Digital Printing Resolution
To get a beautiful digitally printed product you have to start with a good quality digital image. But what does this really mean? Can I use a picture from my smartphone, or do I have to have a photo from a professional photographer? The answer is, "It depends."
I know, you are thinking, "That really helps. Who does this guy think he is?" Well, it does depend, but I am going to explain what it depends on, and give you some tips to determine if your photos will work on the products that you want. There are two main factors to determine the quality of an image on a product.
First, how far away from the image will the viewer be? "What does that matter," you ask. An image that looks good as an 8" x 10" print from a foot away will look just as good blown up to 16" x 20" when viewed from two feet away. That same image could be blown up to 4' x 6' if it was going to be viewed from 6 or more feet away.
Second, how big is the image going to be on the finished product? This may seem obvious, but people have tried taking small images from the web to print as 11" x 14" metal prints, and it just doesn't work.
For example, lets think about a coffee cup. It is going to be viewed by someone who is holding it in their hand, so let's say 8" away. For a small 3" x 3" picture of their kid we would recommend a photo that is 900 pixels by 900 pixels. That works out to 0.8 megapixels. The average smartphone has at least a 5 megapixel camera, and a lot of them are better than that.
For an 8" x 10" print that is going to be hung in a hallway, and viewed by someone standing about a foot away, you would need a 7 megapixel image for excellent results, or 5 megapixels for good results. An 11" x 14" print in the same situation would require a 12 megapixel image for good results. Hang that same 11" x 14" print over a fireplace where the average viewer will be 3 feet away, and a 2 megapixel image will look great.
So, as you can see, it really does depend. A photo that looks great over the fireplace will also work great on a coffee mug, but might not be acceptable on the wall in the hallway.
