Printing Photos - The Details
Printing of photos always seemed to me a large, mysterious realm to be explored in a distant future. Now, this distant future has arrived and I have spent some time and money in order to learn and test printing of my photos.
Last changed on 2024-12-15
Sizes & Formats
I looked at different print formats using a resolution of 300dpi and compared it with my camera file size output. It turns out that if the original shot is not cropped, I could print up to 12R/S12R with 300dpi.
| Format Code | 4R | 6R | 8R | 10R | 12R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Height “ | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 |
| Width “ | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 15 |
| Height px | 1200 | 1800 | 2400 | 3000 | 3600 |
| Width px | 1800 | 2400 | 3000 | 3600 | 4500 |
| Megapixels | 2.2 | 4.3 | 7.2 | 10.8 | 16.2 |
| Ratio | 2:3 | 3:4 | 4:5 | 5:6 | 4:5 |
| Format Code | 4R | S8R | S10R | S12R | D500 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Height “ | 4 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12.37 |
| Width “ | 6 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 18.56 |
| Height px | 1200 | 2400 | 3000 | 3600 | 3712 |
| Width px | 1800 | 3600 | 4500 | 5400 | 5568 |
| Megapixels | 2.2 | 8.6 | 13.5 | 19.4 | 20.7 |
| Ratio | 2:3 | 2:3 | 2:3 | 2:3 | 2:3 |
At this size 300dpi is overkill. I printed a few shots in S12R and at about 150dpi still looks good. What if I want to print even larger?
Below inches vs pixels for 24″x36″, with ratio 2:3, may preferred. 110dpi may be a the lowest resolution for this format, allowing me to crop to 2/3 of the original image size.
| dpi | 60 | 110 | 150 | 180 | 220 | 300 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Height “ | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 |
| Width “ | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 |
| Height px | 1440 | 2640 | 3600 | 4320 | 5280 | 7200 |
| Width px | 2160 | 3960 | 5400 | 6480 | 7920 | 10800 |
| Megapixels | 3.1 | 10.5 | 19.4 | 28.0 | 41.8 | 77.8 |
| Ratio | 2:3 | 2:3 | 2:3 | 2:3 | 2:3 | 2:3 |
Out of curiosity, I also looked into file sizes for optimal display on iMac and MacBook Pro.
| Screens | 13″ | 15″ | 21.5″ | 27″ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| dpi | 227 | 227 | 220 | 220 |
| Height “ | 7.05 | 7.93 | 10.47 | 13.09 |
| Width “ | 11.28 | 12.69 | 18.62 | 23.27 |
| Height px | 1600 | 1800 | 2304 | 2880 |
| Width px | 2560 | 2880 | 4096 | 5120 |
| Megapixels | 4.1 | 5.2 | 9.4 | 14.7 |
| Ratio | 10:16 | 10:16 | 9:16 | 9:16 |
If compared with the D500 file size, i am able to create files for optimal display even on full size iMac 27″ as long as I don’t crop the photo.
Cost for Print and Frame
Printing is not that expensive. Nevertheless, I cannot afford to print every photo: 12″x18″: 20 CAD; 24″x36″ CAD: 30 CAD.
With frame, printing gets more expensive. I prefer canvas print so that the print is mounted permanently and without having to decide which frame color matches the photo. 12″x18″: 100 CAD; No data for the larger size yet.
Preparing to Print in Affinity Photo
When preparing a photo for print, I start by creating a new document with the dimensions of the final print and the required DPI. I then copy and paste the previously prepared photo into the new document and adjust its size to fit the document dimensions. If the resolution of the photo is too low, I need to increase the size of the photo. I learned about this approach by watching Affinity Photo tutorial videos.
Q&A
- How large do I want to print my photos? 12″x18″, mostly, a low number of selected photos at 24″x36″ (one /year?).
- How much can I crop a photo and I still get a nice looking print? Aiming for best display on iMac 27″, no cropping, for other situations up to 2/3 of original photo.
- How much will printing cost me? 100CAD for a framed 12″x18″ including printing.