Size does matter
Tips on how to properly size your digital images
After years of seeing professional photos, as well as winning shots from the amateurs in the annual Cottage Life Photo Contest, the editors of Cottage Life magazine share some tips on how to properly size your digital images.
To get good quality 5" x 7" prints, you will need to take your photos at a resolution of at least 4 megapixels. We recommend that you always set your digital camera to take pictures at its highest resolution. This will give you more options for your photos, whether it’s entering them in our contest, making them into posters, or e-mailing them to family and friends (see below and note that we do not accept e-mail entries for our photo contest).
To change the resolution, sometimes referred to as “image quality” or “picture size” and measured in pixels/inch, first display the settings menu in your LCD screen (each camera is different: To show the settings menu, you may have to use the mode dial on top of the camera or press the MENU or FUNC button) and then choose the resolution you want from that menu.
To resize photos for e-mailing, both Mac’s iPhoto and Windows XP have simplified the procedure: each program has a specific e-mail function that will guide you through the process. Alternatively, you can use the photo-editing software that comes with most digital cameras (this is the program you use when you are downloading photos from your camera). Most programs use a similar procedure for sizing a file:
First, find the photo file in your saved photos folder and use the “Save as” function to save a copy of the photo you want to send.
From the function menu, choose “Image” and then “Resize,” adjust the “Document size” in the box that pops up (your image should measure 1" to 3" on its longest side and about 150 pixels per inch in resolution), and save the new, smaller image. Aim for a file size just less than 300 KB (or less than 100 KB if sending to a dial-up connection).
You can send this photo by attaching this small file to an e-mail.
Keep several memory cards on hand, since high-resolution photos need more file space. With extra memory cards you can capture more shots when you are away from a computer. Once you download your photos and delete them from the memory card, the space on your reusable card is freed up again.
- Blair Eveleigh
Copyright © 2006 by Cottage Life. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any article, photograph, or artwork, for other than personal use, in whole or in part, without the written permission of the publisher is strictly forbidden.
