Image size vs image quality/compression ratio Powershot A3000

[kaypot]

Picked up this camera on Ebay because I read some good reviews, but for the life of me I can't get a resolution more than 180 dpi, whether I follow the directions in the manual for setting manually in the P mode for either size or quality. If I want to print something, it should be at least 300dpi. I want my images to have enough pixels for a nice print. Is there something I am not seeing? Does this camera even have the capability of doing that? Thanks for any input.

[cicopo]

You are letting your software fool you. The camera shoots in PIXELS, not DPI. The software is telling you how big it will be ABLE to print the photo AT 180 dpi. You DO NOT have to print it at that size unless you want to & your printer can.

[kaypot]

When I view the images in Photoshop, it says 180 dpi. I know PS has the ability to intelligently add pixels. How large of a print could I expect to get if I uncheck the resample box and adjust to 300? I just want to get the best print possible.

[cicopo · Accepted solution]

Unless you are going to print using Photoshop to do it IGNORE the DPI info. Turn your RULER on to see how big PHOTOSHOP says it will be at 180 DPI.I'd bet it will be much larger than you expect.  Do not resample up or down from your original file, that's not necessary. Set your camera to shoot in large fine jpg & check the file size & pixel width & height to verify they match the camera speccs.

[nesca]

you want keep maximum quality while compressing ?generally I shall resize image and save it as .jpg and then print it.however image saving and printing guide found by Google may give you some useful info.

[jacaboo]

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@nesca wrote:

you want keep maximum quality while compressing ?generally I shall resize image and save it as .jpg and then print it.however image saving and printing guide found by Google may give you some useful info.

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thanks for sharing, that's awesome but somewhat overpriced for me who will just use it only once, do you have some cheaper or even free versions, any suggestion will be appreciated!

[hsbn]

It doesn't have to be complicated. The maximum setting on your camera will give an image of 3648 x 2736px (~10Mpx). If you plan to print it at 300dpi then the maximum size you can print without enlarging the image is 12x9inch.