digital camera resolution - Quick ePics batch image editor and jpeg optimizer

Selecting Camera and Scanner Resolution: (Back)

Quick ePics works with all camera resolutions. However, if your camera (or scanner) has selectable resolution, then you should try to match its resolution to your intended output. Selecting higher than necessary resolution creates extra work and can actually produce lower quality results. (You can safely ignore this help topic if your camera or scanner has fixed resolution.)

Camera Resolution:

Images created for the Internet require far less resolution then images created for printout. This is because Internet images are displayed on computer monitors, which have much lower resolutions then printers. In general you should use one of the following camera resolutions for images you create for the Internet.

640 x 480 pixels VGA
800 x 600 pixels Super VGA
1024 x 768 pixels XGA

Deciding which of these resolutions is best, is subjective. It depends on the quality of your camera, the subject of your pictures, and your own personal taste.(*) You will probably need to experiment by taking pictures of typical subjects, at different resolution levels. Ideally, you should choose the lowest resolution that produces acceptable results, then use that resolution for all pictures intended for Internet use. (Lower resolutions require less image down sizing.)

Avoid Camera Resolutions above 1024 x 768:

When creating pictures for the Internet, you should avoid camera resolutions above 1024 x 768 pixels, for the following reasons.

Images created at higher resolutions display very large on computer screens. Depending on the actual resolution you use, only a small portion of the image may fit within your screen. As a consequence, these images must be down sized and reworked, making them less efficient to work with. (i.e. More work for you.)
As a rule, your Internet images should be no larger than 640 by 480 in size, since images larger than that may not fit on all display monitors. (Remember for on online images, camera resolution is the same as image display size.)
For Internet use, higher camera resolutions can actually produce lower quality results. Because these images are too large to be displayed on computer screens, they must be dramatically reduced in size. Depending on the subject matter of your pictures, this reduction can significantly distort the final result. (This is a problem for images containing text, as well as, images containing geometric shapes and fine details.)
Higher resolution images consume unnecessary space in your camera's memory, thus reducing the number of photographs your camera can store.
Higher resolution images take up unnecessary space on your hard drive, and they can significantly slow down applications used for image processing.

Scanner Resolution:

If you are scanning images solely for the Internet then you should scan them at 96 dots per inch (dpi). If you are scanning them for printout then you should use the appropriate dpi for your printer (see your scanner's user manual). Scanning your images at the correct resolution, produces the best results.

Notes:

Common Camera Resolutions:
640 x 480 pixels VGA
800 x 600 pixels Super VGA
1024 x 768 pixels XGA
1280 x 960 pixels Super XGA (1.3 megapixel)
1600 x 1200 pixels Ultra XGA (2.1 megapixel)
1800 x 1200 pixels (2.3 megapixel)
2048 x 1536 pixels (3 megapixel)
2400 x 1600 pixels (4 megapixel)
Common Computer Monitor Resolutions:
640 x 480 pixels VGA
800 x 600 pixels Super VGA
1024 x 768 pixels XGA

(*) Some readers will argue that 640x480 is the best resolution for the Internet, since pictures taken at that resolution fit on most computer screens without resizing or cropping. While this is generally true, higher resolution settings can be useful to compensate for cameras with poor optics. For example, if your camera does not close focus, you can crop the background from a high resolution image, to make it appear to be a close up. This technique is not possible if your original image is only 640x480 pixels.