Know the size of picture you want to print

It's always good to know what size you want to print your pictures in, so you can just shoot at that resolution instead of the highest. Contrary to popular belief, shooting at a lower megapixel setting does not compromise the picture quality. You would just get an image with reduced pixel dimensions and smaller file sizes. That said, you can take more pictures, which is an advantage if you are using a smaller-capacity flash memory.

So unless you are thinking of making poster-sized prints for all the pictures you take, we will show you the maximum print sizes for various megapixel settings.

Camera resolution (megapixels)	Pixels dimension	Maximum print size (in inches)
VGA	640 x 480	2 x 1.5
2	1,633 x 1,225	4 x 6 (4R)
3	2,048 x 1,536	5 x 7 (5R)
4	2,464 x 1,632	6 x 8 (6R)
5	2,592 x 1,944	6 x 9
6	3,008 x 2,000	6.5 x 10
7	3,072 x2,304	7.5 x 10
8	3,264 x 2,448	8 x 10 (8R or A4)
9	3,464 x 2,598	8 x 12 (Super 8R)
10	3,651 x 2,739	8.5 x 13
11	3,830 x 2,872	9 x 13.5
12	4,000 x 3,000	9 x 14

This chart is meant to be used as a general reference only, and actual pixel dimensions may vary from camera to camera. The aspect ratio is set at 4:3, but take note that some cameras are capable of shooting at higher resolution with the 16:9 ratio option activated.

At different resolutions, some cameras may offer the option to choose different image quality. Select the best if you want to get good prints.

The maximum print size stated is at best print settings. If you try to resize a 4-megapixel image to print at 8R, the print quality will be much lower.