Confusing Photographer

[Litilchef]

Hello,
Our photographer has given us a cd of images that are all 72 dpi. When I got them printed, they didn't look that great. Also I just got back a christmas card with pixelated images on it.

I asked her for the images in 300 dpi, and she said that that is how the images came off her big huge camera. Is this possible? She told me that there may be a difference between Canon (I use a Canon Digital Rebel XT) and Nikon (her professional camera).

She told me her techincal person checked the images at 72 dpi and that they could be blown up to 16x20 and still be printable.

So... can somebody tell me what is the real story here? Is there some reason why someone would give me lower resolution pictures when I paid to get images I could print???? I understand I got a good deal on the sitting ($125) and the CD ($200), but they tell you you will get printable images from it.

Thanks in advance for any help. Readers here have helped me in the past....

Kind wishes,
Elizabeth

[OldClicker]

First, I find it incredible that a professional photographer cannot explain this to you.

When the image is digital (camera, computer, CD, etc.), Dots Per Inch (DPI) has no meaning. At this point the resolution is measured in horizontal and vertical pixels – for instance 1024x768 pixels or (as mine come out of the camera) 4592x3056. The larger the size, the more information (detail) within the image. (That this image comes out of the camera at 300 DPI or 72 DPI means nothing.) The images you have may or may not be sufficient for the prints that you want. If you know the size of the images on the CD and the size of the prints, we can tell you more.

TF

EDIT - The next step is printing which can take a perfectly acceptable image on the CD and make it a mess. - TF

[Litilchef]

Well the print that turned out poorly was 927x1320 in a 2.5"x4" space. When I asked the christmas card company about it, they said they looked bad because the image was not 300 dpi.

I totally see how the number of pixels measures a photo instead of a dpi measurement. Thank you very very much for your response.

Sincerely,
Elizabeth

[OldClicker]

First, a 1320x927 won't fit on a 4"x2.5" space - it's not the same ratio. So the printer will either:

- cut off part of the image making it 1320x825

- add a border to the long dimension making it 1483x927 (very unlikely, though the best solution)

- or stretch the long/squish the short dimension and make it ugly.

The first is the most likely and a 1320x825 on a 4"x2.5" would be 330 DPI.

Find a new printer.

TF

[gahspidy]

Its true the images out of your photographers camera were probably 72dpi but as TF stated it does not mean they are small or low quality files. It would be up to you now to properly set up the files for printing. That means going into a photo editing software and setting the image size to 300dpi by whatever size you wish to print, ie: 4x6, 8x10 etc.
You would also need to crop them accordingly.
Personally, I give my clients a folder with high res files already at 300dpi by about 12" on the long end, and another folder of images set at 72dpi at 800pixels on the long end ready for web display.
You might want to ask your photographer if she could help you set up whatever files it is that you want printed and at what size. It would oor should take her mere minutes to set up the files for you to print.