First compare aspect ratio between the image you have, and the print size you want..

Ex. 2592 x 1944 is a 4:3 ratio..

Let's say that you want to get an 8"x10" print..

This is a 5:4 ratio between long/short. The ratios are different, so some cropping would be obligatory. Specifically....

2592 pixels/10" ~ 259.2 pixels/inch1944 pixels/8" ~ 243.00 pixels/inch.

The lower resolution wins. So we'll have 243 pixels/inch in either direction using a 2430x1944 crop, eliminating a total of 162x1944 pixels (6.25% of the original image). If the area around the short edges are interesting, it might be advisable to manually choose what portion to crop out. Uploading services that automatically crop will tend to crop equally on both sides, I believe..

And the 243 pixels/inch ain't too shabby for examination from normal viewing distances, so I wouldn't sweat resampling..

If you wanted a 5x7...2592 pixels/7" ~ 370.3 pixels/inch1944 pixels/5" ~ 377.8 pixels/inch.

Work through the math ((2592 * 5"/7") for short length) and you'd get a 2592x1851 image with a rather high pixel-per-inch count, losing only ~4.8% of the image..

Now, on the other hand, if you wanted a 16"x20" print, this has the same aspect ratio as in the first case, but the pixels per inch of the final print goes way down (1/4 along each linear dimension), so either you or the printer would be forced to do some serious upsampling. Qimage is one highly recommended package for this..

Note that the above ignored DPI. This is deliberate. DPI is merely dots per inch, a measure of how densely the printer is printing. Dots do not necessarily correspond 1:1 with pixels...

The last post tells makes it all pretty clear. I would just emphasise the difference between pixels-per-inch from your image, and the dpi resolution of the printer..

A human eye in good condition can resolve detail down to about 1/300 of an inch close-up (i.e. in a print held in your hands). So 1944 x 2592 will give you a print of about 6.5 x 8.6 inches in which there are 300 pixels (from your sensor) per inch of print, and this will look nice and sharp. You can reduce this figure to probably 240 dpi without losing significant sharpenss, which will give you a print size of 10.8 x 8.1 inches. Bear in mind that people look at bigger prints from further back, so you could probably make nice big prints to hang on the wall (say, 14.4 x 10.8 inches at a resolution of 180 dpi) - since people will look at that from a distance of a meter or more the lower resolution won't be obvious and it will still look fine..

If you want to make smaller prints, the resolution will go up to beyond what the human eye can resolve, but so what? No need to resample the picture to lower resolution unless you are going to email it to someone with a small inbox, or view it on screen..

When you print this however (if you do it at home), do NOT set your printer to 300 dpi (droplets of ink per inch) resolution - set it to the highest resolution it will support, e.g. 1440 dpi, for the highest print quality. A commercial printer will take care of this automatically.

Bottom line: leave your printer on it's highest quality setting. You will probably only need to resample the image if you are blowing up a small area in the centre of the image. Suppose you are selecting a 1200 x 900 pixel area; that would give you 4 x 3 inches at pin-sharp 300 pixels-per-inch resolution, a rather small print. if you want this at 8 x 6 inches however you would be getting down to 150 dpi which is low for a hand-held picture viewed close up. THEN you need to resample the image, using software to generate a higher resolution image, effectively converting 1200 x 900 pixels to 2400 x 1800 pixels by calculating what the smaller in-between pixels should look like..

I have a 6MP camera (not too different from yours) and I can't remember the last time I re-sampled an image to increase the resolution for printing, even with heavy cropping there are enough pixels for me (I have an A4 printer)..

Best wishesMike..

Using Photoshop, but GIMP would do the job too:.

I have a set of template images at 300dpi saved as PSD's or TIFF's. Doesn't matter which..

6 x 4.

6 x 8.

8 x 10.

10 x 12.

12 x 16.

With borders set using guides, because I like white borders for framing and handling..

Once an image is ready to print I flatten all the layers and save it as a new TIFF file, archiving my PSD. Personal preference..

I open up the template size (or sizes) file I want to print to..

I open up the image I want to print, select all, copy to clipboard..

In the template image, paste from the clipboard, and then Edit>Transform to fit the size I'm working with. As I like white borders I'm not aiming to try and squeeze a 4/3 into a 6/4, if you know what I mean, I just end up with bigger white borders somewhere..

There's better ways I'm sure, but I found this the easiest way not to hurt my head..

I then save each file as soemthing like "6 x 4 bridge in fog", "8 x 10 bridge in fog" etc as a TIFF. If I take them to a printers that only prints JPG's I can then batch process from the TIFF's to JPG's...

