Digital Camera Megapixels, Resolution, and Print Size
A common question among new digital camera buyers or even seasoned picture takers is “How many Megapixels do I need and how big of a picture can I print out if my camera is X Megapixels.” The answer is a little fuzzy because it depends on the quality you want but the calculations and table below can help you find the answer.
For each of these ratings you can squeeze out a larger image but you will be sacrificing quality for size at that point. If you have a 2 megapixel camera for instance you can print out an 8×10 photo but it will not be as clear and crisp because the image does not contain quite enough information to make that large of a print.
These calculations are based loosely on a requirement of 150 – 300 ppi or pixels per inch for a print depending on quality. The ppi calculation determines how much information your printer needs to make a nice quality print. With this estimation you can multiply the size you want in inches times 150 – 300 and get the estimation of the image size.
Less than 2 Megapixel
Web posting or on-screen viewing. Many cell phone and really old digital cameras are in the 1 MP range.
2 Megapixel = 1600 x 1200 pixels for Prints 4 x 6 inches, and 5 x 7 inches
3 Megapixel = 2048 x 1536 pixels for Prints 8 x 10 inches
4 Megapixel = 2272 x 1704 pixels for Prints 9 x 12 inches
5 Megapixel = 2592 x 1944 pixels for Prints 10 x 13 inches
Greater than 5 megapixels
Poster size prints. Also gives the photographer the ability to aggressively crop, color correct, or adjust the image. This processing step has become very important and widely used by most professional photographers.
Remember, the larger the megapixel rating of your camera the larger the file size for each image. This means more resolution and information captured but also means you can’t fit as many on a hard drive, memory stick, or CD and processing the image on your computer can take longer depending on your software and hardware. If you don’t see yourself ever printing out that picture of your cat poster size and you are running out of space consider setting your camera to capture at a lower resolution using the chart above.
