# Will 10mp print 20x30?



## TheMikeGuy (Jun 26, 2010)

I use a 10 megapixel Sony Alpha a230 and I am trying to find the largest size print I can make for a picture I had taken. Without distorting the image quality, do you think a print size of 20x30 will work well with a 10 megapixel SLR?


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## Big (Jun 26, 2010)

Don't see why not. I don't have the specs that some could probably give you but 10mp isn't all that bad. I wouldn't think a 3mp could do it... ya know?


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## Derrel (Jun 26, 2010)

It will if you use good shot discipline. You can't approach the shots willy-nilly. You need good focus, camera support, and good processing of the image. A decent lens used at a good aperture is also helpful. If you use good shot discipline, you'll be fine. If you shoot one-handed, hanging off the side of a moving boxcar using a cheap kit zoom at 18mm at f/3.5 at 1/45 second, your images might not look so hot. Make sense?


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## BuS_RiDeR (Jun 26, 2010)

This is pretty accurate...


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## Phranquey (Jun 26, 2010)

Understand that you are going to be printing at roughly 130dpi, where optimum is considered 300dpi.... which means that if you stick your nose right up to the photo, you are likely to see some pixelation.  If viewed from a proper distance, say farther than 4' away, it will disappear and look like a normal photo.

As Derrel stated, the better you can make your photo to begin with, the better the larger prints will look.


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## LarryD (Jun 26, 2010)

Most high quality digital print machines today will fill in color and gaps, so you should easily be able to get a decent 20x30 from a quality 10mp camera with a reasonable sized sensor..

I have a couple on my walls from back when DSLR's had a maximum of only 6mp..


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## rufus5150 (Jun 26, 2010)

10mp will do 20x30 just fine. I've dozens from my XTi. If you want some extra insurance, you can get something like genuine fractals which does a pretty amazing job upsizing images.


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## DaevidClarke (Jun 27, 2010)

use my d80 (10.2mp). i print large all the time. never had a problem.


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## KmH (Jun 27, 2010)

A couple of points:

DPI (Dots-Per-Inch) is meaningless for digital photographs. _It's *PPI*_ (Pixels-Per-Inch). DPI is only valid when discusing printer resolution. DPI and *PPI* are _not the same thing_. It can take as many as 8 dots to render a single pixel.
300 *ppi* has become an arbitrary number that in the early days of digital was used to compare the quality of a print made from a digital image, to a print from a specific ASA value of print film.
Like Derrel mentioned, it really depends on the image, but most will be fine at substantially less than 300 *ppi*.
Most consumer print labs have printers that have a max resolution of 250 *ppi*. 





> The Mpix printers output at 250 ppi.


 As an example the consumer print lab www.mpix.com stakes their very good reputation on a minimum required *ppi* of 100.
*How to prepare your images.* Mpix.com - Help


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## Forest Power Ranger (Jun 27, 2010)

Any thing 6/8mp and over can print real big. Look at it this way, the bigger the print, the farther away you'll stand to look at it. When you stand back you aren't going to notice the pixels. It will print it just fine. 

You don't stand 1 foot from a billboard to look at it.


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