STUDIO TALK

Thank you for the shout out, pxlsyndc8! :-))

This thread really answer my question and understanding on image resolution and printing guidelines...anyway I do check most of the link proposed in this thread..,shout out to alyzen_moonshadow...nice blog...here is the link straight to the image resolution explanation http://alyzenmoonshadow.tumblr.com/post/9949398370. She also provide external reference for this subject...anyway thanks kaphinga for re-directing me to this post....

There's an app called "Resize Photo" that let you set dpi of any image you have saved into the iPhone, but like iPhonePhil said, you can't increase resolution...

Thank you so much Kaphinga and to everyone else! Much appreciated. I learn by doing - so I think it's just going to be some trial and error. The other day I had to send an image in, in full resolution - I ended up changing the dpi to 300 and the pixels to something bigger. Not having any clue what I was doing, still unsure - but they haven't said anything so I'm guessing it worked.

Thanks again for all that great info!!

Such helpful information!! Thanks so much -- this really helps me a lot!!!!!
Cecily

Yep makes perfect sense to me :) thanks
And yes - I'm super grateful to those talented app developers too :)

@Sand625 and Leftcoastlens -- Most printers can print at 300dpi, which is the ideal. If you have enough pixels to print at 300 dpi, you should by all means do it. You can get by with printing at a lower resolution -- say 150 - 200dpi -- if you have to, and your print will still look good. At less than 150 dpi, however, you start to get into trouble. 72 dpi is the standard resolution screen resolution.

If you keep up with the pixel count high, you will be fine. Don't worry about DPI (dots per inch) until you are ready to print. If you have 3000 pixels on the longest side, then you can print 10 inches at 300 dpi (10 * 300 = 3000) or 20 inches at 150 dpi (20 * 150 = 3000). Does this make sense?

@leftcoatlens -- a muffaletta is a sandwich, with lots of Italian meets, cheeses and olives. It's delicious. You find them a lot in New Orleans. Abita is a brand of beer brewed in Louisiana.

Oh, and in general, there is always a tradeoff between time and space in software development -- the bigger the image the more memory and processing is required. Processing images in full res requires a more profound understanding of resource management than a simple low res image. My hat is off to the developers who go the extra mile to provide a full res option -- their efforts are greatly appreciated. (I am constantly amazed at how much these little phones can do.)

Wow thanks Marie :))) super helpful! I usually check sizes in Filterstorm but i suspect the photo sizer app will be quicker. I tend to use filterstorm to downsize for the web if needed and upsize on my pc, adding art / texture effects to hide any pixelation.

There's a lot of conflicting info out there about dpi. If you upload to a print on demand place they all ask for 300dpi. But lots of folks say this is redundant its the total number of pixels that matter rather than how many per inch. In the past I've altered the dpi using psp or elements whilst maintaining the image size, then gone up in increments (like Marie said) till an image is around 3000 pixels. Saving in jpg because although png has apparently more detail/larger file size I've noticed that there's blurring, especially with any graphics.
Now of course (purse permitting) I'll use photo resize 7 :) Despite the arguments against this not being 'pure' iPhone art...depends on the image of course. Some things are better small scale...

Now I"m curious as to what a muffaletta and Abita is! lol.

And wow!! Thank you so much for that info! Super helpful! I'm starting to get it, I think! But just one more thing I'm not getting - when / why would I change the dpi and not just the pixels? Is it that if I want to get a better fuller resolution and I change my already 800x800 picture to say 1400x1200 at originally 72 dpi, would I then also change that to something higher ie. 250, 300 etc.?

Sorry guys, I don't speak numbers and my brain just doesn't function with technical info, so thank you so much for all your help!!

@Joel -- hey, thanks, I might just take you up on your offer of a muffaletta and an Abita!

Thank you for the detailed info, Marie!

Very useful knowledge, peeps! Thanks for the descriptive info and Photosize tip, Marie. I owe you a muffaletta and an Abita!

Here is everything I know about resolution. Basically, your strategy should be to conserve pixels whenever possible. An iPhone doesn't have close to the resolution of a dSLR.

First, look for apps that support full resolution on your phone. Here are the "full resolution" sizes for various iPhone models.

* iPhone 3GS: 3 MP (2048×1536 pixels)
* iPhone 4: 5 MP (2592 x 1936 pixels)
* iPhone 4S: 8 MP (3264 x 2448 pixels)

* Front Camera on iPhone 4 and 4S: 0.3 MP (640x480 pixels)

Usually, apps that support full res will say so in the AppStore description. Sometimes the reviews, and not the app description, will reveael what the resolution is. My experience has been that when developers don't tell you the resolution, it's because the app is low res.

As soon as you get an app, try processing an unedited image from your phone. Afterwards, check the size in the "PhotoSize" app, a terrific free app that every iPhoneographer should have. If you are not seeing a full res image in PhotoSize, then double check the settings in the app and in the general "Settings" area on your iPhone. Whenever you upgrade an app, repeat this process. Sometimes, the app settings will revert to a lower resolution after an upgrade.

Second, every time you crop a picture, you lose pixels. So, try to frame your picture right when you snap the shutter.

In the best of all possible worlds, we would only have full res apps, and we would never have to crop anything. With the real world conditions, though, you will sometimes lose some pixels. Painting apps, for example, almost never save anything at full res because of memory constraints. My strategy is to crop or lose pixels, and then upsize, early in the editing process. If I lose too many pixels, I might be forced to move toward some sort of Lomo/pinhole type processing to make up for the fact that I am missing pixels. If I up-res my pictures early, I can sometimes obscure it with textures or grunge or light leaks. Here is an example of a picture I posted a while back -- I did a *huge* crop on an already noisy/grainy picture --- http://www.iphoneart.com/users/1192/images/51804. I will bet that my image was at best 200x200 after the crop. I had no choice but to upsize it and go with a really grungy/textured solution because there just weren't enough pixels in the original image.

Upsizing is a last resort. I don't do it unless there is absolutely no other way to tell my story. When I do upsize, I do in Iris, and I do it in small increments -- maybe a 10% increase on each pass until I get to a resolution that suits my needs. If you want a really clear, crisp image it's better not to upsize at all.

The next question is, what resolution do you need for printing? Basically, you want a bare minimum of 150 pixels per inch and preferably 200 pixels per inch, even more is better if you can get it. If I just want a 4x6 print, I could go with something in the range of 600x900 to 800x1200 pixels. If I want an 8x10 print, I can go with something from 1200x1500 to 1600x2000 pixels. A 1936x1936 hipsta print, for example, you could print pretty comfortably at 10x10.

If you want to go really large -- poster sized --- then you probably need to look at some of the dedicated upscaling applications on a desktop computer.

Hope this helps.

Can I add to this question? I should probably know this, but I don't. When asked for the full resolution image, what does that mean exactly? Let's say my image is 700x800 at 72 dpi. What would I change? The dpi or the pixels/inch? I have to send in a few images and I honestly have no idea what to do. I've also downloaded the trial of perfect resize, looks pretty good so far!

Ooh! I was just about to start gathering together tips on enlarging
(in the past I've used Paint Shop Pro to texturise or give brush stroke effects AFTER resizing to 300dpi for canvas printing and Zazzle etc)
When I found this - all the top tips in one place.
Yay!
Thanks oodles lovely peeps :) I'll add a link to this page from my blog.