Megapixel resolution calculator manual#

But in itself, it doesn’t set a minimum level for detail. Indeed, pixel count poses a limit to how detailed an image can be. So, when someone says a camera has a 20MP camera resolution, they refer to the 20 million pixels on its sensor. One megapixel (MP) is one million pixels. Pixel count is in the form of megapixels. Their number is of importance, but it does not tell us everything about the resolution of a camera. There are millions of them – one by one, and they build a coherent image. Pixels are the smallest component of a digital camera sensor. Film also has a resolution – referring to the level of detail it can resolve. What Is Pixel Count?Ĭamera resolution is not equal to pixel count, although they often get mixed up, and used interchangeably. And even in those situations, you need detail, not necessarily high megapixels. There are two applications where you do need high resolution: extensive cropping (digital zooming) and large printing. But how does that translate to real detail? Not so well.Ī very general answer is no you probably don’t. It’s cool, indeed, that even your phone is capable of shooting 20-megapixel photos. Megapixel and camera resolution have become catchwords. Their printer outputs at 250 PPI (but can handle 100 PPI images), though other services may differ, so always check before preparing your images.Let’s try to see through the marketing slogans.

Megapixel resolution calculator manual#

Your printer manual or printing service should be able to tell you this.īelow is a screenshot from the website, showing their optimal and minimum image sizes for standard print sizes. Therefore, when cropping and sizing an image for printing, you’ll need to know what PPI the image should be. The result is 2,400 x 3,000 pixels, which is the image resolution you need to print an 8 x 10 image at 300 PPI. Multiply the printed image’s width and height in inches by 300 pixels. To print an 8 x 10 inch image at 300 PPI, use the same math: In other words, it needs to be at least 1200 x 1800 pixels in size. So for example, if you want to print a 4 x 6 inch image at 300 PPI, then you need a file that has at least 4 x 300 (1200) pixels along its short side and 6 x 300 (1800) pixels on the long side. Typical printing PPI values range from 150 to 300 PPI, although some high-end magazines may require images that are 1200 PPI. Most printing services, and indeed your own printer, will require a certain density of pixels in the image (PPI) to be able to render a print that looks good (i.e., with smooth color transitions so you can’t see each individual pixel). This literally refers to the number of pixels in an inch-long line of an image. When you’re printing an image, you may encounter the term PPI or pixels per inch. You can see these pixels if you open a photo and zoom in until you see single blocks of color (as shown below). A pixel can only be one color, and a photograph is made up of a grid of thousands of pixels, each of the different colors that together make up your image. Now, a pixel itself is a single picture element – and for our purposes, it’s the smallest element that your photo can be divided up into. The image above shows the resulting information dialog box. In Photoshop, you can open your image, then choose File > File Info > Camera Data. You can check the width and height of an image using your photo editing software. You and I might call this 14.5 MP, but camera manufacturers round this up and call it a 14.6 MP camera. So by multiplying the number of pixels along the image width by those along the image height, we get the actual number of pixels in the image (4672 x 3104 = 14,501,888). So the ratio comparing the number of pixels along the long edge of the image to the short edge of the image is 3:2.Įach of my full-sized RAW images is 4672 x 3104 pixels in dimension. My camera, like most DSLRs, captures images with an aspect ratio of 1.5. This information tells you nothing about the actual pixel dimensions of the image – it only tells you the total number of pixels that make up the image. So my camera, for example, captures 14.6-megapixel images, which is around 14,600,000 pixels per image (14.6 x 1,000,000). Technically, a megapixel is equal to 1,048,576 pixels in reality, camera manufacturers round this number to 1,000,000 when stating how large of an image the camera will capture.