If I have a 6 megapixel DSLR, what is the biggest enlargement I can make? 16x20? What if I have a 10megapixel?

Answer 1

Your mileage may vary but for a 6MP camera, more folks consider 11x14 to be the largest size for detail. That said, the photo itself needs to be high quality, usually an outdoor well lit scene where the image was NOT compressed. The CAMERA should be set for RAW or non-compressed images. Then choose a picture which is well lit so that the image itself won't show lighting issues when enlarged.

(The 10MP camera would well go to 16x20, again keeping some of the above rules of thumb in mind.) VERY IMPORTANT to set the camera in ALL ENLARGEMENT CASES to the LEAST amount of compression possible within the camera itself. Once the image is stored in flash memory, you are then limited on the type of enlargement you can make. Try to keep the image at full 6MP filesize by setting compression off or lossless, or low.

Answer 2

1) In native resolution, the generally accepted minimum resolution to print at is 72 dpi. Most DSLRs shoot at 3:2 ratio which would mean a 6MP camera would have an image of 3000 x 2000 pixels. 3000 divided by 72 dots per inch = 41.6 inches wide by 27.8 inches high. Which is 106 cm by 71cm (roughly).

2) Software can be used to 'interpolate' the image even larger, so in the hands of a professional, there is no real upper limit to how large an image can be printed. From my D50 an image has been printed at 1.5 metres long, and it looks fantastic, even up close. This happened even after the image was cropped!

Bottom line, is don't worry too much about how big you are going to print. It is preferable to submit an image of 5MP for printing. So having a 10MP camera allows more cropping than a 6MP to achieve a 5MP outcome. Leave the printing with the professionals, you worry about taking great shots!

All the best.

Answer 3

Alan M's answer is the best (vote for him!), but bear in mind that usually when you make large prints, they're for hanging on a wall and being viewed from a distance, so the "gold standard" isn't that important... you could get away with 100 dpi or even 72 dpi for a big poster.

Doodranch makes an excellent point that often you want to crop a picture before printing, so more megapixels gives you the benefit of cropping and still having the resolution for printing. The downside of a 10mp camera is that every picture you take is freaking huge, so be prepared to convert them to lower resolution before sending them off to your friends with low bandwidth.

Answer 4

While the answers above are technically correct, keep in mind that only a couple of years ago pros were using 4 megapixel cameras for their work. If you have a good, properly exposed photo, you can print about as large as your pocket book will pay for. My 6 megapixel SLR has turned out some good 16x20s although I seldom print that large.

Answer 5

ALL of the answers above contain valid information, but please let me add that the "gold standard" for "excellent" quality prints would be 300 dpi. An "average" print would be in the 200 dpi range. Teef_au gave you the "minimum" standard of 72 dpi. Plug the 300 and 200 values into his math and see what you come up with. Mostly, just try a print and see. You can crop out something that would print about 4x6 or 5x5 and use various dpi resolutions and see what you think of the results. Bear in mind that you would generally be viewing larger prints from a greater distance, so stand back when you look at them.

Experiment and learn.

Answer 6

People have gotten 20x30 prints out of a 6 MP camera. It really depends on the amount of compression, overall sharpness, and what you use to print it.

Sports Illustrated used to fill a two page spread with something like 3 MP.

Answer 7

6MP = 20x30
10MP = ? anything over 6MP is mainly for photo editing and cropping without losing resolution. how often are you gonna blow something up bigger than 20x30?