File Formats and Sizes:
Whether you want to print your photo e-mail it to a friend, or post it on Facebook, something you have to keep in mind for all of these options is your file size. File size is not how large the image will look, but how many megapixels it is. A megapixel is one million pixels. Pixels are the tiny, tiny dots of color that make up your image.
Anyway, say I wanted to print out my photo, what file format would I choose? Would I want more or less pixels? Well, when I print, I want to make the finished image as clear and sharp as I can. Obviously, the more pixels I have the clearer it will be, so for printing I want to go for the largest file size possible. On my camera, that is 8 megapixels.
So, what would you do if you wanted to share a photo via the internet? Should I go for the biggest size again? Mmm...no, not necessarily. Most laptops are 1024 x 768 pixels, but some wide-screen laptops can be 1280 x 800 pixels. Newer computers can even be up to 1920 x 1200. It wouldn't really make sense for me to have a photo on the computer larger than 1920 x 1200. For some computers that size may actually be too large, and they would have to scroll left and right to see it all. For sharing on the internet, the size I use is 1 megapixel, or 1024 x 768. That way most computers can view it comfortably.
Anyway, say I wanted to print out my photo, what file format would I choose? Would I want more or less pixels? Well, when I print, I want to make the finished image as clear and sharp as I can. Obviously, the more pixels I have the clearer it will be, so for printing I want to go for the largest file size possible. On my camera, that is 8 megapixels.
So, what would you do if you wanted to share a photo via the internet? Should I go for the biggest size again? Mmm...no, not necessarily. Most laptops are 1024 x 768 pixels, but some wide-screen laptops can be 1280 x 800 pixels. Newer computers can even be up to 1920 x 1200. It wouldn't really make sense for me to have a photo on the computer larger than 1920 x 1200. For some computers that size may actually be too large, and they would have to scroll left and right to see it all. For sharing on the internet, the size I use is 1 megapixel, or 1024 x 768. That way most computers can view it comfortably.
For more information about file size, format, megapixels, and how thay effect your photos, check out the links below: