Aloha!
I have been talking to a few vendors lately about photo quality for reproductions, hopefully this will make it easy.
When reproducing artwork or reprint as a giclée, poster, garments, products, etc. it is ideal to have a professional scan your art. There are some on the island that do great work and are reasonably priced (See below). With scanning you are getting the true colors and textures while avoiding reflections and lighting issues.
We highly recommend scanning but when it is not possible please use the handy guide so you can see the size you will need to print a great reproduction.
Keep in mind that there are other factors involved in getting a great shot worthy of reproduction like lighting, shadows, reflections, dust, backgrounds, etc.
Photo editing software can help enhance the quality of your photo. There are many out there and it can get very confusing. I use Adobe Lightroom but if you are an amateur you could either send me your photos (fees apply) or use program like Topaz DeNoise AI
The following information is a excerpt from http://www.urban75.org/photos/print.html
| Printing images – what file size do you need? A guide to required file sizes for printing out photos | |||
Image size Pixels | Megapixel | Print size (inches) | Print size (inches) |
640 x 480 | 0.3 | 3.2 x 2.4 | 2.1 x 1.6 |
1,024 x 768 | 0.8 | 5.1 x 3.8 | 3.4 x 2.5 |
1,280 x 960 | 1.2 | 6.4 x 4.8 | 4.2 x 3.2 |
| 1,504 x 1,000 | 1.5 | 7.5 x 5.0 | 5.0 x 3.3 |
1,632 x 1,224 | 2.0 | 3.3 x 6.1 | 5.4 x 4.1 |
| 2,000 x 1,312 | 2.6 | 10.0 x 6.6 | 6.7 x 4.4 |
| 2,240 x 1,488 | 3.3 | 11.2 x 7.4 | 7.5 x 5.0 |
| 2,275 x 1,520 | 3.5 | 11.4 x 7.6 | 7.6 x 5.1 |
| 2,272 x 1,704 | 3.9 | 11.4 x 8.5 | 7.6 x 5.7 |
| 2,590 x 1,920 | 5.0 | 13.0 x 9.6 | 8.6 x 6.4 |
3,008 x 2,000 | 6.0 | 15.0 x 10.0 | 10.0 x 6.7 |
4,256 x 2,848 | 12.1 | 21.3 x 14.2 | 14.2 x 9.5 |
| 4,536 x 3,024 | 13.7 | 22.7 x 15.1 | 15.1 x 10.1 |
| 5,782 x 3,946 | 22.8 | 28.9 x 19.7 | 19.3 x 13.2 |
Quality vs file size | |||
Digital camera resolution vs print quality | ||||||||
Capture Resolution | Video Display | Print Size | ||||||
2×3″ | 4×5″/4×6″ | 5×7″ | 8×10″ | 11×14″ | 16×20″ | 20×30″ | ||
320×240 | OK | Good | OK | Crap | Crap | Crap | Crap | Crap |
640×480 0.3Megapixel | Good | Excellent | Good | Crap | Crap | Crap | Crap | Crap |
800×600 | Excellent | Photo Quality | Very Good | Reasonable | Crap | Crap | Crap | Crap |
1024×768 | Excellent | Photo Quality | Excellent | Good | OK | Crap | Crap | Crap |
1280×960 1 MP | Excellent | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Very Good | Good | Crap | Crap | Crap |
1536×1180 | Excellent | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Excellent | Very Good | OK | Crap | Crap |
1600×1200 2MP | Excellent | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Very Good | OK | OK | Crap |
2048×1536 3 Megapixel | Excellent | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Excellent | Good | OK | OK |
2240×1680 4 Megapixel | Excellent | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Very Good | Good | OK |
2560×1920 5 Megapixel | Excellent | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Excellent | Very Good | Very Good |
3032×2008 6 Megapixel | Excellent | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Excellent | Very Good |
3072×2304 7 Megapixel | Excellent | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Excellent | Excellent |
3264×2448 8 Megapixel | Excellent | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Excellent |
10 Megapixel + | Excellent | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality |
| Crap | Horribly pixelated blocky mess, like something out of 1987 |
| OK | Looks reasonable enough, but nowhere near photo quality |
| Good | Pretty good all round, with a fair bit of detail |
| Very Good | This will be fine for most uses, unless you get up reeeeal close |
| Excellent | As good as a photo for most purposes |
| Photo Quality | Woohoo! Fantastic quality print, full of detail and perfect for your picture frame or for your showing off your very best shots. |
Resources for local professional scanning:
3Sixty Printing 808-326-1360