What is the maximum size I can have my image printed?
Would you like to order a picture from printolino, but are not sure how large you can print your picture in terms of resolution? We will be happy to help you.
Where do I hang the picture?
Firstly, it is an advantage if you know exactly where you want to hang the picture. Stand in front of this wall and stick "post-it" stickers on the wall, or on the corners of the desired picture size, just as you would see your picture on the wall. Then measure the dimensions directly on the wall. This way you already know how big you actually want to order your picture. This point plays an important role because you view pictures in a living room behind a sofa, for example, from a greater distance than a picture in the hallway, where you walk past the picture every day. A picture that is viewed from a distance is more likely to tolerate a little blurring than a picture that you only ever look at from very close up.
What is the maximum size I can have my desired image printed?
You may well have a spectacular image that appears to be of excellent quality on your smartphone or PC. However, this is often deceptive. If the image is enlarged, it quickly loses quality.
A photo consists of many small coloured dots, so-called pixels. Together, these form a shape or an image, as we can see here in the image below.
The more such pixels you have in your image, the smaller this "staircase-like" appearance becomes and the better the resolution and thus the quality of your image.
The number of pixels varies from camera to camera. The higher the number of dots, dpi (dots per inch), the better the quality of your photo, i.e. the larger your image can be printed.
Calculation of maximum possible size based on number of pixels
We do not require a resolution of 300 dpi for printing as in offset printing. With a resolution of 150 dpi, you will get a razor-sharp image. In principle, however, we need at least 72 dpi for a good image result. Read our blog post on the comparison of different resolutions: /en/blog/comparison-of-different-solutions
Here is a simple rule of thumb to calculate the maximum possible format of your image:
Number of pixels : 30 = maximum possible image format
A required minimum resolution for us is 72 dpi (72 dots per inch). This means 72 pixels per inch, where an inch is 2.54 cm. Converted into cm, this corresponds to 30 dots per cm. Now you can simply divide the number of pixels in your image by 30 and you know the maximum size you can have your image printed.
An example: With a 6 MP (megapixel) camera, we have an aspect ratio of 3:2 with 3000 x 2000 pixels. If you now convert this to the minimum required resolution, i.e. 3000 (pixels - dots) : 30 (dpcm) and 2000 : 30, this results in an image of 100 x 66.6 cm with the same aspect ratio, which still has 72 dpi, i.e. the maximum possible image size.
Our web shop also uses these 72dpi to calculate the maximum size your images can be printed.
Number of pixels does not equal "good pixels"
However, the sheer number of pixels does not necessarily indicate whether the quality of the image is good or not. For example, if you shake when taking the picture with the camera, you will still have a high number of pixels and dpi, but these pixels or the picture will be blurred and therefore not of good quality.
It is also useless if you simply interpolate (extrapolate) the images. This will give you more pixels, but not really a better image result. This is because the new pixels are simply calculated in between, but can never make your image appear sharp, as the correct information for these pixels is simply missing.
It is very important to us that you are satisfied with your pictures
Our aim is always to produce only the best images for you. That's why we check every image down to the last detail before printing. If the quality of an image is not sufficient, we will contact you by e-mail or telephone. We don't just print the pictures to be printed. We want you to receive great pictures and be absolutely happy with our products and service. We look forward to receiving your order at http://www.printolino.ch