I should point out that when you paste something from the clipboard into an image, in Photoshop, the image is automatically transformed (for want of a better description) to that images dpi..

So, you can set your template images to whatever dpi it is you use, be it 300, 600 etc at the size you want and know that when you paste your image from the clipboard into the template image and it's bigger than the template image, you have enough image (pixels) information for the image at that size. You don't have to calculate pixels..

As I said there's better ways, but this worked for me without hurting my head...

I'd say it all matters less than you think. Up to A3 size I wouldn't worry too much about it. Why not do a series of tests and get them printed. Then you'll know exactly what to expect.Androohttp://Androo.smugmug.com..

It's not really bad just confusing because there is way more informtion available than informtion that is actually nexessary..

Let's assume you're willing to do some work, and invest some money..

Buy a software program like Photoshop Elements. Depending where you live, this is about a hundred bucks US or Cdn (Costco),.

This lets you easily make your pictures a little lighter or darker or more red or less yellow, etc..

It also has lots of size related options, most of which are not really nexessary..

And cropping options, which might be, but probably are not, anyway..

Now, about Wal-Mart I don't go there, becasue Wal-Mart photo desks I've seen are all badly managed and I won't give them my money. Costco and SHopppers Drug Mart are my printing places, but what happens there is very similar to Wal-Mart..

SIMPLE BUT GOOD.

Put your photos into a computer, adjust color and tone and if necessary do some retouching, etc., as you see fit BUT DO NOT CHANGE THE SIZE and also DO NOT CROP..

TRansfer the edited photos onto a CD or a USB drive or back onto a memory card, and go to the store..

Follow the store instructions, usually up on a touch screen, and soon you will see your photos up on the screen, and you'll see instructions for you to choose your print size..

There's some back and forth involved in getting the same picture printed 5x7 and 8x10 and some other size, but let's just make a 5x7 to start with..

Click on the image of the frame you want to make 5x7, and, depending on the machine, perhaps click on a symbol labelled "Edit" and the image will get bigger on the screen. , and beside it, you'll see a button (on the touch screen) saying somethng like zoom and crop..

Touch that, and you'll see a retangular outline/box superimpossed over the whole frame, showing the cropping ratio for a 5x7 print. You can zoom in, so thatless of the image is used for your 5x7, and you can move the box around so that you get an even trim on left and right, or capture the image shifted over to one sie, etc..

Once you've zoomed the box to imclude just what you want, maintaining the 5x7 ratio that the box puts up automatically, the MACHINE WILL DO THE CALCULATIONS and save the image cropped and sized to make the best print..

Remember, the machine does the sizing, but you need, beforehand, to adjust color... EXCEPT you can adjust coor, etc at the store if you want to, but that takes a while..

At Costco, once you've gone through the above process to cropped and frame al the pictures you want at 5x7 you continue using the machine to the "checkout" screen, where an order form is printed for the 5x7 prints..

Then press another button, and you can then press the 8x10 or 12 x 18 button, and repeat the process, using the different ratio box that pops up automatically for each other print size..

You'll get another order form printed out to give to the clerk, covering all the shots in htis second size..

BY NOT CROPPING YOUR ORIGINAL FILE, you get to make all the sizes you want in all the different ratios..

BAK..

You want to avoid big white spaces on the print or having the printer decide how to crop your photo to fit the page; much better that you do it than some photo tech..

Just deliver a file with the same shape ratio as the paper to be used - like a 2:3 ratio includes paper sizes 2x3, 4x6, 6x9, 8x12, etc....

Just crop to the appropriate shape for your prints & send them to Walmart..

Picasa (free from Google) has an easy-to-use crop function that lets you choose the shape you want, like 4x6, 5x7, 8x10, .....

Mike703 wrote:.

When you print this however (if you do it at home), do NOT set yourprinter to 300 dpi (droplets of ink per inch) resolution - set itto the highest resolution it will support, e.g. 1440 dpi, for thehighest print quality. A commercial printer will take care of thisautomatically.

Bottom line: leave your printer on it's highest quality setting..

Before you crank up your printers setting to the max make sure you read the manual. Most often you need the right paper to support a printers highest quality settings in particular the DPI it prints at. Usually the high DPI settings are only supportted by coated photo papers (gloss, semi gloss etc). Using the highest settings on matt or bond papaer may just create a poor image and waste ink and in the wost case scenario damage the printer..

J..

YES!!! Thank you all so VERY much!!! I know that there is much more to learn and I will eventually get a better understanding of all this as I progress into this adventure of photography, but for now, this is a great help! Thanks again!QuinS2IS,Z760..