A guide to required file sizes for printing out photos:
Image size Pixels (Virtual Size of Scans) | Megapixel rating | Print size (inches) at 200ppi | Print size (inches) at 300ppi | Print size (Cm)
|
640 x 480 | 0.3 | 3.2 x 2.4 | 2.1 x 1.6 | 5.33 x 4.06 |
1,024 x 768 | 0.8 | 5.1 x 3.8 | 3.4 x 2.5 | 8.63 x 6.35 |
1,280 x 960 | 1.5 | 7.5 x 5.0 | 5.0 x 3.3 | 12.7 x 8.38 |
1,504 x 1,000 | 1.5 | 7.5 x 5.0 | 5.0 x 3.3 | 12.7 x 8.38 |
1,632 x 1,224 | 2.0 | 3.3 x 6.1 | 5.4 x 4.1 | 13.71 x 10.41 |
2,000 x 1,312 | 2.6 | 10.0 x 6.6 | 6.7 x 4.4 | 17.01 x 11.17 |
2,240 x 1,488 | 3.3 | 11.2 x 7.4 | 7.5 x 5.0 | 19.05 x 12.7 |
2,275 x 1,520 | 3.5 | 11.4 x 7.6 | 7.6 x 5.1 | 19.30 x 12.95 |
2,272 x 1,704 | 3.9 | 11.4 x 8.5 | 7.6 x 5.7 | 19.30 x 14.47 |
2,590 x 1,920 | 5.0 | 13.0 x 9.6 | 8.6 x 6.4 | 21.84 x 16.25 |
3,008 x 2,000 | 6.0 | 15.0 x 10.0 | 10.0 x 6.7 | 25.4 x 17.01 |
4,256 x 2,848 | 12.1 | 21.3 x 14.2 | 14.2 x 9.5 | 36 x 24.13 |
4,536 x 3,024 | 13.7 | 22.7 x 15.1 | 15.1 x 10.1 | 38.35 x 25.65 |
5,782 x 3,946 | 22.8 | 28.9 x 19.7 | 19.3 x 13.2 | 49 x 33.52 |
Professional/online printing
Some professional services specify lower resolutions for image sizes, so you could get away with smaller image sizes.
Kodak, for example, suggests these resolution/file sizes:
- For a 4″ x 6″ print, the image resolution should be 640 x 480 pixels minimum.
- For a 5″ x 7″ print, the image resolution should be 1024 x 768 pixels minimum.
- For an 8″ x 10″ print, the image resolution should be 1536 x 1024 pixels minimum.
- For a 16″ x 20″ print, the image resolution should be 1600 x 1200 pixels minimum.
- For a 20″ x 30″ print, the image resolution should be 1600 x 1200 pixels minimum.
- For a Wallet-size print, the image resolution should be 320 x 240 pixels minimum.
Quality vs file size
This guide shows you the kind of quality you can expect when you’re printing out your photos.
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 | 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 | 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 | Excellent | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Very Good | OK | OK | Crap |
2048×1536 | Excellent | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Excellent | Good | OK | OK |
2240×1680 | Excellent | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Very Good | Good | OK |
2560×1920 | Excellent | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Excellent | Very Good | Very Good |
3032×2008 | Excellent | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Excellent | Very Good |
3072×2304 | Excellent | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Photo Quality | Excellent | Excellent |
3264×2448 | 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 |