if you wanted.

Of course you could, You can get a big blurry image 12 feet wide if you want. Photoshop can scale imaegs but it can not invent new detail that is not recored by the camera.

The most common rule is that for good quality you need 300 DPI for prints that will be viewed at arm's length. If the viewing distance is farther away, say 6 feet you can drop to 150 DPI and make the print twice as large. Some people will push the 300 DPI rule down to 250 DPI or even 200 DPI but it depends on your personal quality standards and what you call "good"
 
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