Really 300dpi?

[Chapperz]

So just as a sort of reference, I cropped my 12mp image to be the same proportions as an A4. On my screen, it was pretty much the same size as a A4.

So i found the centre, and then zoomed in, placing the centre roughly at the top left of the screen and adjusted the zoom so as to make the bottom right quarter of the image the same size as a A4.

The idea was to get an idea of what the image would look like printed at A2.. This is probably not a reliable way of doing this and I'm sure someone here will let me know... But from what I can tell (on just a HD screen) at about 3 feet, it doesn't look bad at all and I'm wondering if using super resolution is even worth it considering it won't improve the details and actual makes the Fringing worse.

What do you guys and gals think?

 

[JeffreyS]

I wish I knew what you were trying to do. What does A4 (whatever that is) have to do with anything. Every image should be evaluated to determine if cropping will help the composition. Then, simply resize to the requirement of your output. Going to print? Use it on the internet and emails? That's what tells you what to do.

 

[mobilehomer]

I wish I knew what you were trying to do. What does A4 (whatever that is) have to do with anything. Every image should be evaluated to determine if cropping will help the composition. Then, simply resize to the requirement of your output. Going to print? Use it on the internet and emails? That's what tells you what to do.

FYI, A4 is a standard paper size. 8.3 X 11.7 inches.

 

[Dave Maine]

Print requirements are very different than the screen. Most screens have something around 96 pixels per inch resolution. Any a4 print will need between 250 - 300 dpi to look good at a normal viewing distance.

 

[Freddygang]

So just as a sort of reference, I cropped my 12mp image to be the same proportions as an A4. On my screen, it was pretty much the same size as a A4.

So i found the centre, and then zoomed in, placing the centre roughly at the top left of the screen and adjusted the zoom so as to make the bottom right quarter of the image the same size as a A4.

The idea was to get an idea of what the image would look like printed at A2.. This is probably not a reliable way of doing this and I'm sure someone here will let me know... But from what I can tell (on just a HD screen) at about 3 feet, it doesn't look bad at all and I'm wondering if using super resolution is even worth it considering it won't improve the details and actual makes the Fringing worse.

What do you guys and gals think?

As a general rule, the better the resolution, the larger the image will print whilst retaining its detail.

What really matters when you print are the DPI (dots per inch), rather than the megapixels at which the image was captured.

As you rightly state, the farther away you are from the print, the less you are able to read its details. If you are at least as old as I am, you may remember very large printed advertising boards. Looking at those pictures close up, you would have seen just blotches of colour (imagine a very, very low resolution print). Large billboards are printed at around 72 dpi. A 12MP capture will result in a print of about 8x10in when printed at 300dpi - which is really the minimum resolution that you want if you are looking at something close up. When you enlarge it to a size bigger than that, your resolution will decrease. But that won't matter too much if you are printing something that you are not going to look from very close.

This is the theory.

Now, this is 2023, and there are amazing software packages like Adobe Photoshop that use AI to interpolate the digital image, and allow you to enlarge a picture with minimal loss of quality - and do a pretty good job of it. But that's a whole other story....

 

[JoelP]

300 dpi is a very acceptable dot pitch for people with normal vision to not see pixels on a printed page held at the reading distance where people who have normal vision view a printed page.

It is a mistake to think of resolution in terms of dpi. It is better to think about cycles/degree of human vision. People with normal vision can see about 30 cycles (one black and one white line)per degree of vision. This metric accounts for viewing distance. People with normal vision cannot distinguish the difference between HD and 4K on a 60” diagonal TV at 15 ft but can easily see the difference up close when up
close to the screen at BestBuy.